WASHINGTON — Several Alexandria streets were closed Tuesday as police recruits conducted a grid search in the area where a 59-year-old woman was killed in her home last week.
Almost 90 recruits were dispatched to systematically check the Ridge Road Drive area.
“The objective is to have the manpower to walk through the whole scene and make sure we aren’t missing any evidence,” says Crystal Nosal with the Alexandria Police Department.
“They walked a grid pattern over every single place that they could walk,” she says.
Ruthanne Lodato was gunned down when she answered a knock at her door on Thursday. Police say the suspect shot Lodato and a caregiver working at the home around 11:30 a.m. and then fled.
Lodato, a former music teacher in Alexandria, later died. The caregiver, whose name police have not released, is expected to survive.
Investigators are looking for the suspect who they describe as an older, white, balding man with a gray beard. Officials say Tuesday’s road closures are not for a search for the suspect.
The department is also encouraging citizens to contact them with any concerns.
Related Links:
- FBI joins investigation into Lodato’s murder
- Church family mourns loss of Lodato
- Scant details released about Alexandria manhunt
- Woman shot in Alexandria home dies
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