If you have ever driven near the intersection of Waxpool Road and Beaumeade (now the Loudoun County Parkway), you may have seen handmade memorials with flowers, stuffed animals and pictures of a young girl. These roadside markers were placed for an Ashburn teen whose murder has yet to be solved.

July 29 marks five years since 14-year-old Erica Heather Smith went missing from her Ashburn home. Her body was found August 9, 2002 and her family is still searching for her killer. The family's plight is reexamined in this Channel 9 update and a LoudounTimes.com story.

Because she was a teenager when she went missing, Smith's case was initially treated as a runaway. It was only after her body was found by office workers walking on a break that the investigation turned to homicide. Soon after the investigation began, Sterling supervisor Eugene Delgaudio ran this item on his web site outlining what he claimed was information from the police outlining some possible characteristics of the perpetrator(s). Later, a neighbor who was managing funds donated for the family was discovered to have embezzled the money.

This is not the only unsolved murder in Loudoun. Others listed on the county's WANTED list are:

Ursula Haberland, who was found shot to death at her residence on Greengarden Road north of Upperville on August 23, 2001.

Patrick B. Hornbaker, who was found shot to death at his home on Route 9 near Keys Gap on May 21, 2001.

Other notable homicides in the county include:

Mitchell G. Maistros, 37, died Jan. 13, 1995, inside a cabin from a fire that was determined to be arson. The cabin was off a private lane near the Sweet Springs Country Store on Route 9 near the West Virginia state line. The death, which was determined to be a homicide, is still being investigated.

Samantha Summers, 58, was found Aug. 1, 2006, in her Sterling apartment. Her death was from blunt force trauma. Summers was the daughter of former Loudoun County Board of Supervisor chairman William Crossman.

Francis and Lillian Beland, a retired couple, were found in their Leesburg residence October 28, 2002. Frank (75) was stabbed and Lillian (71) was asphyxiated. The resulting murder investigation ended with a twist. In 2006, sources confirmed that the main suspect was son-in-law Mark H. Mohammed, 48, who had committed suicide in November 2005. Mohammed was married to the Belands' daughter, Carol.