Virginia State Police make arrest in 33-year-old cold case

KING AND QUEEN COUNTY, Va. (WWBT) -Virginia State Police have arrested a Tappahannock man in a nearly 33-year-old cold case in King and Queen County.

On Oct. 10, 2024, VSP arrested Ives T. Fortune, 62, following a grand jury indictment for rape and malicious wounding of Jennie Lee Johnson, 46, of King and Queen County.

Johnson was last seen alive on Nov. 22, 1991, leaving a friend’s house. She never came back home. Her body was found the next day in a field near Newtown Road.

The break in the case came after analysts retested evidence in the investigation, were funded by the Virginia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), and were able to pinpoint Fortune as the perpetrator.

DNA Labs International in Deerfield, FL, completed the retesting of evidence.

Fortune is currently being held at the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center. He is scheduled to appear in King and Queen Circuit Court on Wednesday, Oct. 23.