Morgan Dana Harrington (20), missing

[Bailey]

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Roanoke Times
The death of a female whose body was found this morning under a Roanoke bridge does not appear to be criminal, police said.

The body was sent to the medical examiner's office in Roanoke for an autopsy, which will determine the cause and manner of death, police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson said.

Police have not identified the woman, but said it is not Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student originally from Roanoke County who went missing from a Metallica concert in Charlottesville Oct. 17.

A crew on a Norfolk Southern coal train spotted the body near the train tracks under the Wasena Bridge about 7:30 a.m.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/226638

[Bailey]

WSLS News Staff
news@wsls.com
Published: December 16, 2009

4:57 p.m.

By Media General News Service

Virginia State Police searched a two-mile stretch of Interstate 64 in Albemarle County this morning for evidence in the disappearance of Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington.

About a dozen troopers spent a couple of hours searching along a median between mile markers 112 and 114, said state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller. The troopers were not acting on a specific tip, and their search turned up nothing useful to the case.

Harrington disappeared Oct. 17 after she was separated from friends while attending a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena. Someone matching Harrington’s description was spotted hitchhiking that evening along a bridge near the arena.

The stretch of I-64 searched by troopers today is just west of Charlottesville.

“We wanted to go back and recanvass that area,“ Geller said.

Authorities have received about 600 leads in the case.

http://www2.wsls.com/sls/news/state_regional/article/state_police_searching_i64_median_in_connection_wi th_morgan_harrington_case/68831/

[Bailey]

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

By Jorge Valencia | The Roanoke Times

Virginia State Police disclosed this afternoon that Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington drank alcohol the night she disappeared during a Metallica concert in Charlottesville.

The disclosure, though investigators say it does not play a significant role in the search, illustrates what has been described as her uncharacteristic and irrational behavior the night of Oct. 17: A woman matching her description was seen drooping her purse more than once outside John Paul Jones Arena, and later sticking out at thumb to hitchhike on the nearby Copeley Road Bridge, police said.

“As far as it being a significant part of the case? No,” police spokeswoman Corinne Gellar said today. “We had numerous news media asking us about it as well as numerous rumors circulating in social networking cites. Today, we were in a condition that we could confirm that.”

The department would not release details regarding the drinking, such as how much she may have consumed and when, or if the consumption may have impaired her judgment.

In a news conference this afternoon, Lt. Joe Rader told reporters that investigators were seeking for the public’s help on two new points:

* They’re looking for a red digital camera — a Kodak or Sony — that may have spilled from her purse outside the arena.

* They’re asking people to call if they have noticed behavioral changes in anyone who attended the concert, or if they have noticed strange reactions from anyone when Harrington’s disappearance is discussed.

Harrington was expected at her parents’ house in Roanoke County after the concert, but vanished when she left her friends about 8:20 p.m. to go to the restroom and wound up outside the arena, police have said.

About 8:48 p.m. she told her friends over the phone she would find a way home or stay with friends in Charlottesville. Sometime between 9:20 and 9:30 p.m., she got into a vehicle on or near the Copeley Road Bridge, police said.

Her purse and cellphone were found the next day near Lannigan Field track, not far from the bridge. The cellphone battery was gone.

Investigators have looked into, though not corroborated, tips that she has been seen in states from California to Maine. They have also looked into tips from psychics who have contacted them with information.

Investigators have received more than 600 tips, Gellar said. They continue to seek information that can answer where she went after 9:30 p.m.

“Our main focus is locating her and bringing it forward to her family. We do not want a person who could have information that could help us to be fearful in coming forward,” Gellar said.

Harrington was wearing a black T-shirt, black miniskirt, black boots and black tights, with a Swarovski crystal necklace made up of large crystal chain links. Harrington has blue eyes and blond hair, is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call the state police tip line at (434) 352-3467.

[Bailey]

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Missing Tech student Morgan Harrington had been drinking, police confirm
Authorities would not say whether the drinking had impaired her judgment.

By Jorge Valencia

Virginia State Police disclosed Wednesday that Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington drank alcohol the night she disappeared during a Metallica concert in Charlottesville.

The disclosure, which investigators say does not play a significant role in the search, illustrates what has been described as Harrington's uncharacteristic and irrational behavior the night of Oct. 17: A woman matching her description was seen dropping her purse more than once outside John Paul Jones Arena, and later sticking out a thumb to hitchhike on the nearby Copeley Road bridge, police said.

"As far as it being a significant part of the case? No," police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Wednesday. "We had numerous news media asking us about it as well as numerous rumors circulating in social networking sites. Today, we were in a position that we could confirm that."

The department would not release details regarding the drinking, such as how much she may have consumed and when, or if the consumption may have impaired her judgment.

In a news conference, Lt. Joe Rader told reporters that investigators were seeking the public's help on two new points:

-- They're looking for a red digital camera -- a Kodak or Sony -- that may have fallen from Harrington's purse outside the arena.

-- They're asking people to call if they have noticed behavioral changes in anyone who attended the concert, or if they have noticed strange reactions from anyone when Harrington's disappearance is discussed.

Harrington was expected at her parents' house in Roanoke County after the concert, but vanished when she left her friends about 8:20 p.m. to go to the restroom and wound up outside the arena, police have said.

About 8:48 p.m. she told her friends over the phone she would find a way home or stay with friends in Charlottesville. Sometime between 9:20 and 9:30 p.m., she got into a vehicle on or near the Copeley Road bridge, police said.

Her purse and cellphone were found the next day near Lannigan Field track, not far from the bridge. The cellphone battery was gone.

Investigators have looked into, though not corroborated, tips that she has been seen in states from California to Maine. They have also looked into tips from psychics who have contacted them with information.

Investigators have received more than 600 tips, Gellar said. They continue to seek information that can answer where Harrington went after 9:30 p.m.

"Our main focus is locating her and bringing it forward to her family. We do not want a person who could have information that could help us to be fearful in coming forward," Gellar said.

Harrington was wearing a black T-shirt, black miniskirt, black boots and black tights, with a Swarovski crystal necklace made of large crystal chain links. Harrington has blue eyes and blond hair, is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call the state police tip line at (434) 352-3467.

[Bailey]

THE ROANOKE TIMES
Published: January 2, 2010

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia State Police disclosed this week that Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington drank alcohol the night she disappeared during a Metallica concert in Charlottesville.


Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, of Roanoke County, has been missing since Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. University of Virginia Police say Harrington was last seen near the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.

The disclosure, which investigators say does not play a significant role in the search, illustrates what has been described as Harrington's uncharacteristic and irrational behavior the night of Oct. 17: A woman matching her description was seen dropping her purse more than once outside John Paul Jones Arena, and later sticking out a thumb to hitchhike on the nearby Copeley Road bridge, police said.

"As far as it being a significant part of the case? No," police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Wednesday. "We had numerous news media asking us about it as well as numerous rumors circulating in social networking sites. Today, we were in a position that we could confirm that."

The department would not release details regarding the drinking, such as how much she may have consumed and when, or if, the consumption may have impaired her judgment.

In a news conference, Lt. Joe Rader said investigators were seeking the public's help on two new points:

•They're looking for a red digital camera -- a Kodak or Sony -- that may have fallen from Harrington's purse outside the arena. •They're asking people to call if they have noticed behavioral changes in anyone who attended the concert, or if they have noticed strange reactions from anyone when Harrington's disappearance is discussed. Harrington, a junior at Tech, was expected at her parents' house in Roanoke County after the concert but vanished when she left her friends about 8:20 p.m. to go to the restroom and wound up outside the arena, police have said.

About 8:48 p.m., she told her friends over the phone that she would find a way home or stay with friends in Charlottesville. Sometime between 9:20 and 9:30 p.m., she got into a vehicle on or near the Copeley Road bridge, police said.

Her purse and cell phone were found the next day near Lannigan Field track, not far from the bridge. The cell-phone battery was gone.

Investigators have looked into, though not corroborated, tips that she has been seen in states from California to Maine. They have also looked into tips from psychics who have contacted them with information.

Investigators have received more than 600 tips, Geller said. They continue to seek information that can answer where Harrington went after 9:30 p.m.

"Our main focus is locating her and bringing it forward to her family," she said. "We do not want a person who could have information that could help us to be fearful in coming forward."

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/ne...213405/314900/

[Bailey]

Tuesday, January 12, 2010; 2:59 PM

by Gordon Block, Liana Bayne, ct news staff

Dan and Gil Harrington, the parents of missing Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, believe their daughter is still alive and potentially in the Charlottesville area.

The Harringtons spoke to reporters Tuesday afternoon outside the John Paul Jones arena in Charlottesville, the same location where Morgan was last seen in October while attending a Metallica concert. Several eyewitnesses reported seeing her in various spots around the arena as she left the concert, and she was last spotted near the Copeley Road Bridge less than a half mile away from the arena.

Dan Harrington said he believes the party involved with Morgan’s disappearance may be in the area.

“Whoever took Morgan is still in this community. This is still a vulnerable community,” he said.

The Harringtons met with Charlottesville area law enforcement Tuesday along with Monica Caison, the founder and director of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons, an organization from Wilmington, North Carolina.

Caison’s professional search team hopes to increase the search area as well as re-visit areas previously searched by volunteers and law enforcement. Caison added that she hopes a search can begin in February.

Dan Harrington praised ongoing volunteer efforts in the Charlottesville area, saying he had been pleased with both law enforcement and volunteer responses to his daughter’s disappearance.

“I think there are ongoing efforts here,” he said. “We will encourage them to continue that.”

Harrington also spoke about the recent confirmation that his daughter had consumed alcohol the night of the concert.

“Alcohol use among college students is typical, but her behavior was described as not typical,” Harrington said. “None of this makes sense.”

Harrington said that his greatest fear, three months after their daughter’s disappearance, “is that Morgan be forgotten.”

“Having a hole in your life that’s unfilled, it’s very painful,” Harrington said. “No one should have to go through that.”

A $150,000 reward is offered for information leading to the location and recovery of Harrington. Anyone with information is asked to call Virginia State Police at 434-352-3467.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stori...h-for-daughter

[Bailey]

Body found on Albemarle Co. farm; no firm link yet to Morgan Harrington disappearance released

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

By Rex Bowman | The Roanoke Times

Virginia State Police and Albemarle County police are currently scrutinizing the skeletal remains of a body found on an Albemarle County farm.

State Police said they would release further information "if anything should develop concerning this scene and the disappearance of Morgan Harrington."

Gil and Dan Harrington, Morgan Harrington's parents, have arrived at the Virginia State Police office in Albemarle County, where a 5 p.m. press conference is scheduled.

David H. Bass is the owner of Anchorage Farm, the property where the body was found. Bass said he found the "seriously decomposed body" this morning at 8:30 a.m. in a part of his cow pasture that he rarely visits. He was checking the area this morning because of the recent heavy rains. Bass said authorities have asked him not to speak to the media.

The farm is located about 10 miles southwest of the University of Virginia campus, where Harrington was last seen.

Harrington, 20, of Roanoke County, disappeared from a Metallica concert in Charlottesville on Oct. 17. Charlottesville is located within Albemarle.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/234362

[Bailey]

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 26, 2010; 5:22 PM

The months-long search for Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, who went missing outside an Oct. 17 rock concert in Charlottesville, appeared to have ended Tuesday when her remains were discovered on a farm several miles southwest of where she was last seen alive.

Police said they think the skeletal remains are Harrington's, the Associated Press reported late Tuesday. Police had not determined how Harrington died. Her remains were sent to the state medical examiner's office and police scoured the scene for clues.

For family and friends who had tirelessly searched and prayed for Harrington's safe return, hope turned to sorrow. They mourned the death of the vibrant 20-year-old who planned to become a teacher and was known for her eclectic taste in music -- she appreciated everything from Black Sabbath to Barry Manilow.

The night of her disappearance, Harrington got separated from friends at a Metallica concert in Charlottesville. The willowy blonde ended up outside the University of Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena and couldn't get back in. She talked to one of her friends by cellphone, saying not to worry, that she'd get home on her own. But she never made it.

Harrington was last seen about 9:30 p.m., walking alone on the Copeley Road railroad bridge near the arena, a site that has since become a shrine of sorts. She had a scratch on her chin, witnesses told police, but officers said they think it probably was from an accidental bump or fall, not an attack. Her purse and cellphone were found the next day in a grassy lot used for overflow parking.

After her disappearance, police reviewed surveillance camera footage and asked fans to check concert photos for signs of Harrington. Police and friends handed out missing-person posters. The family created a Web site to help in the search. But every avenue turned up empty.

Then, about 10 a.m. Tuesday, police were contacted by a resident who found human remains on his farm near Interstate 64 southwest of Charlottesville.

People from across the country, and even around the world, followed the search for Harrington as her parents, Gil and Daniel, chronicled their anguish in a blog, hoping someone would come forward to help them find their daughter. The Harringtons said they received notes of encouragement from as far away as Japan.

On Jan. 12, Gil Harrington posted this thought: "I remind myself that this is not in my hands and that the truth cannot be hidden forever -- it will out. I pray that the truth of this crime shows itself while Morgan is still alive. I have no interest in recovering a body. I would rather not know and always have some morsel of hope."

Morgan Harrington was close to her parents and visited their Roanoke house often. She also had a brother, Alex. Her family said Harrington had a close circle of friends. She loved to curl up with books. And she spent her high school summers working with children who have witnessed domestic violence.

Gil Harrington last saw her daughter the morning of the concert. Morgan Harrington tried on several outfits for the concert, with her mother offering fashion advice. They settled on a black Pantera T-shirt, black miniskirt, black tights and knee-high black boots. Harrington talked to her father by phone.

The 20-year-old bounded out of the house about noon, saying goodbye to her mother using the family's traditional greeting: "Two, four, one, Mama." Shorthand for: "I love you too much, forever, and one more time."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...012603035.html

[Bailey]

Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Rex Bowman

Remains likely Tech student's
A body thought to be Morgan Harrington was found in Albemarle County.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The three-month search for Morgan Harrington ended in a remote hayfield Tuesday when an Albemarle County farmer checking his fences discovered what authorities are confident are the Virginia Tech student's skeletal remains.


The human remains were found in a field on 742-acre Anchorage Farm in Albemarle County.

How she died, when she died and even where she died are now the questions Virginia State Police are trying to find answers to as they scour the hayfield less than 10 miles south of Charlottesville, where Harrington was last seen alive after disappearing from a rock concert.

While state police are waiting for the medical examiner's office in Richmond to make a definitive identification of the body, the search for Harrington is now a search for her killer.

"We have always treated this as a homicide," the chief investigator, state police Lt. Joe Rader, said at a news conference at the agency's Albemarle County office. "We still proceed as if this was a homicide, and most likely will be a homicide."


Col. Steve Flaherty of the Virginia State Police urged people in a news conference Tuesday to step forward if they have tips.

Harrington disappeared Oct. 17 while attending a Metallica concert at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. She was last seen on the Copeley Road bridge just south of the arena, wearing a black miniskirt and trying to thumb a ride. She had been drinking.

The discovery of the 20-year-old Roanoke County woman's body comes after months of intensive searching from volunteers around the state, prime-time attention from cable news outlets and a campaign on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. In the end, the massive searches and intense media scrutiny failed to locate Harrington: Her body was discovered by a rural farmer who said he first mistook her remains for a deer carcass as he rode his tractor across his farm.

"This was a seriously decomposed body," said David Bass, owner of the 742-acre Anchorage Farm, explaining why he did not immediately recognize the remains as human. Bass said the rough field where he found Harrington was one and a half miles from his 19th-century farmhouse, hard against a mountain and one that he seldom walks over.

Rader said the private farm along U.S. 29 was never searched, and at the time of Harrington's disappearance, the grass in the field was waist-high. There is no public access to the field, he added.

Rader declined to say why investigators are confident the body is Harrington, except to say "significant items" were found in the field. In addition to her black miniskirt, Harrington had been wearing distinctive jewelry, black boots and a black T-shirt with the name of rock band Pantera across the front.

Tuesday, her parents, Dan and Gil Harrington, drove to Charlottesville to talk with investigators. They did not attend the 5 p.m. news conference. "They're reacting as parents would react in this particular situation," Rader said.

Harrington attended the Metallica concert with friends. Her friends told investigators she left them sometime that night to go to a restroom and wound up outside the arena, where she was barred from getting back inside because of the arena's policy against re-entry. In a phone conversation with her friends inside the arena, she told them she would try to find another way home, according to authorities.

Her friends never heard from her again. Her purse and cellphone -- minus its battery -- were found in a grassy parking lot near the arena the next day.

Harrington's Northside High School friends -- scattered at universities from Newport News to Harrisonburg to Blacksburg -- drove to Roanoke when they learned her body may have been found.

"Some of us are taking it a lot harder than others," said Chelsea Helm, a Virginia Tech student. "We just all want to be together right now."

In Blacksburg, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger e-mailed an open letter to students and faculty. He referred students to the school's counseling center or to campus clergy.

"The most important work we can do is to turn our efforts toward the support of Morgan's family, her friends, and those in our community who may well struggle to cope with this terrible tragedy," Steger wrote.

Nancy Agee, chief operating officer of Carilion Clinic, where Dan Harrington is vice president for academic affairs, sent employees an e-mail early Tuesday.

"I know you have all felt some measure of the pain and burden that Dan and Gil have borne over the past three months," she wrote. "We pray that they can find some measure of closure and peace in the days to come."

On social networking Web sites, Harrington's supporters reacted with dismay and anger to the news that her body likely had been found.

"We will get justice for Morgan and her family," Charlotte Ding wrote in the Facebook group "Help Find Morgan Dana Harrington." "Rest assured."

"I am so so sorry that this is morgan," wrote one British supporter, adding "there are many broken hearts tonight."

Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said investigators had received more than 600 tips from callers, and he urged people to "come forward with any information they have." State police have set up a tip line at (434) 352-3467.

Rader said that, ultimately, the discovery of the body could help investigators find Harrington's killer: "We now have something to look at to lead us in another direction."

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/234465

[Bailey]

Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Roanoke Times
Body found is Morgan Harrington's; father suggests Charlottesville link to daughter's death


UPDATED: 1:59 p.m. | POSTED: 11:30 a.m.

Dan and Gil Harrington, the parents of missing Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, joined her brother, Alex, and a handful of reporters on Charlottesville's Copeley Road bridge this afternoon to thank the public for their assistance in helping to find their daughter since her October disappearance.


Morgan Harrington’s parents, Gil and Dan, and brother, Alex, talk to reporters at Copeley Road Bridge near John Paul Jones Arena, where Morgan Harrington was last seen.

Harrington's body was discovered yesterday morning in an Albemarle County field. She had been missing since Oct. 17, 2009, when she disappeared from a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena on the University of Virginia campus.

While her parents declined to discuss the specifics of the case, her mother told the crowd of reporters who had gathered at the bridge that, from what the family had gathered through their conversations with police, "it's very likely that Morgan did not live through the concert."

Gil Harrington discussed the agony of the three months since her daughter had gone missing, not knowing where she was or who might be harming her. Not knowing, she said, was more painful than knowing.

For the first time in 101 days, she said, "I'm not thinking every minute, 'What is he doing to my daughter?'"

The Harringtons told reporters that, now that their daughter's body has been found, they're focused on finding her killer. Dan Harrington said the location of her remains suggests a local link to her death.

"This is not a random place where someone would drop off a body," he said.

The Virginia State Police continue to seek tips. Anyone with information is asked to call the state police tip line at (434) 352-3467.

When they had finished talking to reporters, the Harrington family tied a black ribbon to a light pole on the Copeley Road bridge where a yellow one had been. "Our sorrow," Gil Harrington said, "is etched on our faces, and our pain has been carved on our hearts."

UPDATED: 11:48 a.m.

Virginia State Police say that the state's chief medical examiner has confirmed today that a body discovered yesterday in a field on an Albemarle County farm is that of missing Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington.

Dan Harrington, Morgan's father, issued the following statement today:

"Morgan’s mother, Gil, and I are overwhelmingly saddened by yesterday’s discovery, but we are also relieved because our questions can now be answered and we can give our daughter a proper burial. We know that because of the good life Morgan led and the love she created for everyone around her, she is now in a safer, better place. We appreciate everyone’s respect for our privacy at this difficult time and we thank everyone who has helped us through this tragedy and helped us find Morgan."

The Harringtons plan to speak with reporters in Charlottesville at 1 p.m. today.

Morgan Harrington, 20, disappeared Oct. 17 while attending a Metallica concert in Charlottesville.

UPDATE: 11:36 a.m.

Statement from the Virginia State Police:

Virginia State Police have received confirmation from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond that the remains discovered Tuesday (Jan. 26, 2010) on farmland in Albemarle County, Va., are those of Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, of Roanoke, Va. Confirmation was made through dental records provided by the family.

The investigation continues into the cause and time of death. Virginia State Police, Albemarle County Police, University of Virginia Police, and Charlottesville Police are back out at the farm today (Jan. 27, 2010) canvassing the area for any additional evidence.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/234487

[Bailey]

By Mallory Simon, CNN
January 27, 2010 4:21 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

* NEW: Dental records confirm remains are Morgan Harrington, police say
* Skeletal remains found Monday morning in hay frield on 700-acre farm
* Student was separated from friends at Metallica concert on October 17
* Harrington's purse, cell phone found next day in overflow parking lot near arena



Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, 20, disappeared from a Metallica concert on October 17.

(CNN)-- Skeletal remains found in a hayfield are those of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police said Wednesday.

The remains were identified based on dental records provided by the victim's family, spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.

Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old education major, went to a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia, on October 17. She was separated from her friends and was the subject of repeated searches.

"Investigators are now working to determine how the remains came to be in this particular location, cause and time of death, and identifying who was responsible for the remains being there," Geller said in a news release.

More information is expected after the completion of an autopsy, the spokeswoman added.

Police said skeletal remains were found Tuesday morning by a farmer driving a tractor through a hay field on his 700-acre farm. The area has no public access point, police said.

The farm is about 10 miles from where the concert was being held.

The farm's owner, David Dass, told CNN affiliate WTVR that he was out looking for damage after wind and rain knocked down several trees in his yard over the past week. He told WTVR that the area is at least a mile and a half from a main roadway.

"I looked down and saw what looked like a human skull, and my first thought was that it was Morgan Harrington," Dass told WTVR, adding that he immediately called 911.

WTVR: State police 'confident' remains are Harrington
http://www.wtvr.com/news/wtvr-body-f...,5332581.story

There was significant evidence leading police to believe that the remains are Harrington's, Virginia State Police Col. W. Steven Flaherty said, though he declined to specify what the evidence was.

Police said the area where the remains were found had not been searched during the early stages of the investigation into her disappearance.

The girl's parents, Dan and Gil Harrington, were in town to identify the remains, WTVR reported.

Dan Harrington, in tears, told WTVR that "this is a horrible day" for his family.

Gil Harrington expressed concerns Saturday that there was beginning to be complacency in the search, she wrote in a blog on the Web site set up to help find their daughter.

On Sunday, more than three months after Morgan went missing, Gil Harrington still clung to hope.

"Despite the length of time Morgan has been gone I remain hopeful," she wrote. "Part of me is waiting to be surprised. Waiting for God to pull the rabbit out of the hat and bring Morgan home.

"I remember that the light always returns, it cannot help but return. Will the light of my life return soon? I cannot imagine that all the water of Morgan's potential is to run down the drain and be wasted. Can it really play out like that?"

Now, it appears, the Harringtons finally have their answer. Police say they have now switched their focus to finding out how Morgan Harrington ended up in the remote farm and who put her there.

During the concert, Harrington left her friends to use the restroom, police said. When she did not return, they called her cell phone at 8:48 p.m. She told them she was outside the arena and could not get back in because of its policy, police said, but told them not to worry about her and that she would find a ride home.

There are restrooms inside the arena, police said, and police do not know how or why Harrington got outside. Witnesses who saw her outside the arena said she did not appear to be with anyone, police said.

About 9:30 p.m. that night, witnesses reported seeing a person matching Harrington's description walking on a nearby bridge, police said. No further sightings were reported.

Harrington's purse, with her identification and cell phone inside, was found the following day in an overflow parking lot near the arena, police said. A friend had driven Harrington's car to the concert, she said, and was still in possession of the car keys when they got separated.

Harrington was reported missing the day after the concert, when she did not show up at her parents' home to study for a math exam with her father.

Working with police and the Texas-based Laura Recovery Center, the Harringtons organized community searches, saying they would not give up hope that their daughter would be found.

A $150,000 reward has been offered for information leading to Harrington's whereabouts, police said. Of that, Metallica contributed $50,000.

The couple was joined at a news conference after her disappearance by Ed Smart, whose daughter Elizabeth was abducted in 2002. She returned home nine months later, after police say they found her in the custody of Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee.

Harrington said he reached out to Smart last week to seek advice on how to go through the disappearance of a child.

Harrington was wearing a black Pantera T-shirt, a black miniskirt, black tights and black boots when last seen.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/27/...ins/index.html

[Bailey]

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 28, 2010

When Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington went missing Oct. 17, her family began a tireless search. Now they are focused on honoring the memory of the bright young woman and searching for her killer.

Virginia State Police said Wednesday that human remains found on a farm southwest of Charlottesville have been conclusively identified as Harrington's.

Her parents, Daniel and Gil, and her brother, Alex, gathered Wednesday at the Copeley Road railroad bridge in Charlottesville, where Morgan Harrington was last seen alive. The bridge, once a spot where the family went to pray and plead for their daughter's return, has become a memorial of flowers and notes.

"At least we now have some peace and we're able to have some closure today," Daniel Harrington said. "We now need to find the person who did this, and we will not stop until that person is brought to justice."

Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old education major, was last seen after she was separated from friends outside a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena. State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said the medical examiner has not determined how Harrington died or concluded that she was murdered. But Geller said police have been treating the case as a homicide.

Harrington's parents are convinced that their daughter was abducted that October evening. They said the condition of her remains indicates that she probably died soon after she went missing. "For the first time in 101 days, I am not thinking every minute, 'What is he doing to my daughter now? What is he doing to her? What is she having to endure?' " Gil Harrington said. "She was a long time in that field. I am happy that she was not alive long, enduring unspeakable things."

Daniel Harrington said he and his wife flew in a police helicopter over parts of the 700-acre farm where the body was found in a remote hayfield. Police said the hay was last cut in August and probably would have been about waist-high in October. There is no public access to the field, authorities said.

The Harringtons think that Morgan was the victim of a predator who knows the area well. "This is not a random place that someone came upon accidentally," Daniel Harrington said. "This is known to someone here."

Even as they focus on the criminal investigation, the Harringtons said they are searching for the best ways to make sure their daughter is not forgotten.

Morgan Harrington wanted to be a teacher, and she spent her high school summers working with children who have witnessed domestic violence. She liked to get dressed up to go out but was as comfortable in ratty sneakers as she was in high heels, her parents said. She loved to read, devouring everything from the Harry Potter books and the "Twilight" series to classics such as "To Kill a Mockingbird." Perhaps, Daniel Harrington said, they will launch a national campaign to boost safety on college campuses.

"We can figure out how we can honor Morgan and remember Morgan, and maybe make it a safer place for all," he said.

Police ask that anyone with information about Harrington call Virginia State Police at 434-924-7166 or e-mail bci-appomattox@vsp.virginia.gov.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn....html?nav=mbot

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Thursday, January 28, 2010
By Rex Bowman | rex.bowman@roanoke.com

Police think Morgan died the night she disappeared.n Her parents believe the perpetrator is local to Charlottesville.n The investigation is focusing on the cause and time of her death.

CHARLOTTESVILLE For 101 days the parents of Morgan Harrington agonized over the unknown, tormented by thoughts of the "unspeakable things" a predator might be visiting upon their young, missing daughter. Wednesday, the day after her skeletal remains were found in a hayfield, Dan and Gil Harrington said their minds are, at last, at peace.

The Roanoke County couple now believe their daughter was killed the night she disappeared.

And for the first time since Morgan's disappearance on Oct. 17, said Gil Harrington, she is not imagining her daughter as a captive a frightened captive brutalized by a predator, day after day.

"I'm not thinking every minute, 'What is he doing to my daughter right now? What is she having to endure right now?' "

Such is the slender solace offered by Tuesday's discovery. State police said Wednesday the medical examiner's office in Richmond had used dental records to confirm that the decomposed body found on a sprawling Albemarle County farm 10 miles south of Charlottesville were all that remain of the pretty, blond Virginia Tech student.

While police said nothing more -- except to note that investigators are still trying to determine the cause and time of death -- Gil and Dan Harrington said they gather from conversations with investigators that their fears of captivity were never reality, that their daughter was killed the night she disappeared from a rock concert in Charlottesville, that the time she spent with her killer was, mercifully, short.

"We are very happy to know that Morgan very likely did not live through the time of the concert," said Gil Harrington, who with her husband spoke with reporters in Charlottesville while their son Alex stood by their side. "She was a long time in that field. I'm happy to know she was not alive long enduring unspeakable things."

Morgan Harrington, 20, vanished Oct. 17 after leaving the John Paul Jones Arena, where she had gone with friends to see the band Metallica play. She was last seen south of the arena, trying to hitch a ride on the Copeley Road bridge.

After three months of searches and nationwide publicity, a farmer found Harrington's remains Tuesday in a remote hayfield on his 742-acre farm on U.S. 29. State police put the Harringtons on a helicopter so they could view the field, which is not accessible from public roads.

The Harringtons said the placement of the body in such a rural, out-of-the-way area leads them to believe their daughter's killer is someone who lives in the rolling, wooded section of Albemarle County, someone who might know the intricate back roads.

"The area where Morgan was found is not a random place that someone came upon accidentally," said Dan Harrington. "Even though Morgan has been found and she has been murdered, we now need to find the person who did this and we will not stop until that person is brought to justice."

The Harringtons said they will continue talking with the media and encouraging people to call the state police tip line -- (434) 352-3467.

They added that they expect to receive Morgan's body from the medical examiner's office in five or six days, after which they will hold a public memorial service for their daughter.

And they said they will learn to live again, consoled by the knowledge that their daughter is not lost in the world and suffering.

"We had hoped to find Morgan alive," Dan Harrington said, "but at least now we have some peace and some closure today."

"We will move on, we will find a way to be a family of three," Gil Harrington said, addressing television news crews. "You all have these tripods and they are not as stable as a table, but we can make a tripod work. We don't know how yet, but we will figure it out."

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/234568

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Friends of Morgan Harrington Know Foul Play Was Involved
Police Have Not Yet Named Case a Homicide Investigation


By EMILY FRIEDMAN


Feb. 1, 2010


If there's one thing Jenna Testerman knows about her best friend Morgan Harrington, whose body was found last week in a farmer's field in Virginia, is that she would not have succumbed to a killer without putting up a fight.

"I really don't know what happened to her," Testerman told ABCNews.com, just days after the search for Harrington came to a grim ending with the discovery of her body. "She wasn't someone who would just wander off."

"But what I do know is that Morgan is a fighter and she would have fought to the death," said Testerman.

The mystery surrounding Harrington's disappearance the night of Oct. 17 deepened last week when authorities in Virginia identified skeletal remains found in a remote field as the missing 20-year-old Virginia Tech junior.

"We were all hoping that they were going to find her safe and while we knew it would take a lot of work to get Morgan back to normal, we just wanted her to be alive," said Testerman. "We just wanted her to give us one of her big hugs that she's known for."

Testerman said she is particularly feeling the loss. She and Harrington were part of a close-knit group of girlfriends who called themselves "The Nine." Some of the girls even got the number nine tattooed on their bodies as a symbol of their friendship when they all went off to college. Now they are eight.

"We just hope that she didn't have to go through any pain and that her killer showed her mercy and that she's up above in heaven looking down on us," said Testerman.

Friends like Testerman who had been holding out hope that Harrington would be found alive are now shifting their focus, eager to find the person they say is responsible for her murder.

While Testerman and Harrington's parents believe that she was murdered, the Virginia State Police department has not yet officially classified her case as a homicide investigation. The cause of death has not yet been determined, according to Corrine Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police. No one has been named a person of interest or a suspect in Testerman's case either.

What Happened to Morgan Harrington After the Metallica Concert?


The body of 20-year-old Morgan Harrington, who was last seen Oct. 17 at a Metallica concert in Virginia, was found last week in a remote field just a few miles from where she was last seen. Now her friends and family say they're sure she was murdered.


Few details have emerged about the night she went missing. Harrington had gone to a Metallica concert at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville when she got separated from her friends, who believe she stepped outside for a smoke.

Harrington, who was wearing a black mini skirt, black tights and black boots as well as a black t-shirt with "Pantera" written on the front in tan letters, called her friends on a cell phone to say she was not allowed back inside.

Sarah Snead, who had accompanied Harrington and another friend to the concert, told WSLS in Raonake that she had been the one to receive the phone call telling them that she was stuck outside the arena.

"[She said] don't worry, I'll find a way home," said Snead.

Surveillance cameras at the concert caught Harrington getting turned away from several entrances as she tried to return to the conert. Later, witnesses told police they saw someone matching her description in a nearby grassy parking lot, and then walking on an adjacent road.

The morning after the concert, Harrington's purse and cell phone were found in that grassy field and later, her parents Dan and Gil Harrington, called police to report her missing.

Up until the day authorities received a call from an area farmer saying that he'd found remains on his property, Harrington's parents had held out hope for their daughter. The body was found about 10 miles from the concert site.

On a blog dedicated to finding their daughter, Dan Harrington wrote on Jan. 24, "3 months! Despite the length of time Morgan has been gone I remain hopeful. Part of me is waiting to be surprised. Waiting for God to pull the rabbit out of the hat and bring Morgan home."

Now Dan Harrington is speculating on who took his daughter. He told NBC's "Today Show" last week that his daughter's killer must have been from around Charlottesville.

"There is absolutely no way that a stranger to the area would know [the local roads and the farm]," said Dan Harrington. "It is someone who lives in the Charlottesville area."

Friends Believe Someone 'Bad' Got Harrington

Jill Helm, whose daughter Chelsea was one of "the nine" and who frequently had the group over to her Roanoke home, said Harrington must have bumped into an evil person.

"I think she went out to smoke and they wouldn't let her back into the concert and he got her out there," said Helm. "Someone who is as bad as all the crazy people in the world got her."

"Morgan had nothing to run from," said Helm. "Her friends and family are absolutely wonderful."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/morgan-harr...ory?id=9701648

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The medical examiner's office is not yet able to release information on how she was killed.

By Rex Bowman
Wednesday, February 03, 2010


The ruling ends speculation that Morgan Harrington died of exposure after wandering away from a concert.

Morgan Harrington's death was a homicide, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond said Tuesday.

Harrington, 20, of Roanoke County disappeared from a Metallica concert in Charlottesville on Oct. 17. Her skeletal remains were found Jan. 26 in an Albemarle County hayfield nearly 10 miles south of where she was last seen.

The medical examiner's determination closes out speculation that she wandered away from Charlottesville and died of exposure on a chilly night.

A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office said the office is not yet able to release information on how Harrington was killed.

Forensic experts say it could take weeks, or longer, to make that determination because of the decomposition of her body over the past three months. If, as her family believes, her body was left in the hayfield the night she disappeared, it has endured warm and cold weather, rain and snow storms and possibly the activity of animals and insects.

All of those factors could "make it a lot more difficult to determine the cause and manner of death," said Emil Moldovan, an adjunct instructor of criminal justice at Radford University and former death investigator in the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office.

For instance, Moldovan said, if Harrington were bludgeoned or shot to death, that might be readily apparent to examiners, but if she were strangled, there would be little evidence outside the possible fracture of the tiny hyoid bone in the neck. The skeletal and tissue remains also might not show any sign of a stabbing.

The announcement from the medical examiner's office comes as Harrington's family prepares to memorialize her Friday with a 3:30 p.m. Mass at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Roanoke. The family plans a public reception afterward at the Hotel Roanoke.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235212