The Tragic Haunting of Eva Roy

The spirit of Eva Roy is one of Northern Virginia’s most chilling and enduring ghost stories shared by the GMU Folklore Round Table. In 1918, fourteen-year-old Eva was found murdered and tied to a tree near her family's home in Burke, Virginia. Her death remains one of Fairfax County’s oldest unsolved cases. Since then, students have reported ghostly sightings along Lee Chapel Road and surrounding woods. Some students claim to hear a young girl crying out, “Help me please,” or “I am Eva,” before vanishing into the trees. "Drivers will stop to help her but say they look to their car, look away for a moment, and then turn back; she’s gone.” [19]. Her spirit is said to appear most often on her birthday (September 21) and Halloween. Others have seen the figure of a girl in white or blue standing by the roadside or running into traffic before disappearing without a trace. Cold spots, flickering lights, and a heavy sense of grief are often reported near her grave in Lee Chapel Cemetery. Eva’s story continues to haunt the community as a tale of paranormal mystery and as a painful reminder of injustice, loss, and a life cut far too short.