Countywide

Police may have found the body of Hannah Choi, a missing Kingstowne woman who Fairfax County police believe was murdered.

Charles County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland notified the Fairfax County Police Department yesterday (Thursday) morning that a body was found in Piscataway Park, where the department previously had searched more than 800 acres looking for Choi’s remains.


Countywide

A former Reston resident was sentenced yesterday (Wednesday) to 20 years years in prison for his role in a drug-related murder that happened in Reston in 2011.

Saul Pacheco Mejia, 55, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in a drug trafficking conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.


Countywide

(updated at 6 p.m.) Fairfax County police are searching for a Kingstowne man charged with murder after his former girlfriend went missing.

Hannah Choi, 35, was last seen in the 5300 block of Jesmond Street in Kingstowne, where she and her ex-boyfriend Joel Merino lived together, police said.


Countywide

Invasive Spiders Could Reach D.C. Area — “An invasive species of spider the size of a child’s hand is expected to “colonize” the entire East Coast this spring by parachuting down from the sky, researchers at the University of Georgia announced last week.” [Axios]

Ramp Closure Coming to I-66 Near Vienna — “Travel lanes on Nutley Street will shift and the ramp from Nutley Street South to I-66 West will be closed as part of work planned for this weekend, March 11-14, for the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Project. Drivers heading from Nutley Street South to I-66 West will proceed..past the current ramp to turn right at a traffic signal onto a temporary ramp to access the interstate. This detour will remain in place for approximately three weeks.” [VDOT]


Countywide

Woman Dies in Crash on I-495 — Virginia State Police are investigating a fatal crash on I-495 near the Eisenhower Avenue Connector in the Rose Hill area. The crash occurred at 9:27 p.m. on Saturday (March 5) when a sedan hit a disabled vehicle, causing it to catch fire. The driver of the disabled vehicle died at the scene, while the sedan driver suffered minor injuries and was arrested on multiple charges, including driving under the influence. [Virginia State Police, InsideNova]

Trial for McLean Murder Suspect Begins — “Fairfax County police quickly announced that what unfolded inside the large, yellow home in McLean in 2017 appeared to be a tragic murder-suicide…But after a 16-month investigation, police offered a stunning turnabout: what initially appeared to be a murder-suicide was allegedly a double killing. They claimed the scene had been carefully staged by the real perpetrator.” [The Washington Post]


Countywide

A George Mason University professor was stabbed to death in his Oakton home near Vienna Wednesday night, Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a press conference today (Thursday).

Michael Buschmann, 59, was found dead in the house in the 9800 block of Palace Green Way after police received several calls reporting his 26-year-old son Axel Buschmann walking around shirtless, covered in blood, and holding a knife.


Countywide

Tysons Mass Vaccine Site Tweaks Hours — “Beginning Tuesday, March 1, the Tysons Community Vaccination Center (CVC) located at 7950 Tysons Corner Center, McLean, will be open five days a week, Tuesday-Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.” [Fairfax County Health Department]

Alleged Serial Killer Still Not Charged in Fairfax County — Local police and prosecutors have yet to find enough evidence to charge a man that police dubbed the “Shopping Cart Killer” in the death of California resident Stephanie Harrison, one of two women whose remains were found in Huntington in December. [WTOP]


Countywide

Police are still trying to determine what provoked a man to shoot and kill one man and injure another early Saturday evening in Hybla Valley.

According to Howard Ludwig, Fairfax County police spokesman, it started around 6:20 p.m. on Richmond Highway at Dart Drive at the bus stop. That is where the suspect reportedly became involved in an argument with the victim and shot him.


News

Fairfax County saw six more homicides in 2021 than in the previous year, the Fairfax County Police Department says, citing an unusually high number of adult children killing parents and other family members.

According to the department’s annual crime summary, Fairfax County police recorded 21 homicides last year compared to 15 in 2020.


News

(Updated at 2:35 p.m.) A plastic container found in the Huntington area near Route 1 on Wednesday (Dec. 15) contained the remains of two people that Fairfax County police believe to be the victims of a serial killer.

While not scientifically confirmed yet, police have determined based on a distinctive tattoo that one of the individuals found is likely Cheyenne Brown, a 29-year-old D.C. resident who went missing after taking the Metro to Huntington on Sept. 30.