Stafford Magazine | April/May 2024

TALKIN’ BASEBALL

Former pro now helps young athletes

MEET THE DETECTIVE WHO SOLVED LOCAL COLD CASE

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Murder, He Solved

Meet the detective behind Stafford’s 37-year-old cold case

BY TRACY BELL

In early March, DNA linked 65-yearold Stafford County resident Elroy Harrison to the murder of not just one, but two, women in the 1980s.

Decades of work from investigators and laboratories, meticulously preserved evidence and, ultimately, advanced DNA technology cracked the final piece of the case to determine who killed 40-yearold real estate agent Jacqueline Lard in November 1986.

For more than a decade, David Wood, a detective with the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, has been at the forefront of the Lard case, but it took a major turn when he began to work with Parabon NanoLabs of Reston. Its specialty? DNA phenotyping and genetic genealogy analysis – an advanced DNA technology that’s helping detectives crack cold cases like never before.

Lard was working late at Mount Vernon Realty on Garrisonville Road in north Stafford in November 1986 when she was last seen alive. Blood and evidence of a violent struggle was discovered the next morning, but Lard and her car were missing. A group of children discovered her body later in Woodbridge.

The second woman, Amy Baker, 18, of Stafford, was driving home after a visit with family in March 1989. Investigators believe she ran out of gas on an exit ramp near Springfield in Fairfax County, and her family discovered her dead in a wooded area after locating her car. Investigators said she was strangled.

The Fairfax County Police Department is pursuing Baker’s case, while Harrison was indicted by a Stafford grand jury in March in

the Lard case. He was arrested and escorted by Wood to Rappahannock Regional Jail, where he was held without bond.

Stafford Magazine asked Detective Wood about his dedication to the cold case, his career and more:

STAFFORD MAGAZINE: When did you first become involved in the case?

DETECTIVE DAVID WOOD: It was back in 2013, so I have worked on this case approximately 11 years.

SM: Did you believe this case would be solved?

WOOD: Yes, with the advancements made in DNA and forensic genealogy, I believed that this case and others like it will be solved by identifying suspects through DNA left at the crime scenes and using the tools offered by forensic science and forensic genealogy with the hope of creating leads in these type

cold cases.

SM: What kept you from giving up?

WOOD: The fact that so much time and effort had been put into this case over the years by the different law enforcement agencies and forensic laboratories, not to be able to use the advancements in forensic science and forensic genealogy field, which was not afforded to law enforcement back when this case occurred. And it was my hope to be able to bring closure for the Lard and Baker families after so many years by making an arrest in the case.

SM: Can you describe the first moments you realized this case was going to be solved?

WOOD: When I received word from the forensic lab that they were able to identify the suspect in both homicides.

SM: Does bringing an end to this case, along with the advancement of DNA technology, give you hope in solving other cold cases? What is different about the newest technology used that helped solve this case?

WOOD: I cannot give specifics about this case, due to the case still pending in court. But it has been amazing over my career to see DNA first being used to solve cases, and a national and state DNA database was created. Then to see the advancements in the world of forensic genealogy, and how these expert genealogists can put together family

Stafford County detective David Wood with murder suspect Elroy Harrison after Harrison’s arrest in March.

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SM: Where are you from?

WOOD: My father was in the military, so we moved around a lot during his military career. I claimed Northern Virginia, Fairfax and Prince William counties as being my home, and we then moved to Culpeper County when my dad retired, and I graduated from Culpeper County High School in 1978.

SM: How long have you been with the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office?

WOOD: I previously worked for eight years with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and was hired by the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office back in 1992. I retired full-time as of 2009, after 25 years. I was then re-hired on a part-time basis back in 2010, where I am currently still employed. So, eight years with Orange County, 17 years with Stafford County full-time, and 14 years part-time with Stafford for a total of 39 years in my law enforcement career.

SM: When did you know you wanted to be a detective?

Wood: When I was first hired as a road deputy in Orange County, I had the privilege to work with other more experienced investigators, and those investigators were my motivation – they inspired me to become an investigator/detective. They taught me to be thorough in conducting investigations and leave no stone unturned.

SM: What do you find most difficult and most rewarding about your job?

WOOD: The most difficult part of working these types of cold cases is the fact that you may not be able to solve the case no matter how much time and effort you put into the case and still be satisfied that you did what you could for the victim in solving their case. And the rewards are being able to bring closure to these cases, for both the victim and their victim’s families.

SM: What do you do in your spare time and how often do you still think of your cases when you are not working?

WOOD: In my spare time I like to fish and I am constantly thinking of and evaluating my cases – even while I’m fishing, driving or being woken up in the middle of the night thinking about these cases and what needs to be done to help solve them.

SM: What advice would you give someone who wants to become a detective?

WOOD: Try to get involved with law enforcement agencies in your area, either becoming a cadet or participating in a ride-along program if your local agencies offer these types of services. Study and learn as much as you can in the fields of criminology, forensic science, DNA and forensic genealogy.

SM: Are there other particular cases you are most proud of being a part of or most memorable in your career?

WOOD: Yes, there was one case in Orange County, where a victim was sexually assaulted in her home and she was beaten almost to death. She was able to make it to a neighbor’s house to get help. I was able to develop a latent print in blood off a pot handle, which the suspect used among other things to beat her with. A suspect was developed, and I was able to get his known prints from him. He denied any involvement in the case, so I sent his prints to the forensic lab, and the latent examiner called to inform me that the suspect print matched the latent print on the pot handle. He was eventually found guilty and, as far as I know, is still serving time for his crimes.

Tracy Bell is a freelance writer who lives in Stafford County.

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Pole Position

New gym offers alternative way to get fit

BY ERIC ALTHOFF

There’s a new place in town to get –or stay – in shape, while learning some sexy moves in the process. Pixie’s Pole Gym and Dance Academy offers body-positive fitness classes, no matter your level of physicality or body shape.

“The way we teach fitness is unique. It’s nontraditional,” said co-owner Alvaro Castillo. “I think that the community and the ladies here are kind of forward-thinking in that regard.”

Seated next to Castillo is lead instructor Tabatha Ley, Castillo’s partner in both business and life. Ley said their clients are excited about this alternative fitness method, in which students are not only able to get a decent workout but also build a social atmosphere.

“The girls [sit] together and talk socially at the beginning of class,” said Ley, whose background includes such disciplines as ballet, which she says translates well in terms of flexibility for pole dancing. “It’s nice to see the community come together, start to help out.”

There are similar businesses in Manassas and closer to Washington, but Ley and Castillo saw the opportunity for a pole dancing studio in Stafford. In addition to locals, students are coming from Fredericksburg and Quantico, including several “Marine moms and wives,” one of whom even teaches at Pixie’s.

Before getting to the more provocative poses, Ley and her fellow instructors teach students core strength and fitness, which is eventually combined with erotic moves that are meant to be both confidence-building for the student as well as sensuous when tried later at home.

Yes, at home. Even if you don’t have a pole bolted to your ceiling and floor.

“We do teach certain things that can be practiced at home, against the wall for example,” said Castillo, who added that the gym gave away poles for its recent grand opening – including one that was gold.

Pixie’s is positioned as a small, noncorporate facility that allows the trainers to give their students a one-on-one approach. Other gyms are “kind of cookie cutter,” Castillo said, “so that made the market… attractive to us.”

The idea of a pole dancing studio in the community might raise eyebrows in local government; however, the Stafford powers-that-be have been supportive of the business. The building used to be a daycare center and had been vacant for some time before being permitted for Pixie’s.

“As first-time business owners, it’s challenging to navigate through the permitting and the economic development aspect of setting up a business,” Castillo said. He offered specific praise to Stafford’s Department of Economic Development for

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Co-owner Alvaro Castillo reviews some of the pole-dancing exercises.

ERIC ALTHOFF

ZAKIYA WILLIAMS

Tabatha Ley

Student Aspen De La Cruz practices an exercise at Pixie’s.

moving the process along as well as helping set up a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Ley and Castillo note that Pixie’s is a fitness studio first and foremost.

“We’re not a training academy for adult gentlemen’s clubs,” Castillo said. “We’ll train you to have a very strong core, we’ll train you to do some very amazing things with your body that you don’t think you can do. But there is an element of sensuality to it.”

Ley added that the training is all about fitness. “It’s about training your muscles and training your core to do the tricks you’re trying to do. It’s artistic freedom.”

It’s also about female empowerment: Only women are accepted as students. This isn’t about keeping anyone out, Ley insists, but rather because “you want a woman to feel that empowerment because they’re in a safe space with other women.”

Pixie’s has boots, Spanx and shorts for those who might show up to class having forgotten something. Dressing appropriately is important both for safety as well as to ensure mastery of the poledancing techniques. The gym also offers chalk to help with skin-to-pole contact during workouts.

“Because of the moves you’re doing, if you’re wearing leggings and you try to sit on the pole, you’re immediately going to hit the ground,” Ley said. “It doesn’t feel good to stick to the pole either, but if you want to do the move, you must be able to stick to the pole. So that’s why we recommend tank tops, sports bras and much shorter shorts or skirts. That way you have that skin contact.”

Ley said that once students master the techniques, they can add sensual moves such as dragging their hand over their body

or tossing their hair seductively.

“It’s kind of cool because you teach the technique, then you teach them the sexy part, and then the other interesting part is the transition,” added Castillo. “As you’re crafting your routine, you have to know how to hook one move onto the next through some sort of sexy move.”

The couple recently held a grand opening for Pixie’s, with several dozen people showing up in support. Several expressed gratitude to Ley and Castillo for coming to town.

One of their instructors taught the attendees a demo dance. “It was about a 40-second routine that took maybe five

minutes to learn,” Ley said.

The gym is also available for birthdays, bachelorette parties and other special events. The couple recommends students try different instructors, each of whom have their own style and musical choices.

“It’s all about what you’re feeling [on the] day of,” Ley said. “You’re going to find the one that you like the best.”

And then take the lessons home and perhaps enjoy an “intimate” moment with a partner. (Ley and Castillo also have a pole in their basement at home.)

“We weren’t sure that Stafford was going to embrace us as they did, so it was cool that we had such a good opening,” Castillo said of the warm reception for the Pixie’s alternative fitness model. “This is really kind of a fusion of art and fitness, and we thought that was really neat. And honestly, Tabatha is a really great teacher.”

Eric Althoff is a freelance writer who lives in Stafford County.

For details, class schedules and more, visit pixiespolegym.com

ZAKIYA WILLIAMS

TALKIN’BASEBALL

Ernie Baker offers professional advice to local athletes

BY TRACY BELL

The weather is warming, bats are cracking and fields are freshly raked and mowed.

Baseball players, enjoying the ritual, lace up their cleats and break in their gloves.

For Ernie Baker, whose passion Is baseball, it’s a new season – a chance to teach America’s favorite pastime to local athletes, share his expertise and help young players improve. Baker, a Stafford County resident, is in his 30th year teaching baseball after a stint pitching in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization and later, pivoting to a career as a baseball scout.

“I miss playing,” Baker said of his days on the field. “I’m 57, so the game is past me now.”

But while he may not be physically playing, his love of the game remains.

Baker runs Baker’s Baseball, offering training for youth in baseball and softball and specializing in pitching and hitting.

He holds private, one-on-one and group lessons at Competitive Edge Baseball, a 15,000-square-foot indoor training facility in Fredericksburg.

Baker’s Baseball also holds baseball skills academies and summer baseball and softball conditioning camps, said Baker, who has loved the sport since he was a child. A teacher for 26 years, Baker holds a master’s degree in education and has taught physical education and coached local school baseball teams.

He spent much of his time at C.D. Hylton High School in Prince William County, but has also worked at various Stafford elementary, middle and high schools – most recently, Stafford High School and Moncure Elementary School.

Baker, a relief pitcher, played four seasons in the minor leagues of the St. Louis farm system in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois UniversityEdwardsville and reached Triple-A as his highest level, just below the major leagues. He spent time on teams in places such as Johnson City, Tenn.; Savannah, Ga.; St. Petersburg, Fla., and Louisville, Ky.

Later, he became a professional baseball scout for St. Louis, Baltimore and Kansas City. But Baker said he didn’t turn into a

Two of Ernie Baker’s baseball cards from his time as a pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization.

Ernie Baker gives lessons at Competitive Edge Baseball in Fredericksburg.

DOUG STROUD

DOUG STROUD

college prospect himself until late – and it didn’t come easy, so he’s very proud of it.

“I didn’t start until I was 12,” he said. “I was a big, fat kid.”

Fast forward to being a young professional baseball player, and he was 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds, according to his pro baseball card, a cherished memento.

“You don’t know what you’ll be,” he said of young athletes who are still 11 and 12 years old.

Things changed for Baker because he put in the work, noting he “went to junior college,” dove into conditioning and got a lot better. “No matter what level you’re at, it’s still a lot of work.”

Even on the day of a professional baseball game, he noted, players have already put in three hours of work before the game starts.

In addition to his various training programs, Baker also runs a free annual baseball clinic – to be held this year in late May, at the Fredericksburg Nationals’ stadium. The clinic is a lead-in to the Fredericksburg-based Sunshine Baseball League’s season, which runs in the summer.

As many as 250 athletes come out to participate each year, Baker said.

Sunshine Baseball League is run by Mike Zitz, who built it with funding provided by the late philanthropist Doris Buffett, who lived in Fredericksburg and passed away in 2020.

Baker and Zitz have a storied history and friendship. Decades ago they played on a semi-pro baseball team, the Fredericksburg Giants, which Zitz started and managed as part of the Virginia Baseball League. The team’s name changed a few times.

It was a good time, Baker recalled, reminiscing that some of his fondest memories come from his time on that team – and it was pivotal for other players, too. The team included Julie Croteau, who made headlines in the late 1980s when she tried out for the baseball team at Osbourn Park High School in Manassas, but was cut and sued citing gender discrimination. She lost in court but was recruited to the Giants, then later became the first woman to play and coach men’s NCAA baseball.

Today, Baker is content running Baker’s Baseball, and he has opinions and advice, if asked – from families “seeking so-called better” by leaving rec leagues for just any travel team, to ever-changing modern school systems he feels lack the same cohesion and discipline there once was, to sudden bursts of last-minute-training, expecting drastic results.

In both baseball and life, lessons will be learned.

For Baker, it’s important to teach young athletes to be well-rounded, seeking success in academics and personally, not just on the field.

The skills learned in baseball remain the same; it’s just the level of skill that changes, according to Baker. Well-balanced players can learn how to set themselves apart from the crowd.

He tells his athletes to understand that they’ll make mistakes – they’re inevitable –but doing so and keeping at it means they’ll get better in time.

“You’re going to swing and miss but if you’re going to get better,” he said, “accept that you won’t be perfect.”

Armed with a love of baseball, along with patience and repetition, he said, players are sure to improve.

“It takes a while to get those skills under their belts,” said Baker, speaking from experience. “Working at the game consistently is what will get them there.”

Tracy Bell is a freelance writer who lives in Stafford County.

For more information, visit bakersbaseball.com, compedgebaseball.com and sunshinebaseball.net.

Ernie Baker instructs a young athlete on the finer points of pitching.

DOUG STROUD

From Amazon to BC

North Stafford grad

Ravenel hopes to catch on in CFL

BY DAVID FAWCETT

Devin Ravenel learned some important lessons driving an Amazon delivery truck over the final five months of 2023.

The demanding schedule wore him down at times, especially in December with Christmas around the corner, when the workday lasted 11 hours.

But despite the grind, the North Stafford High School graduate saw the upside in the temporary job.

He had flexible hours. He stuck to a routine when dropping off packages in the Woodbridge/Lorton area. He had money. And most of all, he matured.

Ravenel will take that experience to heart when he competes May 8-10 at rookie camp for the BC Lions of the Canadian

Devin Ravenel caught 48 passes and scored 11 touchdowns during his college career at James Madison University.

Football League. The camp is at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, about a four-hour drive northeast of Vancouver.

“I was so happy to be done, but it definitely built some character,” Ravenel said of working for Amazon. “This was the real world, and it made me work even harder.”

If things had gone the way he wanted, Ravenel would have moved straight from college to the NFL without any breaks. But only one NFL team took a closer look at the former James Madison University wide receiver after the 2023 draft. And that look lasted only a weekend during the Baltimore Ravens’ rookie minicamp last May.

Ravenel, who caught 48 passes for 692 yards and 11 touchdowns during his college career, thought he played well in the

minicamp. And he said the Ravens’ coaches praised his efforts. But with 13 receivers already signed going into training camp, Baltimore told Ravenel there was no room for another one.

Ravenel left the camp despondent as a harsh reality hovered. The former all-region star in high school helped North Stafford go 9-4 his senior season and reach the state semifinals. Was his chance of playing pro football over this quickly?

“It was heart-wrenching,” Ravenel said when he met with the Ravens the final day of the camp to discuss whether they planned to sign him. “It was surreal. You have butterflies. This is a life-changer or a dream-crusher.”

Ravenel said Baltimore told him they would keep him in mind if they needed to bring back another receiver. But in the meantime, Ravenel needed to make other plans.

Enter Amazon and the BC Lions.

The BC Lions always were a possibility. The team reached out to Ravenel in between JMU’s Pro Day in March and before the Ravens’ minicamp. At the time, Ravenel held

JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY

off discussions with the Lions until he knew whether Baltimore would sign him.

When that failed to materialize, it was too late to sign with the Lions. Training camp had already started, and Ravenel had missed too many practices.

While Ravenel stayed in touch with the Lions, he found work at Amazon to hold him over. His football future cleared up, though, when the Lions announced Nov. 27 they had signed Ravenel and six other American players.

The first cut is May 11, when CFL rosters must be at 85 players. The second cut is May 15, when rosters are reduced from 85 to 75 players. Teams must finalize a roster of 65 players one to two days after the last preseason game May 31.

Each team carries an active roster of 46 players, with another 10 on the practice roster. The remaining players can be put on injured reserve. The Lions’ regular-season opener is June 9 in Toronto.

As he waits for another shot with an NFL team, Ravenel's coach at North Stafford, Joe Mangano, reminds him about Joey Slye. Slye played for Mangano as well at North Stafford before becoming an all-ACC kicker at Virginia Tech.

After his final collegiate season in 2017, Slye went undrafted and did not land with an NFL team until 2019 with the Carolina Panthers. He spent the past two seasons as the Washington Commanders’ kicker and recently signed a free-agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Ravenel is good with biding his time. While he hopes for another shot with an NFL team, he’s grateful to have a chance to start his pro football career this way.

“The opportunity allows me to continue to play ball, which is the biggest blessing,”

Ravenel said. “It also allows me to forge a new path for myself that I haven't gotten to experience through others.”

David Fawcett is sports editor of InsideNoVa. He can be reached at dfawcett@insidenova.com.

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Saving the fish that saved a nation

BY DAVID S. KERR

Yes, I am writing about a fish. But it’s not just any fish; it’s the shad.

It’s a species that fed the Native Americans in Stafford County for centuries and later provided the European settlers with desperately needed sustenance. It also held a distinct place in the American Revolution.

An unusually early running of the shad in the winter of 1777-78 on Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River at Valley Forge saved George Washington’s Continental Army from starvation. Had the shad not made the unexpectedly early appearance, our quest for independence and nationhood might have failed. The situation for the American army was that bad.

However, nearly 250 years later, all up and down the MidAtlantic, this remarkable little fish, still popular with local fishermen, is in trouble, and they need our help.

Twenty years ago, the Virginia National Guard blew up the Rappahannock River’s old Embrey Mill Dam. It was dramatic. It was loud, too. After

almost 100 years, the river could run free again. There were a lot of good ecological reasons for doing this, but, for many, it was done with one species of fish in mind – the shad.

This remarkable little fish did its best to not disappoint. Using a species memory that biologists are hard-pressed to explain, the shad made their way to spawning grounds upriver that hadn’t been visited in nearly a century. No one had to show them. They just knew.

However, while prompting an improvement in the river’s ecology, removing the dam didn’t revive the shad’s population. This has been a major disappointment because shad numbers in the Rappahannock haven’t rebounded as much as hoped. Farther south, the situation is downright dire. In the James River, which runs through Richmond, the shad population is in danger of collapse. There are lots of reasons. Physical impediments to spawning, such as dams and bridges, continue to be a problem, but even more hazardous factors are in play. These include pesticides, herbicides and excessively high nitrogen concentrations in the water. This is devastating to marine life.

This little creature not only is an important part of our ecosystem but also a part of our history. Shad sustained us for centuries. Thomas Jefferson even wrote about the shad in his famous “Notes on Virginia.” But now, after all this species did for

us, we’re letting it down, with typical human recklessness.

This noble creature was overfished in the 19th century and then assaulted by industrial pollution in the 20th. Today, the hazards are a little different. Runoff from new residential and commercial developments – both in Stafford and further upstream – which is full of dissolved solids and chemicals, continues to spoil the water chemistry.

This is potentially fatal in every shad habitat.

The challenge is that there seems to be no one thing we can do to bring the shad back from its precarious state. What’s needed – and Virginia and our localities must lead the way – is a concerted conservation effort that attacks the

challenges faced by this beloved fish on a broad front.

We need to develop new approaches to dealing with poor water chemistry (herbicides and pesticides) and runoff, as well as strategies for mitigating the impact of invasive species. Also, we need a much larger program to raise shad in captivity for transfer to the wild.

Half-measures won’t do. We must save this species. If we don’t, if we let these remarkable fish collapse, we will be abandoning a creature that literally made our nation possible.

David Kerr is a Stafford resident and an adjunct professor of political science at VCU. He worked on Capitol Hill and for various federal agencies for many years.

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This John White watercolor depicts Native Americans fishing for shad.