A 17-year-old Fredericksburg teen reported missing on May 19, has been found safe.
She and 39-year-old Ronnie Reel were found in Woodbridge on May 22 around 7:15 p.m. The teenager is being reunited with her family, and Reel is now in police custody.
Crime
The child’s mother was with the infant inside a nearby business when first responders arrived. Fire rescue crews rushed the baby to Mary Washington Hospital, but the infant was later pronounced deceased.
According to the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office, investigators determined the child had been left in a car seat inside a vehicle for an extended period while the mother was at work. The vehicle was not running and the heat index was high at the time. The 42-year-old mother from Stafford County was arrested and charged with child endangerment and child abuse. She was taken to the Rappahannock Regional Jail.
Fredericksburg Police are searching for three masked suspects who assaulted victims at gunpoint Monday night in the 600 block of Kenmore Avenue.
Five people, including an 18-year-old and four juveniles, face charges after a mob assault on another juvenile in the England Run area of Stafford County.
Deputies responded on May 8, 2026, after camera footage showed four suspects attacking the victim on May 7 around 11 a.m. The assault stemmed from a prior incident. Detectives identified the group, learned firearms were involved, and recovered a gun during a traffic stop and search. The suspects admitted to the assault and robbing the victim of a firearm. A fifth suspect who filmed the incident was later identified and charged.
Officers were called to the 1200 block of Potomac Vista Drive around 8:58 p.m. on May 12. The victim had already been taken to a hospital by a family member, where he later died. Police said the man was involved in a fight with one person when a third man pulled out a gun and shot him. The two suspects left the area.
Detectives do not believe the shooting was random. Anyone with information or who witnessed the incident is asked to contact the police. Additional details will be released as they become available.
By Shirleen Guerra
(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, examining whether its policies on plea bargaining and sentencing discriminate against U.S. citizens.
By Shirleen Guerra
(The Center Square) – Federal agents executed court-authorized search warrants Wednesday at properties in Portsmouth tied to Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, according to the FBI.
Virginia State Police closed a 52-year-old homicide case after determining that the husband of Shirley L. Washington, 33, of Washington, D.C., was responsible for her murder. She was found with eight stab wounds in Conway Robinson State Forest outside Gainesville on December 8, 1973. The suspect died in 2013, and Prince William County prosecutors say evidence supports his involvement, but the case cannot be prosecuted due to time passed and other factors.
The Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Fairfax Field Office has closed a 52-year-old homicide investigation. Shirley L. Washington, 33, of Washington, D.C. was found murdered in Conway Robinson State Forest outside Gainesville, Va., on December 8, 1973. Investigative work from BCI Special Agents has now determined that Washington’s husband, Clarence E. Washington, of Washington, D.C., was involved in her death. Clarence Washington died in 2013 at age 68, and the Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office has stated that if not for his death, the case would have been prosecuted.
Prince William County detectives arrested an 18-year-old Dumfries man Wednesday in connection with the fatal shooting of another 18-year-old during a confrontation near basketball courts in the 1800 block of Potomac Shores Parkway.
Kennsington Duane Adams, 18, of Dumfries, was taken into custody at his home with help from the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force. He faces charges of second-degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, discharge of a firearm into an occupied dwelling, willful discharge of a firearm in a public place, and concealed carry. He is being held without bond; a court date is pending.
The Fredericksburg Police Department announced the arrest of 23-year-old Hien Dinh of Stafford County in connection with three sexual battery incidents reported along the Canal Path and Heritage Trail in March 2026.
Dinh, who has faced multiple prior sexual assault and battery charges across Northern Virginia jurisdictions dating back to 2021, was taken into custody March 31 and is being held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail.