May 18, 2021
Police
CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, VA – Chesterfield County police have arrested a man in connection with the murder of Linda E. Lunsford.
Lunsford, 38, was last seen alive on Dec. 26, 1996. She was reported missing by family that night. After years of investigating what was initially a suspicious missing person case, investigators concluded that Lunsford was deceased, though her remains have not been recovered. This case is classified as a death investigation, specifically a no-body homicide.
On Monday, May 17, 2021, detectives presented the facts of this case to the Chesterfield County Grand Jury and obtained an indictment for first-degree murder for John H. Howard, 62, of the 17500 block of Pouncey Tract Road in Hanover County.
Howard was arrested on Tuesday, May 18, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. Howard is being held in the Chesterfield County Jail without bond pending a court hearing at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 19.
Personnel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) also assisted with this decades-long investigation.
Photo: John H. Howard