This is part of our August cover story, which also highlights the work of NoVA cold case squads and includes information about advancements in DNA technologies and the use of forensics to solve a decades-long cold case.
Advancements in DNA and forensics is leading to more solved cold cases. But there are still plenty of cases in need of more evidence before closing the case. As part of our August cover story on Northern Virginia’s Cold Case units, we are spotlighting some of the cases still looking for answers. Here are 11 cold cases still under investigation.
Fairfax County Unsolved Cold Cases
Surinder Sharma
Date of Incident: April 22, 2000
Surinder Sharma, 43, was found stabbed to death at the Woodlawn Super 7 convenience store he owned on Richmond Highway. Because visible, valuable items were not taken from the scene, police do not believe robbery was the motive.
Debbie Anwyll
Date of Incident: March 8, 1979
Shortly after returning home from school, 14-year-old Debbie Anwyll was murdered in her house on Morning Springs Lane in Fairfax’s Greenbriar neighborhood. A family member arrived home and found Anwyll’s body, stabbed multiple times, in the living room.
Bobby and Patricia Quisenberry
Date of Incident: July 14, 1997
Fifty-six-year-old Bobby Quisenberry, an aerospace consultant, and his wife, 55-year-old Patricia, a purchasing manager for a computer software firm, were fatally shot at their townhouse on Lagersfield Circle in Vienna. Their silver Oldsmobile Aurora was later found on Maxwell Drive
in Camp Springs, Maryland.
Prince William County Unsolved Cold Cases
Karen Rose Scarbrough, Sharon Inboden Lake, and Deborah Werner Frank
Date of Incident: June 24, 1978
Known locally as “The Dale City Triple,” Karen Rose Scarbrough, 17, Sharon Inboden Lake, 25, and
Deborah Werner Frank, 23, were found dead in a Ryland Homes sales trailer in Woodbridge at 6:45 p.m. Autopsies revealed that all three women died from gunshots. Scarbrough was a recent high school graduate and was working her first job at the sales trailer. Lake lived in Dale City and was helping Frank — who was preparing for a move to the area — find a home.
Lisa Renee Triggs
Date of Incident: May 21, 1986
At 7:30 p.m., 15-year-old Lisa Renee Triggs left the Giant Food store at Center Plaza on Dale Boulevard in Dale City and began walking home, but she never arrived. After an area-wide search, Triggs’ body was found on May 24 in the woods behind the Dale City Recreation Center. The autopsy revealed blunt force trauma.
Patricia Ann Moore
Date of Incident: July 15, 1970
On July 15, 1970, 10-year-old Clifton resident Patricia Ann Moore went missing as she walked from Clifton Road to visit a friend who lived on Maple Branch Road. On October 10, pieces of her clothing and scattered skeletal remains were found in a wooded area north of Old Colchester Road in Woodbridge. The cause and manner of death are still undetermined.
Judith Lynn Rue
Date of Incident: August 18, 1982
Twenty-six-year-old Judith Lynn Rue was last seen at Prince William Hospital’s Health Office at 11 a.m. At about 3 p.m. on the same day, her body was found near 6700 Davis Ford Rd. in Manassas. The autopsy revealed death by strangulation.
Fauquier County Unsolved Cold Cases
Bryan Michael Mace
Date of Incident: April 9, 2003
Bryan Mace, 20, was found dead by his stepfather in his home on Elk Run Road in the Midland area of Fauquier County. The autopsy revealed that a gunshot was the cause of death. Evidence at the scene suggests Mace may have interrupted a burglary. The home was ransacked, and an extensive gun collection was missing. After Mace was shot, the residence was set on fire. Mace worked with his stepfather at Rayco Roof Services in Manassas.
Loudoun County Unsolved Cold Cases
Agnes Banwell
Date of Incident: July 2, 1994
Eighty-year-old Agnes Banwell disappeared a few days after moving from New York to live with her son at East D Street in Purcellville. A massive land and air search yielded no results, and her body was never found.
Lorenzo Smith Jr.
Date of Incident: June 20, 1982
Lorenzo Smith Jr., 34, a skilled horse rider and groomer, left Middleburg Training Track to travel with his employer to Saratoga Springs, New York, where they planned to sell horses. His employer said Smith fell ill and visited a local medical facility, and then he boarded a bus bound for Washington, DC. Smith never reached his destination and has been missing ever since.
Jane Doe
Date of Incident: August 18, 1973
An unidentified young Black woman was found shot to death on an embankment in the Lincoln area of rural Loudoun County. She was dressed as if she had been attending a special event.
If you have information regarding any of these cases, please contact:
Fairfax County
Call the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 2. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477) or online at fairfaxcrimesolvers.org.
Loudoun County
Contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit at 571-258-3126.
Fauquier County
Contact the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office at 540-347-3300 or the Criminal Investigation Division at 540-422-8650.
Prince William County
Contact the Prince William County Police Department tipline at 703-792-7000 or submit a tip at
pwcva.gov/policetip.
Feature image courtesy Prince William County Police Department
This story originally ran in our August issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
