Who Killed Gwen Ames? Reston's First Homicide Remains Unsolved

RESTON, VA — Gwen Ames, 17, was strangled to death 49 years ago this Friday, as she was walking home from a dance at Lake Anne Plaza.

Carol Hertle-Sena was just 10 years old when she first learned of her cousin's death. Her uncle, ArDee Ames, was Gwen's father.

"I can remember being home," Hertle-Sena said, during a recent phone interview with Patch. "We were just relaxing and watching TV and the phone rang and it was my Uncle ArDee. I just remember my mother crying. She was in shock with the news."

From her home on Long Island, Hertle-Sena recalled her mother making plans to fly down to Washington Dulles Airport with Gwen's grandmother to attend the funeral.

"We were devastated, completely devastated and in shock," she said.

While some thoughts were painful to remember, Hertle-Sena also shared some happy memories of her cousin.

"We spent holidays together when they lived up here," she said. "It's just so heartbreaking. She was so special to all of us. ... Just a beautiful person, a beautiful person full of life. Energetic, funny, very funny. Always making jokes, making us laugh."

In the 49 years since Gwen Ames was killed, Fairfax County Police have been unable to identify a suspect in Reston's first homicide.

Hertle-Sena reached out recently to FCPD's Cold Case Unit and spoke to the detective in charge of the case. She wanted him to know that despite the passage of time, Gwen Ames had family who are still waiting for answers.

"We still care. We still want to know what happened to her," she said. "Who did this? Somebody out there must know something, maybe the person that did it. Maybe he or she is long gone, but there has to be somebody in that area still. I just wanted him to know that her family up here in New York still thinks about her. We still care. We want closure."

Reston's First Homicide

At the time of her death, Gwen Ames had only just started putting her life back together after falling into drug use a year before, her parents told The Washington Post in June 1972. ["Death on a Path Ends a Girl's Fresh Start" by Tom Huth, Washington Post, June 7, 1972]

With the help of counseling from Fairfax County's Crossroads program, the Herndon High School junior had abstained from using drugs during the previous eight months and was looking toward a future beyond high school, the family said.

The Washington Post published the full text of the eulogy ArDee Ames delivered during the June 6, 1972, funeral at Washington Plaza Baptist Church in Reston. ["She Was a Symbol of Hope to Us All" by ArDee Ames, Washington Post, June 7, 1972] He spoke about his daughter's struggles with heroin use and subsequent recovery.

"There were little signs, but they meant a lot to us because we had a very special relationship with Gwen this last year," he said. "Because at this time last year she was deep in drugs and she had pulled herself out. We saw her getting better and these last few months have just been an absolute joy to her mother and me in terms of the progress she was making. And that's what makes it especially painful."

The family planned to visit Mexico that summer, after Gwen Ames had expressed an interest taking a special Spanish language program and maybe becoming an interpreter at the United Nations, according to her father. She had also developed an interest in modern dance and talked about becoming a professional dancer on Broadway.

The weekend of June 3-4, 1972 started off as one of celebration, as the community planned a number of events and activities around the annual Reston Birthday Festival.

Many of the weekend's festivities would take place at Lake Anne Plaza, which was just a short walk away from the Ames' home on Waterview Cluster. Saturday evening would end with the Spring Dance on the plaza.

On Saturday night, Gwen Ames ate dinner at home with her parents before heading off to the dance with her boyfriend, Rick Reilinger, according to The Reston Times ["Autopsy Shows Murder Caused Gwen's Death" The Reston Times, June 8, 1972].

The couple returned to the Ames' home around 1:05 a.m., on Sunday. Gwen's mother, Priscilla Ames, came downstairs to talk to them, as her daughter fixed a bologna sandwich for her boyfriend. About 5 minutes later, Gwen asked her mother if she and Reilinger could return to the dance.

Priscilla Ames told The Reston Times in 1972 she would normally have said, "No," but with the dance winding down, she knew plenty of adults would be on the plaza. She gave her permission, went upstairs, and heard the front door close around 1:20 a.m.

The following timeline outlining the progression of events after Gwen Ames said good night to her mother was assembled from contemporary reports published by The Reston Times, Washington Evening Star, and Washington Post.

1:20 A.M (Approximate)

Rick Reilinger and Gwen Ames left the Ames' home located at 11432 Waterview Cluster. A short time after arriving at Lake Anne Plaza, Gwen told Reilinger she wanted to go home and walked off on her own.

1;42 A.M. (Approximate)
Teens on the plaza later told police they saw Gwen Ames walking near the Heron House, a 15-story condominium building just off of Lake Anne Plaza. She would have to walk past it to access The Blue Trail, which would take her to The Green Trail back to the Waterview Cluster neighborhood.

1:57 A.M.
Around 1:57 a.m., a group of teens were walking up The Green Trail from the wooden bridge toward Waterview Cluster, when they spotted what they first thought was a boy "just lying there" under the walkway's railing, according to the Reston Times. They called to the reclining figure, but one of them recognized Gwen and jumped over the fence. He felt her pulse, while another teen ran back to Lake Anne Plaza to find Fairfax County Police Officer John Mueller.

In the meantime, a former Reston Homeowners Association lifeguard began administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to Gwen and a local doctor was retrieved to provide assistance.

Joseph and Lois Stowers, who lived at 11448 Waterview Cluster, were returning from a neighbor's home when they heard "some kids talking loudly and excitedly," according to the Washington Evening Star ["Reston Girl Was Slain" by Michael Satchell, Washington Evening Star, June 7, 1972].

After hearing one of the teens say they needed an ambulance, Lois Stowers went inside and called for one. She also told the Washington Evening Star that one of the teens went to fetch Gwen Ames' mother.

2:40 A.M.

Priscilla Ames was awakened by a knock at the door. She later told the Washington Evening Star that she'd glanced at the clock and thought it said 1:40 a.m. instead of 2:40 a.m. She figured her daughter had forgotten her key and was locked out. Instead, it was a neighbor with news about Gwen.

The second part of this two-part story on Reston's first homicide focuses on the investigation into Gwen Ames' death. Read: The Death Of Gwen Ames: Homicide Remains Unsolved After 5 Decades

The Reston Historic Trust & Museum provided assistance in the research of this story.