GUILTY VA - Lenny Harris, 53, robbed & murdered, Alexandria, 21 Sept 2011

[dreamweaver]

http://www.facebook.com/AlexandriaVAGov

News article and comments on Alexandria VA FB page.

 

[everyoneneedsavoice]

New video report

Video shows a "closer up" of the tattoo...also confirms our own Belimom's post on ATM location...

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/l..._s_Disappearance_Washington_DC-130608848.html

 

[belimom]

(OT: A friend of mine from high school just had twins today, and I downloaded their pics from FB to send to my brother. By mistake, I picked two screenshots of the tattoo that I had downloaded from the NBC video. I didn't realize it until my brother wrote back, totally confused... oops.)

 

[belimom]

Now on Fox DC --- more exposure. Also clarifies some things (bbm):

When Deborah Harris hadn't heard from her husband she tried to track his iPhone using GPS. A police officer found it on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Police are also still looking for Lenny Harris's car. It's been described as a light blue 1994 Toyota Corolla with Virginia tags XKG-8385.

If Alexandria police know who called Lenny Harris last Wednesday night they are not saying.

No one knows where he was heading.

Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/vir...ist-lenny-harris-missing-092711#ixzz1ZBxTdsEp

 

[Gardenlady]

"No one knows where he was heading"? I thought earlier articles said he had been on his way to the adult correctional center for a meeting or work or something??

 

[belimom]

"No one knows where he was heading"? I thought earlier articles said he had been on his way to the adult correctional center for a meeting or work or something??

I think that he got the phone call and went to meet with that person - or something along those lines. He left the meeting after getting the phone call. So I don't think anyone knew at the time who had called him or who he was going to meet.

As far as the presentation at the correctional facility, I believe that was the next day. There was a famous boxer speaking and I think Lenny had something to do with putting it together. But he never showed.

I could be wrong and I'll try to find the links just for clarification.

ETA: Here's something about the meeting on Thursday, which was the day after he went missing:

...he failed to show up for a presentation at the Alexandria Adult Detention Center on Thursday...

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=354529&paper=88&cat=104

 

[everyoneneedsavoice]

His car is still missing, but police tracked his iPhone Thursday to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in an emergency pulloff lane on the outer loop heading toward Maryland.

HE founded Operation Hope, a non-profit that provides free services to the community, including the annual One Love festival.

“Alexandria needs him as much as his family does because he did--and he does--care about his community,” said Jason Felder, a friend of Harris. He doesn’t believe Harris left by his own accord, saying that there were no signs Harris was acting strangely.

“Let him come home. He has a family --and we love him--no matter what,” Felder said.


http://news1.capitalbay.com/news/wa...-lenny-harris-community-activist-missing.html

 

[everyoneneedsavoice]

Updated article...(not sure what has been added / updated...just snipped some of the info. clarifying some of our earlier questions).

Lenny Harris was last seen around 9 pm last Wednesday night when witnesses say Harris got a call on his cell phone, and surveillance cameras recorded him leaving the rec center, getting into his car and making a right turn on Alfred Street.

When [his wife-name redacted by me] hadn't heard from her husband she tried to track his iPhone using GPS. A police officer found it on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/vir...ist-lenny-harris-missing-092711#ixzz1ZDmosMCk

 

[EllaMae]

This poor guy. It doesn't sound good.

 

[Lera213]

This is a really long shot but to me I see a little likeness with this sketch of a person who raped and robbed a woman today or last night in Virginia Beach. Suppose he got cash and heading south, stopped at the beach in the same apartments as this woman who was raped?

Probably not, just noticed in the ATM photo the guy looks like his eyes are far apart from each other and the mustache

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/crime/woman-raped%2C-robbed-in-her-apartment

 

[belimom]

Glad to see that Lenny's story is being picked up by more and more news outlets - here's a story on the Huffington Post. Not anything new as far as I can tell, but at least it's getting out there:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/27/lenwood-harris-disappearance_n_984006.html

 

[Cubby]

Bumping for Lenny.

:bump:

praying he is found safe and soon. Keeping his family, friends and community in my prayers as well.

 

[Shin Masamura]

Guest what, i ran the tattoo by a gang unit member via email, i cant repost what he said but that tattoo is usually numbers of the alphabit meaning if you have the numbers 3 18 9 16, what do u get.. but to him this tattoo is not familiar..

 

[belimom]

I agree - where is Lenny?!?

Where is Lenny Harris?
Prominent civic activist has been missing since last week.

By Michael Lee Pope
Thursday, September 29, 2011

Lenny Harris was last seen at a place that was close to his heart, the Charles Houston Recreation Center. This was where he helped mentor generations of children and conducted community meetings and spent time with old friends. But Wednesday, Sept. 21, was different. It was the day the civic activist seemed to vanish in thin air. He was reported missing that day, and news spread quickly through the community.

(snip)

On Thursday, Harris didn’t show up for an event at the Alexandria jail, where he was supposed to be part of an inspirational program to inspire inmates.

More at http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=354544&paper=59&cat=104

ETA: This is new info... also from the above link. I personally don't think he's in the river - or if he is I don't think he was thrown from the bridge. Too much traffic, and even traffic cams, etc. I had told DH that someone could have gone downriver and put his body in someplace more secluded. But DH seems to think that would be too hard and because the Potomac is so shallow he would be found too soon. You have to go way out to get to the narrow channel that has any depth to it. At low tide, it's mud flats in many places along the shore.: (bbm)

Considering that his wallet was found on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, some have speculated that he may have ended up in the river.

 

[Just-a-Guy]

This is a really long shot but to me I see a little likeness with this sketch of a person who raped and robbed a woman today or last night in Virginia Beach. Suppose he got cash and heading south, stopped at the beach in the same apartments as this woman who was raped?

Probably not, just noticed in the ATM photo the guy looks like his eyes are far apart from each other and the mustache

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/crime/woman-raped%2C-robbed-in-her-apartment

Hm, I think you could be on to something. There is a remarkable similarity, the proximity works, a crime followed by another one.... If so, it will likely continue and get worse.

 

[bessie]

This case has me hooked Worried, too. Poor Lenny. It's not looking good. . There is a resemblance in the two images. Not sure what to make of it yet. I'm really interested in the tat. I tried to enlarge the first one but the quality was awful. Will take a look at new pics this evening.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ETA: Nice sleuthing, everyone. Thank you for the local perspective, belimom, especially in ID'ing the ATM. :thumb:

 

[Gardenlady]

Bottom row of the tat, the last two things on the right look like the letters RJ or AJ? or even KS?

I still need to hop on my laptop and see if I can enlarge it and get a better look.

With the wallet found on the bridge, and his ATM card presumably having been IN the wallet, how likely is it that someone would be walking by and found it lying there? on a bridge? We lived/worked in DC for about 5 yrs back in the late 90s, but I'm completely unfamiliar with this bridge, and even most of the Alexandria area (we lived in PG county, and mostly used public transport around DC/surroundings). Would the Ww bridge get any foot traffic? Or should we assume that this guy didn't just find the card, but had it because he was somehow involved in leaving the wallet in the bridge?

Or maybe a friend passed it to him after taking it from Lenny? Either way, he would have key information about what happened to Lenny.

 

[belimom]

Bottom row of the tat, the last two things on the right look like the letters RJ or AJ? or even KS?

I still need to hop on my laptop and see if I can enlarge it and get a better look.

With the wallet found on the bridge, and his ATM card presumably having been IN the wallet, how likely is it that someone would be walking by and found it lying there? on a bridge? We lived/worked in DC for about 5 yrs back in the late 90s, but I'm completely unfamiliar with this bridge, and even most of the Alexandria area (we lived in PG county, and mostly used public transport around DC/surroundings). Would the Ww bridge get any foot traffic? Or should we assume that this guy didn't just find the card, but had it because he was somehow involved in leaving the wallet in the bridge?

Or maybe a friend passed it to him after taking it from Lenny? Either way, he would have key information about what happened to Lenny.

bbm

The bridge is the one going from Alexandria over to PG County (Oxon Hill/Ft Washington area). It was recently rebuilt - actually, a new one was built and the old one torn down. There is a pedestrian lane on one side, but it is the inner loop, heading into Virginia. His phone was found on the outer loop, going from Virginia to Maryland - and there is no pedestrian lane on that side. No one ever walks/rides their bike on that side because it's I-95 and sees major traffic daily and all hours of the day/night.

I don't know if this guy is involved in Lenny's disappearance or not. I'm still baffled that someone involved in a major crime like a disappearance would be so bold as to use an ATM card right at the court house - on King Street. I still think that someone meant to throw the phone/wallet into the river from the bridge but didn't throw far enough. JMHO

ETA: Here you can see the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on a map and then a photo showing the pedestrian lane on the inner loop, which is not the side they found the phone on.

(looking from Maryland back over to Virginia)


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YZ_cMpO2Fu0/TZhyJyr236I/AAAAAAAASRg/wF43ikOOeg0/s640/IMG_5055.JPG

 

[Gardenlady]

Ok so if no pedestrian lane where the wallet was found... Chances are that this guy got the card directly from whomever was involved in Lenny's disappearance (or is THE guy, or one of the guys, or WITH the guys who caused his disappearance).

Unless they took the cards/ID out of the wallet, and tossed them out the window separately from the wallet, in other places, and THEN some random guy picks it up and tries to use it?

And yeah, a perp would be awful dumb to use the card if he were directly involved. But then again, he is apparently getting away with doing just that. With his hat on and pulled down, you can't really tell who he is. Sort of a generic young guy with hat, dark haired goatee, and tats. Could be any one of thousands of guys, and by the picture, you can't even really narrow down even his race. :banghead:

Though you think by now someone would have recognized the tat, it's pretty large.

I hope we aren't looking at some generic robbery gone bad. Of all the people to fall victim to such a thing, it would be a cruel irony for it to have happened to a man who appears to have worked tirelessly to improve his community and help others.

 

[Just-a-Guy]

Ok so if no pedestrian lane where the wallet was found... Chances are that this guy got the card directly from whomever was involved in Lenny's disappearance (or is THE guy, or one of the guys, or WITH the guys who caused his disappearance).

Unless they took the cards/ID out of the wallet, and tossed them out the window separately from the wallet, in other places, and THEN some random guy picks it up and tries to use it?

And yeah, a perp would be awful dumb to use the card if he were directly involved. But then again, he is apparently getting away with doing just that. With his hat on and pulled down, you can't really tell who he is. Sort of a generic young guy with hat, dark haired goatee, and tats. Could be any one of thousands of guys, and by the picture, you can't even really narrow down even his race. :banghead:

Though you think by now someone would have recognized the tat, it's pretty large.

I hope we aren't looking at some generic robbery gone bad. Of all the people to fall victim to such a thing, it would be a cruel irony for it to have happened to a man who appears to have worked tirelessly to improve his community and help others.

It wasn't the wallet that was found on the bridge, it was the cell phone.