VA VA - Amy Baker, 18, Springfield, 29 March 1989

PrivateEye006 said:

I am looking for any information on a cold case in Virginia - Amy Baker? Has there ever been one on here for this individual? Amy was reported missing and found deceased in the late 80s in the Northern Va area. Her murder has never been solved and I was interested to see if anyone had ever done any "sleuthing" on it. Thank you in advance for any information you all may have regarding past posts.

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On March 29, 1989, Sue Baker had a premonition that something was wrong. It was 11 p.m. and her daughter Amy — who had just turned 18 less than two weeks earlier — had still not returned home. “It was Easter week and she was coming back from visiting my sister and some of her friends in Falls Church,” she said. “She left there at 8:30 p.m. and it was not that long a drive”...

Baker found out that her daughter’s car — a baby blue 1970 Volkswagen Beetle — had been discovered by the Virginia State Police with its flashers blinking sometime around 10 p.m. from the southbound side of Interstate 95 near Backlick Road in Springfield. It had been been considered abandoned and was subsequently towed away...

About 48 hours later — on Good Friday — Sue Baker and her sister-in-law Mary Bellett decided they would search the area themselves... “We were walking around inside the clover-leaf area of the exit ramp when I saw some bright colors among all the brown leaves and twigs,” said Bellett. “I saw blue and white — and then I saw Amy. I saw her, but my brain didn’t register what I was seeing until Sue put her hand on my shoulder and screamed. That sort of brought me back to reality.”

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Amy Baker had been raped, strangled and left partially buried in a pile of leaves. Police continue to search for the person responsible for this gruesome killing...

Police were able to collect forensic evidence at the crime scene, which often helps revive an old investigation. But in this case, DNA testing has only exonerated a string of suspects from Virginia, Tennessee, New York and North Carolina.

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STANDREID said:

A sad case indeed. It strikes me as a little odd that her car was designated as abandoned and towed away after only being there about an hour. Around here, police put a red sticker on cars found by the road and leave them there several days to give the owner time to return with a tow truck or whatever.

Alternatively, I wonder how thoroughly the gas station attendants were questioned. I think it could be possible that she walked back with a can of gas and was, along with the can of gasoline, "given a ride" by a "helpful" stranger when she found that her car had already been towed away.

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Chinadll said:

I guess when I read they found change in her pocket, it made me think... Just maybe it is related. My husband says it would be reaching too far to think the two are related... Maybe so.

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• Amy had turned 18 years old only 2 weeks prior.
• States car broke down on I-95 at 9:30 that night.
• They believe Amy was walking to the gas station to call for help but was abducted before she could make it to the station.
• The car became disabled because it ran out of gas. The gas gauge didn't work.
• Backlick Rd used to go across I95 (it looks like now it runs parallel?). The only businesses in the area were an Exxon gas station and the Newington Motel.
• LE had suspects they were possibly not checking out.
• The aunt's husband is retired a Fairfax police officer.
• In 2013 (at the time of the aunt's post), the assigned detective stated they had a man they would be following up on to obtain DNA, but he retired early, and the case was reassigned (so maybe it's possible some significant leads slipped through the cracks?)
• The DNA tests done in 1989 were completely different from tests done just a few years later and weren't able to be compared to one another. At the time of her post, they were hoping to re-process the evidence for a sample to use for updated DNA testing.
• The weather was warm for March.
• Everyone that worked in the area that night was checked out.
• They don't believe she ever made it to the Exxon station, as she had relatives who were tow truck drivers and they feel she would have called them if she'd made it. This wasn't the first time she'd dealt with a broken-down car.
• Sounds like Amy's key's were missing. The aunt states that she's heard conflicting stories about the keys.
• Amy's family had a lot of trouble getting support from the local community (in the area where her body was found) & LE, as well as continual issues with lack of media exposure/interest.

• Sexually assaulted, strangled, partially covered with leaves
• Possibly a homeless camp in the immediate area
• A friend of Amy's states Newington wasn't very safe back in '89, that Amy knew that, and that Amy wouldn't have left her car unless it was an emergency.
• An anonymous poster stated they hung out with a guy and two girls around the Christmas before Amy was murdered. She later heard a story that one of these girls was "killed off some highway down in VA". She states she remembers the girl looked similar to Amy, but with a buzzed haircut. She states the girls name ended in an "i" or a "y". Amy's aunt responded that Amy's hair had been shorter during that time period, but wasn't a buzz cut.
• Someone posted a blog that references Amy's case numerous times (go to his home page to look through all the posts). It also makes repeated references to VA Tech, among other subjects. The writing seems obsessive, paranoid, and delusional, but I don't think he's involved in her murder based on some inaccuracies in his writings. MOO. Regardless, his writings are pretty disturbing.
• A HS classmate posted about another classmate they were in class with that was imprisoned for a violent rape in his teens. Another classmate posted further down the thread that they thought this individual had been incarcerated prior to Amy's death.
• Someone posted about UID skeletal remains discovered in Centreville, VA, off I-66 near where it intersects with Rte. 29. She was also covered in leaves and dirt, according to an article cited in this blog: Unidentified Female in 1993 Centerville ,Fairfax County,Va. She also has a thread here in WS. There was a serial killer trucker by the name of Boyer whose route took him through VA. Kimster posted a link above. I dug through the link and found that it's believed that Boyer would have travelled via I-66 and/or I-95

Chloedancerva said:

Qwill Pen,

thank you so much for your detailed takeaways from the various reports. I have been looking into Amy’s case for several years. Her mother, Sue, is one of my Mother-in-law’s best friends; she remains in so much pain and the anniversary of her daughter’s death crushes her every year for a couple of months.
The family has had to continue to be Amy’s advocate, making calls and keeping up with any leads. Every 3-4 years LE contacts her with the smallest of information, nothing that gives any hope.
During the last week of this past July Sue received a call from LE in the Cold Case division in Fairfax. I haven’t been able to get all the details, but apparently they are taking a new look and may be trying the DNA route in a better way?
I will update with anything I find or learn from my MIL. Again, thank you for your work on this and giving me a little more hope that the *advertiser censored* will be found!
Chloe

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The•Qwill•Pen said:

1989 Homicide of Amy Baker

This is a local forum I found with some informative posts, including many by Amy's aunt (one of the family members that found her body). A few posts were downright creepy--the last one in particular caught my eye with it's specificity, although no telling its significance without knowing if the post's details match the evidence. Anyway, I'm curious if anyone else picks up on anything useful.

A few takeaways for me:
Per Amy's aunt:

• Amy had turned 18 years old only 2 weeks prior.
• States car broke down on I-95 at 9:30 that night.
• They believe Amy was walking to the gas station to call for help but was abducted before she could make it to the station.
• The car became disabled because it ran out of gas. The gas gauge didn't work.
• Backlick Rd used to go across I95 (it looks like now it runs parallel?). The only businesses in the area were an Exxon gas station and the Newington Motel.
• LE had suspects they were possibly not checking out.
• The aunt's husband is retired a Fairfax police officer.
• In 2013 (at the time of the aunt's post), the assigned detective stated they had a man they would be following up on to obtain DNA, but he retired early, and the case was reassigned (so maybe it's possible some significant leads slipped through the cracks?)
• The DNA tests done in 1989 were completely different from tests done just a few years later and weren't able to be compared to one another. At the time of her post, they were hoping to re-process the evidence for a sample to use for updated DNA testing.
• The weather was warm for March.
• Everyone that worked in the area that night was checked out.
• They don't believe she ever made it to the Exxon station, as she had relatives who were tow truck drivers and they feel she would have called them if she'd made it. This wasn't the first time she'd dealt with a broken-down car.
• Sounds like Amy's key's were missing. The aunt states that she's heard conflicting stories about the keys.
• Amy's family had a lot of trouble getting support from the local community (in the area where her body was found) & LE, as well as continual issues with lack of media exposure/interest.

Per other posts/articles:

• Sexually assaulted, strangled, partially covered with leaves
• Possibly a homeless camp in the immediate area
• A friend of Amy's states Newington wasn't very safe back in '89, that Amy knew that, and that Amy wouldn't have left her car unless it was an emergency.
• An anonymous poster stated they hung out with a guy and two girls around the Christmas before Amy was murdered. She later heard a story that one of these girls was "killed off some highway down in VA". She states she remembers the girl looked similar to Amy, but with a buzzed haircut. She states the girls name ended in an "i" or a "y". Amy's aunt responded that Amy's hair had been shorter during that time period, but wasn't a buzz cut.
• Someone posted a blog that references Amy's case numerous times (go to his home page to look through all the posts). It also makes repeated references to VA Tech, among other subjects. The writing seems obsessive, paranoid, and delusional, but I don't think he's involved in her murder based on some inaccuracies in his writings. MOO. Regardless, his writings are pretty disturbing.
• A HS classmate posted about another classmate they were in class with that was imprisoned for a violent rape in his teens. Another classmate posted further down the thread that they thought this individual had been incarcerated prior to Amy's death.
• Someone posted about UID skeletal remains discovered in Centreville, VA, off I-66 near where it intersects with Rte. 29. She was also covered in leaves and dirt, according to an article cited in this blog: Unidentified Female in 1993 Centerville ,Fairfax County,Va. She also has a thread here in WS. There was a serial killer trucker by the name of Boyer whose route took him through VA. Kimster posted a link above. I dug through the link and found that it's believed that Boyer would have travelled via I-66 and/or I-95

https://longhaulterritorykiller.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/amy-baker/
Possible Routes of Travel
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https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5710&context=etd

The above is a dissertation from 1995 (p. 203) that I found online. Not sure if the timeline is slightly off? (date missing is documented as 3/31, but per aunt was reported missing 3/30)

Per this report:
Discovered partially clothed
Ligature strangulation
Sexual motive
Physical evidence can ID a suspect
There was a named suspect (in '95)

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