On the trail: Harrington’s body creates new mysteries, angles
published 6:40pm Monday Feb 1, 2010
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The new issue hits newsstands Wednesday afternoon.HOOK GRAPHIC
“There may be something like horse hair on the body, which would mean that she got there by horseback,” offered a private investigator on a recent episode of TV crime show Nancy Grace . “Perhaps,” he then suggested, “the body was even dropped out of [a] plane into this remote area.”
Such wild speculation brought immediate jeers from Grace, but the remoteness of the location of the remains of 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington is leading to flights of fancy and incessant speculation.
“I’m mystified,” says Dave Bass, owner of 742-acre Anchorage Farm in southern Albemarle County and the man who discovered the skeletonized remains as he checked fences on his property on Tuesday, January 26.
The mystery of Morgan’s final resting place isn’t just about who put her there; it’s about how anyone could have reached such a remote location in the first place.
A remote farm
There is exactly one vehicle entrance to Anchorage Farm: a driveway off 29 South, known there as Monacan Trail. While the farm’s original house, a two-story brick home with a white clapboard addition, is visible from the road, Bass lives in a sprawling Colonial-style mansion approximately one mile in, where the driveway ends, and Bass says it would be technically possible to drive to the end of his mile-long driveway and then continue another half-mile over rough terrain– pastures, hayfields, and thickets– on foot. But he doubts anyone could make the trek without drawing his attention. Any vehicle entering from 29 South also has to pass the smaller house– rented to UVA graduate students until June– but now home to Bass’ adult daughter.
Click the image for an interactive map.GOOGLE/HOOK
As police scoured the Farm in the days following the discovery, they considered alternative access points. Several lie along Red Hill Road, a winding country road also known as Route 708, that borders parts of both Anchorage Farm and Blandemar Farm Estates subdivision.
While various driveways reach closer to the location of the young woman’s remains, one intriguing possibility is an old home site, accessible by a double gate on Red Hill. Chained shut on a reporter’s recent visit, an old driveway leads at least part way through the woods.
But why would anyone pushing, pulling, or carrying a 120-pound woman keep going to cross a stream and a barbed wire fence after already negotiating a third of a mile of woods? It’s conceivable that a dense forest might, in fact, offer a lesser cloak for nefarious deeds than the waist-high grass allegedly covering the pasture in October.
Particularly in the wake of the February 2 revelation that the death was indeed a homicide, such are the questions with which many are struggling. And the forest is not the only access. A nearby neighborhood actually offers a nearly straight shot toward Anchorage Farm.
From a Polish refugee
In the early 1990s, Blandemar was a 1,400-acre tract around a 1790 house, owned by siblings Blanka Rosenstiel and Waldemar Dowiak. The two— who coined “Blandemar” as an amalgam of their first names— had escaped wartime Poland in 1944 with their mother after their Catholic father perished in a concentration camp.
The site is a remote cow pasture about 100 yards east of the Hardware River, which follows the foreground treeline.PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER
Around 1991, says Rosenstiel, they began developing Blandemar Farm Estates around their historic house.
“I love the farm,” says Rosenstiel, who was startled by latest news. “My farm manager called me a few days ago,” she says, when reached at her winter home in Miami. “I can’t believe something would happen so close.”
Wrapping around the western and northern borders of Anchorage, the neighborhood comprises lots no smaller than 21 acres, and one of them appears to provide an open, level field over which a car could travel to within 100 feet of where Morgan’s remains were discovered– all while remaining out of the sightline of the nearby mansions. And according to another Blandemar resident, police spent a significant period of time analyzing and photographing the area around the cul-de-sac that leads to the field.
Even if someone could have driven so close, he or she would still have had to traverse those last 100 feet on foot in order to cross a creek and, according to the resident, multiple barbed wire barriers.
“It would be very difficult,” says the resident, who requested anonymity.
Despite such ardor, Morgan Harrington ended up in the corner of a cowfield which, the owner says, is accessible only by off-road vehicle. And that, says a criminal profiler, is a clue of its own into the assailant’s identity.
“They’d probably need to know that area,” says former FBI profiler Mark Safarik, noting that in order to dispose of a body, “killers will travel a distance to go someplace that’s familiar to them.”
As police hunt for the killer, Safarik says, they will very likely check– or recheck– the alibis of any nearby sex offenders. A review of the Virginia Sex Offender Registry reveals six men with North Garden addresses, ranging from a 20-year-old repeat offender, whose juvenile convictions for rape and sexual battery remain sealed, to a 79-year-old whose failing health seems apparent from the oxygen tubes visible in his online registry photo.
Two of the six registered offenders live in the Pine Grove Adult Home less than three miles from Anchorage Farm south on 29. The closest offender is the 20-year-old, who lives 1.7 miles away, as the crow flies, from the site Harrington’s body was discovered.
Although these names are public record, the Hook has chosen not to repeat them here since no information suggests their involvement. A reporter’s call to Pine Grove went unreturned, and a conversation with another offender’s family resulted in a call from the Virginia State Police, cautioning the newspaper that such inquiry could constitute harassment or even obstruction of justice. (Not likely to stick, say civil libertarians.)
Safarik says he believes the assailant was a stranger to Morgan because of the discovery of her purse and battery-less cell phone in the RV lot next to UVA’s Lambeth Field. “The fact she doesn’t have her purse suggests it was a blitz attack,” he says.
The age of the assailant– likely 18 to mid-30s, he says– is far less significant than the location of the remains.
“It’s so isolated, so dark, why are you going that far out?” he wonders. “He hunted out there, he knew the property, he’s been out there.”
Safarik says the location may also bring police the tip that leads to an arrest.
“You want people who know this guy to think, ‘This guy’s capable of this,’ and it’s those tips you’re looking for.”
At a press conference held Wednesday, January 27 confirming identity of the remains, lead State Police investigator Lt. Joe Rader said evidence in addition to the bones had been recovered from the Farm, and suggested the focus of the investigation would shift from Copeley Bridge, where Harrington was last seen allegedly hitchhiking the night of the Metallica concert, to Anchorage Farm.
But that doesn’t mean police aren’t continuing to investigate clues in town. A black t-shirt touting the band Pantera— something that Harrington was said to be wearing— was discovered last fall on a bush outside a 21-unit Grady Avenue apartment complex.
The day after Harrington’s body was found, several residents say they answered a knock on the door to find badge-carrying detectives asking questions.
“At first,” says resident Brandon Shores— who works at Miller’s, plays drums for successful goth band Bella Morte, and had attended the Metallica concert— “I thought they were interrogating me!”
But Shores soon realized that police simply wanted to show him a photo of a Pantera t-shirt on a bush.
“I’d seen that same style shirt on other people,” he says, “but I hadn’t seen it here.”
One man had more direct knowledge.
It was a mid-afternoon while walking home from class last fall– he thinks it was November– that UVA student Blaine Eichner saw something black in the bushes in front of his apartment building. There on the 15th Street side, on a bush, was a black Pantera t-shirt.
“I didn’t know what to think,” says Eichner, who like most Charlottesvillians was well aware of the missing Metallica fan. Eichner says he and his roommate knew better than to touch possible evidence, so they reported the finding to Charlottesville police, who responded to the call with “two or three cop cars.”
Like Shores and many of his neighbors in the building, Eichner was re-interviewed after Morgan’s body was found. Does he think he found Morgan’s shirt?
“I feel like, if it really had something to do with the case, it wouldn’t have been thrown on a bush,” he says. “But, it could be a crazy person who wants attention– I don’t know.”
Others have pointed to the low-key approach police seem to have taken around the shirt’s discovery as a signal of its insignificance. Eichner says he couldn’t tell the size of the shirt, and says it appeared it had pictures of the faces of the band members along with the name. Police have never released an image of a Pantera shirt like the one Morgan was wearing, but her mother has said it had only plain block-type letters and no images.
Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller declined to comment on the Pantera shirt and, when asked, declined to express concern that releasing such information could compromise the investigation.
One person who finds the discovery of the shirt interesting is Norma Parson. A newspaper deliveryperson who works early mornings, she has long insisted she saw Morgan– or a Morgan lookalike– walking out of a room on UVA’s West Lawn around 3:45am on October 18, hours after the Metallica show ended. Accompanied by three males, Parson says, the blond woman she saw was dressed all in black and wearing a coat, miniskirt, and knee-high boots.
Parson has long claimed that police failed to fully follow her lead, although police insist her tip was fully vetted, and a student whose room is adjacent to the one Parson noted confirmed that police interviewed him and his neighbor.
“I still believe it was her,” says Parson. Police have not recontacted her.
Online sleuths, new friends
The chilling farm discovery has heated already intense online interest to a boil. The Help Find Morgan Harrington Facebook page has swelled to more than 34,000 members who post messages of grief, discuss theories, and expound on such diverse topics as “Are we 100 percent positive she was on that bridge that night?” to “Why does God allow suffering?”
Morgan’s parents, Dan and Gil Harrington, are a regular online presence, with Dan offering information and expressing appreciation on various sites and Gil publishing diary-style entries at the family’s findmorgan.com.
This ability to directly interact with the victim’s family– a result of the social networking explosion of the last several years– may be part of the reason so many people feel so personally connected.
“It’s almost like there’s something pulling you into this case,” says Roanoke resident Jamie Waldrop, who first became involved through Facebook and notes she’s never been so focused on another family’s tragedy. “It’s almost otherworldly,” she says.
Early on, as some Morgan-focused websites were nearly overrun by alleged psychics theorizing about gruesome fates and making overly general predictions, Waldrop sought a more private forum. She helped form “Morgan’s Warriors,” an intimate invitation-only group of 33 women whose mission, Waldrop says, of sharing information, investigating, and supporting the Harrington family recently included bringing food to the Harringtons and holding a well-publicized candlelight vigil on Copeley Bridge.
“We all just really empathize with the Harringtons,” says Waldrop.
Such instant communities provide a new outlet for Morgan’s suffering family and friends— and for online sleuths who latch onto a mystery. But they are also presenting fresh issues.
“We have analysts keeping an eye on what’s being published,” says the State Police’s Geller. “Not in a big brother way, but seeing what’s out there.”
While commenters over the past few weeks on both Facebook and Findmorgan.com have fretted that police were deleting their posts, some of which did seem to disappear, Geller disputes the charge of strong-arming blog moderators and says police have never removed a post or encouraged a moderator to do so.
“We have no intention of going after anybody based on information,” says Geller. “If people are willing to put info out there, it’s for public consumption.”
Still, she does note one interesting trend.
“People will post stuff on a blog before they’ll call police and provide us with the tip,” she says. “It’s an anonymity thing.”
She says police have received multiple tips directly from commenters who have been encouraged to come forward by the online community in which they’re participating.
Blogs are also crossing over into territory formerly reserved for traditional journalists, Geller says, noting she has regular contact with some bloggers including “Blink” of blinkoncrime.com, a national site that has been frequently reporting on the case.
“She’ll contact me and ask me to verify and get info straight,” says Geller. “That’s helpful because [rumors] tend to proliferate. I spend half my time debunking.”
A mother’s certainty
“I never thought I’d be spending my birthday planning my daughter’s funeral,” says Gil Harrington. It’s Monday, February 1, and she’s at home in Roanoke making arrangements to bury her daughter, whose remains were still that day in the possession of the state medical examiner.
Thousands of people around the world are devastated by Morgan’s death and are speculating about how she died, and who could have harmed her. While many believe she was killed and taken to that spot, others considered the possibility that she was pursued through the woods.
Such theories were fueled by Morgan’s bizarre behavior on the night she disappeared. As previously reported by the Hook, she kicked one man, declined another’s offer of aid after he spotted blood on her chin, and— in an utter 21st century rarity— extended a thumb in an effort to hitchhike. All this after letting a friend drive her car from Harrisonburg to the concert and inexplicably ending up outside restroom-laden John Paul Jones Arena after telling friends she was taking a pre-Metallica “bathroom” break.
One theory had Morgan leaving a party on foot, wandering into the field, and dying of hypothermia. Another wondered whether she died of an accidental drug overdose and that a frightened companion panicked and left her to avoid blame.
Even before the medical examiner tipped off media that Morgan was slain, her mother rejected any suggestion that her daughter’s death was accidental.
“I know she was murdered,” she says in a February 1 conversation with the Hook, “based on knowing my daughter. She would be here with us if that wasn’t the case.”
She notes that Morgan’s father, Dan, a psychiatrist, said all along that Morgan was taken by someone local and would be found in the Charlottesville area.
The extent of decomposition– Morgan’s body was almost entirely bones– could have prevented the medical examiner from determining a cause of death. If Morgan were shot or stabbed, there would likely be marks on her bones. If she were strangled, the hyoid, a tiny bone in the neck suspended by ligaments above the larynx, could be broken. But according to profiler Safarik, sometimes that bone is never found, particularly in remains that have been exposed to the elements for so long.
Gil says she is not focused on vengeance, but she is concerned with the safety of other women.
“He’s done other stuff before,” she says of the unknown killer. “I’d hate for him to get this under his belt. What could he do next time?”
While Lt. Rader refused to offer any cautionary words about danger in Charlottesville at a recent press conference, both Harringtons have been outspoken about their fears.
“I am feeling a tendency to downplay Morgan’s abduction, to protect the idyllic reputation of the city,” Gil Harrington wrote on findmorgan.com on January 23, just three days before Morgan’s remains were discovered. “A bad event happened in Charlottesville,” she wrote, urging residents to stand up and make Charlottesville “known as the place where this act was not tolerated, not dismissed, be relentless, be clever, be resourceful, and find Morgan. Protect people rather than reputations, they are infinitely more precious.”
Gil says Dan Harrington expressed his concerns about safety to UVA, and soon after Morgan’s discovery, University Vice President Patricia Lampkin sent an email to all students offering safety tips including traveling in groups, particularly at night, and even making sure not to get into any unmarked taxis.
Such cautionary tips, the Harringtons hope, will prevent anyone else from suffering as they have, and as they believe Morgan did, but it will do nothing to bring their daughter back. Living with her death, Gil says, is something she deals with differently from the average American.
“We do death up close and personal,” she says softly, noting her career as an oncology nurse. “It is part of life,” she says. “I’m sorry it came early in hers.”
While she remembers Morgan’s radiant beauty in life, she has memorably discussed the beauty she saw even in her daughter’s “lovely bones” and explains her decision to view images of her daughter’s remains.
“If Morgan’s bones are around, it is my duty— my right— to see them,” she says. “It is my honor.”
And, she notes, Morgan’s death is not the first terrible loss with which she’s coped. When her sister died at home following an illness, Gil says she did not want her body to be “whisked away.” Instead, she recalls, she laid beside her “as she stiffened and turned to alabaster.”
She knows this is not the American way to cope with death, and credits time spent living among other cultures, including five goodwill medical trips to Africa, for giving her an appreciation for life as well as death.
“You don’t pretty it up,” she says. “You look at it.”
As the investigation moves forward, she says, she will stay focused on keeping Morgan’s memory alive rather than on revenge or anger.
“That kind of emotion is like acid in a person; it chews you up,” she says. “Punishment is not mine to give.”
A memorial service for Morgan Harrington is planned for February 5 in Roanoke, with a Mass at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church at 3:30pm. A reception will follow at Hotel Roanoke.
–With additional reporting by Hawes Spencer
(story uploaded 8:37pm, Tuesday, February 2)
#
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original tout for this story published Monday, February 1:
“I never thought I’d be spending my birthday planning my daughter’s funeral,” says Gil Harrington. It’s Monday, February 1, and she’s at home in Roanoke making arrangements to bury the partially skeletonized remains— still this afternoon in the possession of the state medical examiner— of 20-year-old Morgan Dana Harrington, the Virginia Tech student who disappeared in Charlottesville last October and whose bones were found last week on a remote farm in southern Albemarle.
At a press conference held last week confirming identity of the remains, lead State Police investigator Joe Rader said that evidence, in addition to the bones, had been recovered from Anchorage Farm, and he suggested the focus of the investigation would shift there from Copeley Road Bridge, where Harrington was last seen allegedly hitchhiking during the Metallica concert.
But that doesn’t mean police aren’t continuing to investigate clues in town. A black t-shirt touting the band Pantera— something that Harrington was said to be wearing the night she inexplicably left the concert at the John Paul Jones Arena— was discovered last fall on a bush outside a 21-unit Grady Avenue apartment complex.
In this week’s issue of the Hook, the UVA student who found the shirt clarifies some of the speculation about that. And as shown in a new interactive Hook/Google map at right, the rough and remote site where Harrington’s body was discovered may show, as property owner Dave Bass has tried to explain numerous times, why it’s actually more easily accessed from several places in the adjacent Blandemar Farms Estates subdivision than from the two houses on his own 742-acre Anchorage Farm.
Also, in this week’s cover story, by award-winning journalist Courteney Stuart, police warn the Hook that its reporters could face harassment charges for attempting to interview convicted sexual offenders living near Anchorage Farm. And Mrs. Harrington, an oncology nurse, speaks candidly about dealing with death.
True crime reporting has always been a speciality of the Hook, and previously the Hawes-era C-ville Weekly.
quote: “….police warn the Hook that its reporters could face harassment charges for attempting to interview convicted sexual offenders living near Anchorage Farm.”
Interesting.
I wonder what code section they would they proceed with?
GSOE
Interesting.
I wonder what code section they would they proceed with?
the commonly misused stalking trump comes to mind
It’s not hard to tell when the pressure is on in this case .
Dakota
http://abcnews.go.com/US/morgan-harrington-family-prays-justice-slain-virginia-tech-student/story?id=9701648&page=1
worth a read . Notice the JPJA staement about footage available from camera’s . We will never see that footage ! I wonder why ?
Dakota
I didn’t know until I read the ABC article that Morgan supposedly “stepped out for a smoke break” when she left the arena. What I’d heard was that she went to the bathroom and somehow accidentally wound up outside. When did that story change?
Isn’t there a smoking tent at JPJ or something?
I’m a Hook reporter covering this story. There’s a smoking area inside JPJ; the official story has always been that she told her friends she was going to the bathroom. And there has never been any information about Morgan being seen on surveillance at JPJ or anywhere else. In fact, that’s one of the many odd things in this case: police have been very clear– in multiple conversations I’ve had with them– that they have no video or photos of Morgan from that night.
Well, the ABC story couldn’t spell “Roanoke” correctly, so there are various things that are suspect about it.
plus the one witness that reported seeing Morgan, saw her in the smoking area. (the girl that saw her looking upset with blood on her face)
thank you Courtneney for your comment & this story.
i’m sure you cant answer, but now we are left wondering if the other paper that first reported the video footage of Morgan- is doing a crappy job of reporting- or is LE telling a big fib?
it’s looking like the shirt info is accurate due to LE telling other sites not to publish anything about the shirt.
now what i cant figure is why LE knew about this shirt all along and didnt say a word… other than to blab to the residents of the apt building where the shirt was found. wow!!
“A black t-shirt touting the band Pantera— something that Harrington was said to be wearing the night she inexplicably left the concert at the John Paul Jones Arena— was discovered last FALL on a bush outside a 21-unit Grady Avenue apartment complex.”
Wait–the shirt was found last FALL? Or last WEEK?
now what i cant figure is why LE knew about this shirt all along and didnt say a word… other than to blab to the residents of the apt building where the shirt was found. wow!!
****
According to C-ville Weekly’s blog post, law enforcement didn’t start asking around that area until the body was found.
quote: ‘the commonly misused stalking trump comes to mind…”
The only thing I can think of right off the top of my head is § 9.1-918, misuse of registry information.
But the cop shoppe would have to prove where The Hook is obtaining their list or information from. The Hook reporters don’t have to provide any information against themselves in a criminal investigation.
Gil’s word’s from findmorgan.com
Remembering Morgan Dana Harrington 1989-2009
ON FEBRUARY - 1 - 2010
The world has lost its best hugger. The incomparable Morgan Dana Harrington was torn from us on October 17, 2009.
Morgan, age 20, was a shiny, loving, beautiful original. She was very much loved by her family, her friends, and her community, which has now expanded to include much of the world. We cherish the time we had with Morgan and are grateful for the breadth and variety of experiences we were able to share in her tragically abbreviated life.
Morgan was born on July 24, 1989 in Charlottesville, Virginia and killed there in October 2009. She was an avid music fan, a champion of children’s rights, and planned a career in education.
To recognize some of Morgan’s passions we ask that, in lieu of flowers, gifts to honor Morgan’s memory be made to the Morgan Dana Harrington Memorial Scholarship at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine or to OMNI – Orphan Medical Network International, an organization that provides medical care in Africa. Scholarship donations may be mailed to: Virginia Tech, Attn: Gift Accounting, University Development (0336), Blacksburg, VA 24061, and OMNI donations to 6930 Empire Lane, Roanoke, VA 24018.
Our reconfigured family, Dan, Gil and Alex plan on honoring Morgan with a Mass on February 5, 2010 at 3:30 PM at St. Andrews Catholic Church in Roanoke, Virginia followed by a reception to celebrate Morgan’s life at the Hotel Roanoke.
We are grief stricken by her death but also lifted by the knowledge that Morgan Dana Harrington was precious to so many and will not be forgotten. She mattered, to us all.
2 4 1
GSOE
Interesting . I wonder if it is a complain from a RSO or is the investigative agency afraid the reporters are ahead of them .
I have been told before when you want to get the information bypass the police and head for a reporter , reporters have less privy info and find out more .
Dakota
Why didn’t we hear about the Pantera shirt before now? I can think of a number of reasons:
1. Contrary to popular belief, the “public’s right to know” doesn’t mean that they have to tell us every detail as soon as they know it. The idea is that the cops are trying to solve the crime — not that they are trying to satisfy our voyeuristic desires. What would you have done differently had you known it last October? Would you have called the cops up and said, “Now that I know that she was wearing a Pantera shirt, rather than just some other non-descript black shirt, I can tell you that I saw her dancing at the Outback the next night.”?
2. Sometimes the cops withhold details from the general public so that they can know when someone who is confessing to them is telling them the truth. Suppose someone had come forward and had said, “I killed her and then took her black Nike shirt off her and threw it in the river.” The cops would know that person was lying. If the news had not been broadcast, and someone confessed to killing her after having wild sex in the bushes at an apartment complex on Grady Avenue, their story would be credible. But if the news was broadcast that a black Pantera shirt of the kind worn by Morgan Harrington was found in the bushes at an apartment complex on Grady Avenue, and then someone confessed to having killed her in the bushes on Grady Avenue, how would we know if that person was telling the truth?
3. I don’t read the report as saying that the police have identified this particular Pantera shirt as having come from Morgan Harrington. Maybe they have run a DNA test and haven’t told us. If they don’t have confirming DNA, it is sort of a non-story.
Now that she is gone and hopes are lost the issue is finding the killer(s)
I think it would behoove the investigators to separate fact from speculation and dismiss the rumors that have been published. Perhaps if they do this someone who knows the killer(s) but does not realize it may just have something “click” and could help solve the case.
I would assume from what I have read that the person or persons that did this are from Albemarle or Nelson county (because 29 is on the way to Nelson) There are only about 120k people. Eliminate the women children and elderly and you are probably down to 35k people. Sounds like a lot but you coud probably get the list down to 10k in a matter of days. Then run priors or other profiling and the list gets smaller. If we all (residents) do that with everyone we know then we might just be able to close in on the killer(s) rather quickly. Especially if the police know something we could use to either dismiss or qualify our beliefs.
I think when this is over some among us will kick ourselves for not figuring it out sooner or be mad at the police for not releasing a clue that would have triggered a suspicion.
The thought of someone still out there is scary.
The finder found the shirt last FALL, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was Morgan’s shirt.–hawes spencer
Thanks cvllelaw. Wouldn’t it be great if one of the detective themed TV shows would do an episode that explained that so the question wouldn’t have to be answered so often?
Can I ask if many are using the Feedburner for updates here at the Hook ?
Smokers aren’t human.
The Pantera T-shirt was found last fall on Grady Avenue?
What was the point in focusing thousands of the general public on a shirt that had already been found? Stupid!
The spot where the remains were found is quite close to several multi-million dollar homes. Habe the police noticed that yet?
This “Investigation” looks idiotic.
Identify the four men who excorted her across the JPJ parking lot. Do your jobs!
Civilaw I am out of towner. I don’t think your LE has done anything for three months except try to prove she was a run away. They took the easy and now they have bones so they got to work. Work should have begun three months ago. You have several sexual offenders that are not registured. That predator is still in your area. He is comfortable hasn’t been caught. And he knows from what your LE has put out they haven’t got a clue. Where I live I can go the SO site and identify the SOs in my neighborhood at a glance. See which ones have failed to registure and if concerning to me call my Alderman and put some pressure on. What has your LE been doing? Have they cautioned the Public? No.
Article read today said ME will not have COD for weeks. I understand that LE has to begin to work this case that they have been trying to sweep under the rug. I wonder how many other cases they have treated the same way? I think a good topic to cover for the Hook instead of speaking with SOs would be to go and interview the families of missing or rape children in the last couple of years. Would be a good evaulation of the work your LE has done. Find out how they have been treated. Where they comfortable with the information and efforts they received.
Was Morgan’s car ever processed by LE?
Just one more. then I’ll say goodnite. Your LT stood at the interview like a deer in headlight no one told us to go to the farm. Well if he would have extended his arial view to just a 10 mile circle perhaps he would have seen something. Some one should write a book about what Parents of missing children need to demand of of LE. There should be protocol for miss young adults from 15 to 20. through out the States. Just like the Ambur alerts.
I cannot believe that convicted sex offenders have more right than the press?! I am in total shock. We can ALL find out who is a registered sex offender. They put it online for the world to see. But it is against the law for anyone to ask them questions?
In the UK they would take blood samples from the local population to compare with DNA they might have taken from the shirt. DNA can not be found that is rubbed off by hand contact if enough force is applied to the object.
But you still have to explain the bizarre behavior reported by witnesses.
Tech was warned they were having a problem with Subliminal Distraction exposure after the Cho shooting. Since then there have been three other deaths. A suicide, a beheading murder, and now Morgan Harrington.
When will Tech investigate Subliminal Distraction.
When will Tech investigate Subliminal Distraction.
***
Geez, still with the pseudoscience rubbish.
Whiterox
Was Morgan’s car ever processed by LE?
It is my understanding that Morgan’s car was not “processed” forensically but looked at by LE .
Dakota
I have to respectfully disagree with the criticisms of our LE. Granted, I am not privy to the inside workings of the investigation (as none of us are), but I have seen NO indication that LE tried to sweep Morgan’s disappearance under the rug or treat it like a runaway case. I have every confidence that they will find the person responsible, and soon.
Hammer you stated, “this case that they have been trying to sweep under the rug.”
Do a little research on the Jeanne Clery Disclosure Act. From gossip, UVA seems to sweep a lot of things under the rug…
Dakota,
Are you serious? They looked at her car but never forensically processed it?
The Harrington’s seem okay with the LE. I mean her dad is a psychiatrist who has probably dealt with forensics.
I tihnk I will with hold my judgement till I hear the Harringtons coming out full force against the LE. Of course they may feel like doing something like that may hinder process of the case.
Maybe after the crime is solved, even if it is by citizens, they’ll will come out with how they felt about how the investigation was handled.
I think we all have learned a lot from the case, right from the beginning when JPJA did not let her back in. BIG MISTAKE!
That’s if she was actually there because there is no tape that actually show’s her, correct?
If the LE would be more honest and open, we the people could help.
I mean it took 5 years to find a rapist and it was a victim who saw him at Harris Teeter behind a meat market that could I.D. him. Morgan’s not around to I.D. this guy but we are!
I’m wondering why Hawes said in this article that she “inexplicably left the concert”……Am I missing something? I’ve heard all along that she went out for a cigarette and they wouldn’t let her back in. (Which is INSANE!!) Then she had to leave. What part of that was inexplicable? Again maybe I missed something there. Anybody know? Also, I can understand why some folks might think investigators were treating this like a runaway case…..With all the talk about her thumbing for a ride and “allegedly hitchhiking”……Did any witness actually say that they saw her on the side of the road with her thumb out? If so I never heard or read that.
quote: “I mean it took 5 years to find a rapist and it was a victim who saw him at Harris Teeter behind a meat market that could I.D. him….”
Incorrect. It was more like 10 to 12 years.
And he was only captured after a girl spotted him and later observed him eating at a Burger King. She called the cops who then retrieved the cup and straw he was drinking from. DNA on the straw positively identified him as the serail rapist.
Yes, the police had press conferences about the arrest and took all the credit for said arrest. But they had not solved anything! The victim did.
And about JPJA…..That policy is totally insane and unsafe! What are we cattle? All they have to do is stamp your hand. Surely they have enough money for some hand stamps! What if someone wasn’t feeling well and needed some air for a minute?? If they didn’t let her back in they are partially responsible for what happened. She’d be alive today if she’d left there with her friends after the show. On a related topic…..a young woman around Morgan’s age disappeared off the street in Asheville, NC just a couple months ago….Same profile…Not far from here…I really hope that investigators are looking at related cases in other nearby small towns where people generally live with their guards down… I have a really strong feeling that this is a serial killer. Just hope they’re looking at all related cases.
Jane, for whatever reason at the time, I can understand Morgan going out for fresh air. But most people don’t understand needing “fresh air”. Back during the Sick Building Snydrome at our local circuit court building, one of our former sheriffs sat in his office with the windows open for ventilation, a/k/a fresh air. The rest of us had to work in the closed environment of the actual courtroom where the windows did not open.
Here is a picture of the sheriff getting all the frsh air he needed, but the rest of us had to suffer.
http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx43/VaSheriff/SBS-SR.jpg
One small editorial note instead “whose bones were found” wouldn’t “skeletal remains” have been a little more appropriate???
AT, I would normally agree with you in a situation like this. But since Mrs. Harrington has opened the door by using the terms “bones”, it changes the face of discussions. Mrs. Harrington didn’t say that even in death, Morgan had beautiful “skeletal remains”.
And to the “outskirts guy” who left that comment above about smokers not being human–You are absolutely despicable. talk about irony!! You are inhuman for even saying that. Especially right now! So I guess drinkers and people who eat at fast food restaurants and anyone who does anything unhealthy or addictive (including you I’m sure)are also inhuman? You have no right to judge anyone. And to even say that right now in regards to this case….Well….to be human means to have a heart. And you obviously don’t. Disgusting.
Maybe you did it….Are you out there hunting smokers????
Only The Truth
We have to remember Morgan’s car was back in Roanoke before local law enforcement really new what was going on . That is if they do now , I am hoping some resolve for the family soon
I will give you Gils word’s to ponder .
Dakota
January 23, 2010
I am concerned about the complacency in Charlottesville. I am feeling a tendency to downplay Morgan’s abduction, to protect the idyllic reputation of the city. I bought into that idyllic image until my daughter was stolen there. I understand the reluctance to be associated with this crime. I myself would prefer not to be known as the Mom of a missing girl. Charlottesville would prefer not to be recognized as the location of abduction. But there is no going back. These roles have been thrust upon us. I don’t think it is correct to downplay Morgan’s abduction to the community. To explain that this abduction occurred because Morgan made herself vulnerable – so not to worry – Vulnerable to what? To the PREDATOR who was there on October 17, 2009 and was still there in November. A bad event happened in Charlottesville – be known as the place where this act was NOT tolerated, not dismissed, be relentless, be clever, be resourceful, and find Morgan. Protect people rather than reputations, they are infinitely more precious.
findmorgan.com
To GASBAG….What is your point? There are hundreds of reasons why someone might need to leave a show for a minute and come back in. Medication in their car….Left their lights on…Air….Cigarette…..who cares what the reason is? The point is that it’s a ridiculous policy and they have the money and the means to change it. People don’t understand needing fresh air? It’s not rocket science. Are you kidding?
OMG I did a test to see if you could use any screen name in another thread and this site stored “Hoolarious” , I didn’t catch it till it was too late . The previouse post is NOT by “Hoolarious” LOL .
Dakota
Jane, my point is the people who sit around and make policy don’t take any of these reasons into consideration. In a stadium with 15,000 people and 15,000 different odors (some good, some bad), people often need fresh air.
I walked into the 29 North post office the other day while they were experiencing some sort of power outage. It smelled like a nursing home where the residents and staff had all messed their diapers. I couldn’t turn around and leave fast enough.
quote: “Vulnerable to what? To the PREDATOR who was there on October 17, 2009 and was still there in November.”
What am I missing in Mrs. Harrington’s statement?
What happened in November?
Jane –
I agree completely.
Had Morgan been re-admitted to JPJ, she would still be alive.
Hoolarious –
Gil’s words are the truth.
and the broken record starts again…..
GSOE
That is the million dolla question , Both Gil and Dr Harrington have reiterated those words for a couple week’s.
I know of at least 4 times they have spoke about the “November” issue .
Dakota
GSOE! and everyone else! Help me here….why are the Hook reporters taking it upon themselves to interview registered sex offenders??? Do they have information they are not forthcoming with?? Or is Hawes just trying to promote is paper? or do they lack anything better to do? Are they trying to help? Are they being asked to do this by the “cop shoppes” cause if they did it, it would be a different matter?….Just so confused about this issue!! Help me understand! WHY IS A NEWSPAPER WITH MOSTLY FEMALE (I looked at the staff) REPORTERS DOING THIS????
Now don’t jump down my throat, I am not standing up for the “registered”…I am just very interesed WHY newspaper reporters are taking this on themselves to do this…..
It’s called investigative journalism.
WB…oh, wait….then maybe they should be out doing “investigative jouralism” to EVERY ONE who gets a traffic ticket …oh, wait…that wouldn’t sell papers or advertisements cause people wouldn’t care about that….
Sorry, not a good enought excuse.
The Hook is the only media investigating this crime.
The others are simply printing press releases.
Big Dog, THANK YOU! Now that makes more sense (about why the “investigative jourlism”)…but still want to know WHY no other paper thinks this is not worth “investigating”! C’ville not big enough on the radar? ….why only press releases??? Are LE officials not releasing everything they have??? Which would make sense since it’s an ongoing investigation…don’t want the perp/s have a chance to figure out they are watching and then not slip up so that they get caught.
HOWEVER! Since the majority of the staff is female…why whould Hawes put them out there with KNOWN offenders?? I hope they don’t go alone….
who’s to say that all of those offenders are into adult females…or females at all for that matter. It would seem like LE cautioned the hook as they might be in the process of looking into offenders themselves.
Arpal! Agreed!!! Maybe LE is telling the Hook to “back off” and let us do our job…IMMHO and I don’t usually take up for LE…
But if the offender isn’t into adult females…why interview them at all…just have to wait until that cover story comes out, I guess….
justbeinobjective, so your argument is that women shouldn’t interview SO’s because they are women? Is this a safety issue? Or male chauvinism? Im confused??
With various scenes of evidence spread out over different locations, police should be asking for video footage from every camera in town that faces a roadway from that night. Then sitting down and figuring out possible routes from jpj-grady ave-anchorage farm and jpj-anchorage farm-grady ave. I realize Morgan isn’t in any of the footage from locations west of the Copely Rd. bridge, but the same make/model/color car showing up in footage possibly enroute to the other locations would seem like a great lead in a stagnant investigation? no? And yes it would take some time to sort through, but how is it not worth doing? There’d be few cars on the road for the first 10 hours after she was last seen, and the ME will probably be able to determine if thats the time frame in which she perished. I’d collect all the footage I could get in case more evidence is found at another location. Or as evidence of a potential future suspect’s whereabouts.
Informed…safety issue…coming from experience…my ex is a SO (child molester). Oh, and I am female and HATE chauvinism….
lol good, me too, female and non-chauvinist. :) Sorry about your ex, can’t imagine!
Hey justbeinobjective:
when you got engaged to your ex and he said he needed to get registered, did you think you think it was weird that he drove past Belk’s and went instead to the parole board?
quote: “GSOE! and everyone else! Help me here….why are the Hook reporters taking it upon themselves to interview registered sex offenders???”
I don’t know. A bigger question is why law enforcement is threatening them.
The cop shoppes often misuse a law to achieve whatever end result it is they are looking for. What they did to Strom is proof of this. All she did was re-print a cop’s home address after Albemarle County had already printed it on their online property tax web site. The cop’s home address (and many others) is available to anybody on the Internet.
The cop shoppes also seriously abused and misused a law on me back in 1997. After a cop made a remark to me about a false arrest, I simply stated, “It’s not over yet!” Obviously my remark was made in reference to civil litigation, he knew he was going to get sued. The cop shoppe claimed the remark was a death threat and had an emergency protective order issued against me. Because of this, I could not carry a firearm for 72 hours even though I was a sworn deputy sheriff and scheduled to work during the 72 hours. They drove Willie Morris crazy with all the crap they were pulling on me. A judge later ruled that my remark was clearly a mention of my intent to sue the cop shoppes for a mistake they had made.
Now, continuing on whether anybody likes it not, not only did they improperly seek an emergency protective order against me, they entered it in the computer for 365 days instead of 3 days, claimed it was a mistake. Yeah, right! Uh huh! This “mistake” came to light when I was purchasing another firearm (which I do often) and the state police were sent out in person to arrest me at the sight of the purchase.
Bottom line,never underestimate what law will be abused and misused by any cop shoppe under any circumstances. Why do they want The Hook to back off? What extremes will they go to insure The Hook backs off? I know the extremes they will employ. :)
Sick, so you’re telling me that the biggest and most dangerous gang in C-ville/ Alb Co. is the police department as was told to me by what I thought to be was a derranged former inmate at our regional jail?
Has the duration of the 8:48 p.m. cell call been disclosed?
Confused Easily…he wasn’t a sex offender when I got engaged to him…and unfortunately it was my daughter that was his victim….
NOTICE I said he was my EX….and yes, I was the one who put him in jail..just not long enough due to a bleeding heart CA in Waynesboro who forced a plea bargin down my throat.
It is the responsibility of the Community to evaluate the services Law enforcement is providing them. Having blind Faith in your LE is just that Blind. After three months of investigating this episode your would think they had a clue. I do believe the Police took the easy solution with this and blamed the victim as a run away. Dec 10, 2009 Geller states NO POI. There was not a organized group investigating. This is the shame of it. This is how the majority of missing persons in that age group are looked at. That is why young adult missing victims are still missing or found dead and the cases never solved. Go to the grocery store and look at all the faces of misssing children , young adults and wonder to yourself was LE doing it job? Or did they take the easy way and not really investigate. Just another run away. I think of this case and it reminds of Aruba Case no pictures, wittnesses not talking or lying. Police now having skeletel remains NOW have to work. I think your LE was shocked to find remains and are now starting from squaare one. Thank God for the Farmer.
I give credit to this news paper. Stir the pot. The citizen should stir the pot as well. This won’t help this victim but will ensure your LE will know what you expect of them. If they can’t do the work quit the job. Don’t vote them back in. It’s your tax dollar ensure its use.
Frankly, I’m very surprised LE hasn’t solved this case yet or at least come close to solving it. I know the whells I’ve justice turn slowly but look at all they have to work with? I’ve seen a lot of real life cases profiled on TV and, I can tell you, the cops did a heck of a lot more in order to solve a case, even though in some instances the cases may not have necessarily been solved.
What is going on here? Am I missing something? If I were the Harringtons, I’d be crying foul.
If all the sex predators were in jail like they outghta be then it wouldn’t be an issue.
How does anyone know for sure that this is a murder ?
quote: “How does anyone know for sure that this is a murder?”
The medical examiner says it is.
I would assume someone of similar size and wearing similar footwear has retraced the path Morgan is believed to have traversed that evening with a stop watch to determine if the various pushpin sightings are plausible.
February 2, 2010
RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - The Richmond medical examiner has ruled Morgan Harrington’s death a homicide, but is still trying to determine how she was killed.
Again, I would like to defend the LE on this case. Because they didn’t find Morgan and lock someone up within 48 hours does not mean that they are not competent at their jobs. Everyone seems to think it should be so easy to find someone who basically vanished. She was seen by multiple witnesses up until 9:30, and then gone. How do you imagine that it would be so easy to find her? If she was abducted by a stranger, she could have been ANYWHERE. How exactly do you suppose LE should have made the leap from her disappearing from that bridge to her ending up on a 700-acre farm? If no one saw the car she got into, they had NOTHING to go on.
I have been following this from the beginning, and do not remember LE saying at any point that they thought she was a runaway.
Frustrated, the cases you are referring to on tv were probably perpetrated by someone known to the victim, which makes the crime much easier to solve. Furthermore, we have NO idea what LE knows. Perhaps they are one day away from making an arrest. Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean that it won’t.
Since the Pantera T-shirt was found in the Fall and (according to another media report) the police did not question residents of the neighborhood where it was found until the Tuesday Morgan was found, one can assume that this was because there was no Pantera T-shirt among the clothes Mr. Bass said were near her body. At that point, the police undoubtedly concluded that the T-shirt found in Charlottesville was her’s and proceeded to canvass the nearby residents. And if they were able to find any DNA traces on the shirt, they could presumably match them with DNA from Morgan’s hair. But I’m no scientist, so I might be off base with that.
To recognize some of Morgan’s passions we ask that, in lieu of flowers, gifts to honor Morgan’s memory be made to the Morgan Dana Harrington Memorial Scholarship at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine or to OMNI – Orphan Medical Network International, an organization that provides medical care in Africa. Scholarship donations may be mailed to: Virginia Tech, Attn: Gift Accounting, University Development (0336), Blacksburg, VA 24061, and OMNI donations to 6930 Empire Lane, Roanoke, VA 24018.
Blame the girl
Yes let’s just blame the girl.
It’s the girl’s fault
She shouldn’t have been beautiful
She shouldn’t have been at a concert
Wearing makeup
And a skirt
She was asking for it
They all ask for it
That way when the body is found it becomes their fault
Or the friends
Or the parents
Never the killer’s
No, he was giving her what she asked for
So in America in 2009
If you are a woman don’t go out alone
Don’t go to public events alone
Don’t walk after dark alone
If you are pretty or young,
Because if something happens to you
Remember you asked for it
That’s what the world will say
Not that you are/were beautiful
full of life
Waiting to burst onto life’s arena
Waiting for your first real love
your father walking you down the aisle
Your children
No, you are a tri-dimensional flesh cartoon
An object of hostile desire
An object to be destroyed
We talk about the Taliban
With girl/woman murderers in our midst
But as we can see, in America
in 2009 and 2010 you can always find people to say
She asked for it
Remember me (for Morgan and the others who left us young)
Remember me
My dreams
My plans
My hopes
Never my fears
Not enough time for them
No lover
No husband
No children
Not enough time for them
But I WILL live
As long as you
Remember me
Since the Pantera T-shirt was found in the Fall and (according to another media report) the police did not question residents of the neighborhood where it was found until the Tuesday Morgan was found, one can assume that this was because there was no Pantera T-shirt among the clothes Mr. Bass said were near her body. At that point, the police undoubtedly concluded that the T-shirt found in Charlottesville was her’s and proceeded to canvass the nearby residents. And if they were able to find any DNA traces on the shirt, they could presumably match them with DNA from Morgan’s hair. But I’m no scientist, so I might be off base with that.
***
That would be my thinking. I would think that DNA could identify the shirt as Morgan’s or not, but the actions of law enforcement and the descriptions in the newsweeklies have been ambiguous.
CvlleLaw
your points are mute because it was known from day one that Morgan was wearing a Pantera shirt. unless you go by Lt. Radar who said on national tv is was a Panera (like the bread. doh) shirt.
so any false confessions or false sighting would not work because it was already known it was a Pantera shirt.
Of course the public doesnt have a right to know every detail, but Morgans family does and there are things (injury inside the venue) that LE did not tell her family because they didnt think it was important. When someone child is missing, everything is important.
I also believe everyone in that area has a right to know a killer is on the loose. At the time LE found that shirt (if it is indeed Morgans) they should have went public with that info. that shirt is very distinctive. many of us spent countless hours trying to find a photo of that shirt online via t-shirt venders and couldnt find one. Had LE went public in the fall with whatever info they have on the shirt- the public would most likely conclude something very bad happened to Morgan and a killer was/is at large. also tips from the area where the shirt was found could have come in!!! How many are going to remember what was going on in that area 3 months ago vs had they been asked back at the time it was found.
LE was sloppy telling the residents of that apt what they were doing there and now LE is asking the public and online sites not to talk about the shirt. it’s too late once they blabbed to the residents of the apt. I know everyone wants to believe that LE ride white horses and rush in to the rescue, but sadly that is not always the case. until it happens to YOUR family, the general public has no idea the ball droppings that go on in LE.
you all have had more than your share of college student murders and based on all the stores that declined to put up missing posters of Morgan- i’m thinking the area would really like this to all just go away.
Kelli’s Mom-
has the shirt been described in a more specific way other than that said “Pantera” on it? What makes it distinctive?
Frustrated in Cville, what in the world is a “whells I’ve justice” ??
Can’t anybody write anymore? That’s not even coherent. Whells isn’t even a word, and who knows what an “I’ve justice” is. The whells I’ve [I have] justice.” Okey dokey. I see a lot of this sort of incoherency around the Hook blog but normally I don’t say anything. This one was just too much though.
Kelli’s mom - I think you mean “moot” point. Mute is when sound is silenced. Although in a weird way I guess somebody’s points could indeed be mute, if the points are incorrect and therefore silenced.
Boo, I think the writer meant “wheels of justice.”
There are many missing or murdered women cases in my community in rural New York. They date back 20 years. Consistent problems. Many of the disappearances were connected to LE. Because cases were never solved - we all wonder what is really going on. David Lohr, Tim Miller and others have gotten involved. But none have been solved. Its a very bad wound for your community. People, history remembers. It does not sound like a good situation. It will only get worse if your community does not come together and solve this.
Very upsetting.
Boo
Could you point me in the direction of “dokey” in the dictonary ?
On another note . I have always found when someone is unable to decipher a single misspelled word it say’s more about the inabilities of the reader than it does the author .
Hammer . It is my opinion that Lt. Rader clearly showed how “shocked” he really was that the concerned public found the remains . I feel “they” realized it was time to “try” and do something . I also believe the shoddy canvass job was indeed local law enforcement whom upon realizing they overlooked the very shirt that WAS NOT FOUND with Morgan’s remains’ and somebody said “uh oh” we better get on this , don’t pass out any card’s and give very little info so nobody knows were a season late looking into the “pantera” shirt found back in the FALL. The last thing “we” need now is another screw up and the Hook finding out :) .
It will be much easier apologizing the the investigators if I am wrong than it will be letting the Harrington’s down and not keep this investigation on it’s toe’s .
Dakota
quote: “Again, I would like to defend the LE on this case. Because they didn’t find Morgan and lock someone up within 48 hours does not mean that they are not competent at their jobs.”
So…. you’re saying they WERE incompetent in the Alicia Showalter Reynolds case? It’s almost been 14 years with no arrest.
The Hook’s new cover story is now in this spot.
Thanks, Courteney.
Early on, as some Morgan-focused websites were nearly overrun by alleged psychics theorizing about gruesome fates and making overly general predictions,
****
True that.
Gasbag says: So…. you’re saying they WERE incompetent in the Alicia Showalter Reynolds case? It’s almost been 14 years with no arrest.
Oh, smackdown!
seeing life through the eyes of another– Washington Post Magazine:
Balm: By styling her daughters’ hair each morning, she was attending to something deeper than a beauty ritual
By Lonnae O’Neal Parker
Sunday, January 31, 2010
“For me to feel assuaged that if one day, please, God, no, they suddenly disappeared, I could persuade the 24-hour cable networks that my girls really were worthy enough to be news– because, after all, black mothers can’t recall a time where missing black women and children got national media attention. ”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/22/AR2010012203259.html
Hammer seems to be going off on the local PDs. I am not friend of the local PDs, but perhaps there was no POI back in December because there was not enough evidence to have a POI.
There was, until the girl was found, a complete dearth of evidence in this case. Think about it. They more or less had nowhere to look because they had nothing to look at, and there is no way they can look in every nook and cranny in Albemarle County. It’s a pretty big fricken place.
“For me to feel assuaged that if one day, please, God, no, they suddenly disappeared, I could persuade the 24-hour cable networks that my girls really were worthy enough to be news– because, after all, black mothers can’t recall a time where missing black women and children got national media attention. ”
****
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_murders_of_1979-1981
Granted, it was a large number of missing African-American children, but it was a huge national story.
I heard in the NPR interview that her editor questioned her about including this in the story and she said to him name one then –and he couldn’t. I’m a news junkie and to be honest I couldn’t either.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123271379&ps=cprs
Well, certainly the high-profile missing person cases that get too much national attention (i.e. the Laci Peterson types) are usually young, attractive, white females.
I don’t see this as a problem with our local media, but certainly, as you mention, and as alluded to by Ms O’Neal Parker, I see this in the national media.
“If Morgan’s bones are around, it is my duty— my right— to see them,” she says. “It is my honor
“You don’t pretty it up,” she says. “You look at it.”
Gil Harrington impresses me so . Gil is a master of substance , a rarely expressed quality found today. I have only found such elegance in dealing with death by one other person in my life . I had the great pleasure to talk with and meet Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. as a very young Man , I have intimate conversations spoken with her saved to this day ; Elisabeth was an incredible lady .Gil Harrington stands like marble and stone ,the pillar to the Harrington family. I feel compelled and deeply certain the spirit of Elizabeth influenced Gil’s strength long before this tragedy . I can feel Elisabeth echoing in Gil’s words . Gil has read Elisabeth’s work , I just know she has.
Such strength and grace Gil possesses !
Dakota
where does all of this “perp” and “LE” crap come from? TV words, TV mind, and illiteracy runs rampant. no wonder so much garbage speculation passes through this blog. freaking L K Tucker is even back with the ultimate in pseudoscience.
-GIGO
It is a good thing that an irreverent weekly now owns this story. Stay in the lede.
Kubler Ross a great book “Death and Dying” a must read if you know anyone who is grieving. This woman was remarkable. The first book written in the US about stages of grief before and after death.
Shaniya Davis comes to mind. Where is the news on that? Under the rug. I agree with you 100 percent. But when a high profile case comes to the news take the opportunity to increase the awarness so more equal treatment is given to all victims.
What I want is Protocol for all missing young adults through out the United States. I want the first 24 hours treated as an emergency to save their life if possible. Did you ever consider close to the vest means I don’t know whats up. This girls purse was handed in at 8:30 am who did they call? I am tired of police blaming the missing victim or puttimg them in a convient peg hole. She is being held captive or whatever the peg hole is today. We have to many victims out there that where to young to die. As a Community you are still not safe. Has the predator been caught? Have the Police cautioned you to be cautious. Or is this just another College town where image is more important than its citizens safety.
It’s for your benifit to question what your LE is doing. Don’t you think if you had seen pictures of how she looked that night through out the neighborhoods it might have jarred someones memory. What risk more people calling LE with tips. Why didn’t they do ariel views for a 15 mile circle. 29 would have been in that circle. Isn’t 29 a bone of contention in your area? Don’t some of your SOs live in that area? I want Protocol for searches that all Police must follow. It is obivious from the amount of missing person pictures whats being done now is not effective.
Question the security at the Arena. Your kids go there. Why didn’t security call the police, paramedics, parents, announce over the intercom for friends of this victim to come to the gate if this girls demeaner was irrational. These seeem to be reasonable solutions for this problem. What if she was 15, 16 or just your kid. What would you have wanted done. How did Security know what was wrong with her? They let her walk off in what they perhaps thought was an intoxicated state. What, to get in her car and drive and perhaps injure some innocent family on the road. Are the cameras at this Arena state of the art. They should be for all the money Arenas pull in.
I don’t have Mrs. Harrightons grace. I am just very upset to see another missing victim dead. Stiring the pot will not help Morgan but it will help your kid or the next vicitm, God forbid.
Thanks for the great Article. A citizen who lives else where says koodos.
Hammer,
You have very good points! Thank you for voicing! maybe someone will actually listen!
quote: “It is a good thing that an irreverent weekly now owns this story.”
I’ve seen your kind before. I bet you stand in line at the grocery store to buy The National Enquirer every week!
GSOE- It’s more an observation on the current paucity of daily print.
Hello GSOE,
Please reply if you would.
I live in the Albe. Co. with my two teens and mentally ill wife, who calls 911 when her delusions/hallucinations compel her.
Twice, skin-head doofuses have, after lengthy “investigations,” arrested me for a&b. Closed court this week maybe will save me a trial.
Is there a forum of some sort where people with gripes against certain cops can list their names, or misspellings of names, as a public service,…other than the “freedom of speech” wall?
Thanks
http://www.ratemycop.com
Steve and WestBurkleyFlats: I don’t think it is correct that they could only match the DNA on the shirt once they found the body. They would have been able to get DNA from Morgan’s home - hair on her brush, things like that and do a comparison much earlier.
Yes, that would seem to be the case. My thought was that the shirt didn’t appear to be with Harrington’s remains, so they went back to interview people in the area.
The purse was in one place. The battery from her cell phone is missing. The Pantera shirt was possibly found in another area. Her red camera is missing. A necklace she was wearing is also missing. Morgan’s body was found in a field that is difficult to get to (but not difficult for someone who is pumped up on his own adrenaline and trying to cover up his awful crime), and not within the immediate city of Charlottesville. It sounds like the killer purposely scattered her belongings to throw the investigation away from where the actual location of Morgan’s body was. If this is true, would he travel back to Charlottesville to toss out her belongings, or is he from the immediate location of Charlottesville?
Gasbag Fan, there was once a rather large web site called BadCops. It is no longer in existence. The owners and operators simply got fed up with the harassment they had to endure to keep the site up and running. Somebody hired professional hackers to crash their site almost every day. I think we know all who that somebody is. :)
An alternative is http://copwatch.com/AAAindex.html
You have to be very careful what you say of course. Unless you can prove what you say, it’s best not to say it. Very few people take on the cops and win at anything. And having said what you said above, I am sure you already know why.
Let there be no mistake, my war is against the small percentage of crooked corrupt lying cops, and those who conspire and lie with them and for them. It’s sad to realize that this percentage appears to be growing though.
G-Fan,
Virginia Code § 01.11- 02.9 Use of the First Amendment with the intent to air grievances against any or all law enforcement officers.
It shall be unlawful for any person to use the First Amendment, with the intent to air grievances against any or all law enforcement officers, to publish an officer’s name, any variation of an officer’s name, or officer-identifying information as defined in clauses (aaa) through (zzz), or clause (xxx) of subsections L, E, O.
Any person who violates this section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Any person who violates this section knowing or having reason to know that any law enforcement officer has ever had contact, as defined in § a7.1-01, with him or her is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
These days Law Enforcement will even go after people who aren’t griping about them. Oh no, wait; could that be misconstrued as airing a grievance?
JADE, that code section is clearly unconstitutional. I am surprised it hasn’t been challenged yet.
Just want to remind everyone who is criticizing the investigators etc. how long it took to catch Ted Bundy. The man murdered at least 30 people over a number of years before he was pulled over for a simple “failure to stop” for police on August 16, 1975. They had no idea who he was or what he’d done when they opened the trunk of his car that day. People…..please don’t forget that serial killers like Bundy get away with killing and eluding for years because they are highly intelligent. People did their jobs. I’m sure most of them did the best they could and lived with so much guilt and pressure that most of us cannot even imagine because we are not the ones responsible for stopping them. Spiritually speaking, we all need to pull together and understand that everyone wants the same thing. The police and investigators need our support more than anything. When someone is trying their best to win a race, you don’t stand on the sidelines and tell them they aren’t good enough and boo them and criticize them and let them know you have no faith in them while you’re standing there doing nothing. I’m sure there have been some mistakes made and maybe a few individuals have dropped the ball in this case…. but this is not the time for self important speculation on the parts of folks who do not have this incredible burden upon them. If you think you can do a better job, then do it. Judgement is God’s job, not yours. Please….let’s pull together here and give them as much support as we can. That’s what they need.
So to me this sort of keeps getting more confusing.
OK so there’s the one story about the girl fighting with the guy in the parking lot, her going back to the arena and then he going in the opposite direction then going back in her direction.
Then there is the story about the dude who said she came up to him and said “lets go”
Not sure the time line on those two instances but that would almost make me think that somebody was harassing her, she went back to the arena area where there was more people and was trying to get the person to leave her alone by acting like the lets go dude was her boyfriend.
Then she was allegedly talking to basketball players and hanging with a group of guys so she could have been asking them to hang with her to keep whomever from harassing her.
However if that was the case why wouldn’t she just call her pals inside and tell them somebody was harassing her and then why would she allow herself to be alone on the bridge if somebody was after her??
On the other hand if she was drinking or had some sort of buzz on she might have been afraid to approach police for fear of getting arrested for PI.
Also if she was hitchiking I’m not sure of the geography but would the Farm and the Rt 29 people mention be on the way to where she actually lived?
I’m just wondering cause I’ve read a couple articles that indicated her clothes were not found on the body. Maybe they were wrong but if that was true I’d think it was possible she jumped out of the car and took off in the woods and the abductor chased her there and molested her rather than carrying a 100 lb plus person there??
Is the area where she was found on the way to where she lived?? Or was it an area when they got there she would have known they weren’t going home and she might have bailed from the car??
Very confusing. Such a shame. Poor girl.
I agree with everything you said Jane, especially supporting the officers. There’s only one tiny thing, I watched a documentary on Ted Bundy. One very quick thinking girl, who was almost kidnapped by Bundy, escaped his clutch. She turned him in. She was able to give details about the vehicle he was driving, and describe Bundy himself.
Bundy would catch some of his victims by pretending he had a broken arm, and that he needed help getting items into his vehicle. Knowing this, helped the police a lot. Which raises another question…are there any females out there who have seen a guy on the prowl from his vehicle? Have any of you females out there been hollered at by a man spouting obscenities towards you? A man that makes you think…”you creep!”?
If I wanted to get even with a cop I would just call his wife and say: Tell your husband I’m pregnant” and hang up.
quote: “If I wanted to get even with a cop I would just call his wife and say: Tell your husband I’m pregnant” and hang up.”
That’s one of the major reasons cops have unlisted phone numbers. Always have, always will. The badge attracts way too many women to turn away. :)
Peneolpe, what relevance does your commment have to the tragedy of Morgan Harrington’s death? Could we stay on topic, rather than use this story as a way to air our gripes and self-indulgent fantasies?
jane wrote “If you think you can do a better job, then do it”
…and face obstruction of justice charges.
The belief that the police care one way or another whether John and Jane Q. Public support them or criticize them is laughable.
GRH… A rumor which says that he bragged that he picked up a blond girl to someone that night and that he wasn’t returning her until he “got some”? He was picked up on 10/28 and is currently in jail. Not entirely sure if he is a suspect, but he should be looked into.
quote: “The belief that the police care one way or another whether John and Jane Q. Public support them or criticize them is laughable.”
Correct. They will do as they please.
The only thing that ever drops an ice cube down their diapers is a big fat settlement or judgement in a lawsuit. Then they take it kinda personal and care. :)
“Maybe they were wrong but if that was true I’d think it was possible she jumped out of the car and took off in the woods and the abductor chased her there and molested her rather than carrying a 100 lb plus person there??”
Just my opinion, but there’s no way that Morgan could’ve just wound in her final resting place on her own accord, either by running away from some guy or wandering off on foot and then getting confused and lost. Just my opinion, but to me it seems ludicrous. She was placed there after the fact by somebody who wanted her hidden but who maybe didn’t have time to dig a hole. Whatever happened to her was most likely done miles away, and by the time her body wound up on the farm she was already dead. I don’t know why people keep theorizing that she ran off on foot or jumped out of cars and just happened to wind up in this remote location on her own, on foot. Think about it. Let’s use some common sense.
@ Penelope - seriously, let’s grow up. That so-called cop revenge tactic wouldn’t work. A truly pregnant woman doesn’t just anonymously “tip off” the wife and hang up. A woman who’s really pregnant wants child support and acknowledgment. You’d better believe they’d be making their presense known loud and clear if they’ve been impregnated by a guy who lied to them and has no plans to leave his wife even though he promised he would. And most adult woman with two neurons firing wouldn’t just believe an anonymous tip like that. They’d dismiss it as a crank call. So, time to think of a new revenge tactic. Sorry.
Anyway, back on subject……
GSOE quote … “That’s one of the major reasons cops have unlisted phone numbers. Always have, always will. The badge attracts way too many women to turn away. :)”
Thank God for Reed Elsevier.
To Hammer:
I have been reading your comments and you make good points. I think it is possible that the LE in Charlottesville fumbled this case from the beginning, because of the lack of security measures in place at the JPJ Arena parking lots. When the trouble started there was no films–nothing state-of-the-art, no security guards, poor lighting etc., so LE didn’t have much to work with. All that LE could hope for was was fellow patrons who might of/should of taking cell phone pictures in the parking lots. I feel the killer might of known that the JPJ Arena parking lots didn’t offer protection for their patrons. He had a perfect set-up. Morgan might of left the only clue to help find her by leaving her purse/cell phone when she was grabbed. I think when LE, the JPJ Arena Officials are quiet about something–that something doesn’t seem right–like you say–stir the pot!
I would agree with you guys if the battery wasn’t missing. With the battery missing it does not seem likely that Morgan had control of the situation or her purse.
Yes Boo!, pregnant females and “girlfriends” most certainly do call up the wives of of their boyfriend cops. Happens every day.
Let me tell you a little tale. There was a local cop who had an attractive young female as a girlfriend. He had told this girl he was divorced and living with his sister. You know the routine, he explained it wasn’t the right time to live together or get married. He just wanted to lead her on, don’t buy the cow when the milk is free. Anyhow, this “sister” he had the girl believing he was living with was actually his wife. :)
All hell broke loose when the girl found out the truth. It wasn’t long after this that he was no longer a local cop. Domestic violence among cops is swept under the rug if a chief or sheriff can get by with it. As a matter of fact, most domestic violence among cops is only exposed after an informant within a cop shoppe makes an anonymous call to the media outlets.
The above mentioned is only one of a dozen girls this guy had strung along for years. With most he promised to leave his wife and marry them. Most of the girls finally wised up.
To add my 2 cents — Earlier comments ask if this smells of a cover up?
First point: From experience I can tell you that UVA covers up at least 50 reported rapes each school. UVA, from Casteen down to the average campus cop, treats sexual assault as an administrative issue, not as a crime. So — you have a large number of young men who are documented to have committed sexual assault but are never dealt with as criminals. If Casteen would have zero tolerance for rape on his campus, the Charlottesville area would be safer. If the Harrington’s thought the UVA cops were doing all they could in the initial days, then there were mislead and far too trusting.
Second point: Crimes committed against young woman in miniskirts (god forbid they smoke or drink) are dismissed because, as I heard a former Albemarle Commonwealth Attorney state (in my presence), “What do they expect to happen if they drink?”. If the local Commonwealth Attorneys would prosecute those who prey upon young coeds, Charlottesville would be safer.
Third point: No one seems to be discussing the theory that the young woman supposedly told her friends to drive her car back to Tech and she would “hitch-hike”. Why wouldn’t she have said that she would meet them at the car? My theory is that the friends, talking on a cell in a very noisy JPJ Arena, may have thought they were talking to her, but could have been talking to the perp. No girl in her right mind would hitch-hike if she had a car (her own car!) in the parking lot. Either she was coerced to say that to her friends, or it was not her on the phone.
The Harrington’s need to take a hard line approach and start demanding some top notch investigators be assigned to this case. Too much time has passed and key clues have already been lost.
Susan R I challenge you to show where 50 rapes are covered up each year.. that is 3 rapes every two weeks.
“sexual assult” is something that needs to be defined. It is not a sexual assault if a girl gets plastered at a party and ends up with the wrong guy who was just as plastered as her. That is just a bad decision and there are lots of guys who woke up next to a disappointment and didn’t cry foul.
“Third point: No one seems to be discussing the theory that the young woman supposedly told her friends to drive her car back to Tech and she would “hitch-hike”. Why wouldn’t she have said that she would meet them at the car? My theory is that the friends, talking on a cell in a very noisy JPJ Arena, may have thought they were talking to her, but could have been talking to the perp. No girl in her right mind would hitch-hike if she had a car (her own car!) in the parking lot. Either she was coerced to say that to her friends, or it was not her on the phone.
The Harrington’s need to take a hard line approach and start demanding some top notch investigators be assigned to this case.”
____
They could start by investigating the friends I think, because they hold all the clues. imo. Especially when it comes to the details of what exactly went on with Morgan inside JPA, what she said, how she was behaving, whether substances were involved, why she left, who drove what car and why and what the transportation plan was *intended* to be, and what happened in that phone call. So many questions lead back to the friends, they were there, they know, and they hold the key to all the answers which is why it kind of irritates me to read people who get all defensive towards the friends and try to sweep them under the rug. Like, “oh no, don’t put the blame on the friends!” Nobody’s putting the blame on the friends, but that doesn’t change the fact that they still hold the key to most all the answers. I don’t understand how they were able to skate off scott free in all this without a peep heard from them since. I can see better now by this point why the case is frustrating to a lot of people.
BCI should have worn out a polygraph by now.
LE have been looking incompetent from the start, not revealing info that could help locate a suspect in an investigation that has been described as “having almost no evidence to start with”, with no video at JPJ, etc. Agree that in this era of camera phones, good grief, a canvassing of all pics taken in the vicinity by all who parked nearby where she was seen would have been an enormous task but one that might have resulted in a pic of the killer. The lack of trying just seems obvious to this common citizen.
But now they have hard evidence and really good evidence - the killer knew the area and how to hide a body, and felt a need to hide it. He’s nearby, he’s reading these comments, and he is therefore that much easier to catch.
Can someone post a link to an official report about the clothing being found in multiple locations? I haven’t seen that announced, and yet people keep posting that here. Also, is everyone just speculating about the clothing found with the body?
As for looking closely at sex offenders in the area, it’s just logical to discuss this as it’s the only info available generally to the public for us to search - ie, non-SOs that might have a record of violent crime and live in the area have their identities protected (from us). So, there’s a 20 year old SO living in the neighborhood beside where she was found - but we can’t print his name here correct? Can someone post the link again to the public SO registry that WOULD have his name?? I mean, it’s an amazing coincidence if nothing else - as this area is the very definition of RURAL, and unpopulated.
“JADE, that code section is clearly unconstitutional. I am surprised it hasn’t been challenged yet.”
Seems to be non-existent actually.
“Justbeintheobjective”- be assured, The Hook would investigate traffic tickets if one or more were to warrant an investigation. (something like “Official is a scofflaw”.
This case warrants local investigative journalism and no one else is doing it or cares to spend their resources to do it- fortunatly we have The Hook.
Also, I would suspect that with the resources that the police have at their disposal today and the evidence (”just the facts m’am, just the facts”) that they have collected that they will have some findings within a few months. This is not an easy task, eliminating all the BS claims, theories, people who want to share the “limelight”, etc-
Even things that seem simple, like aircraft accidents, take forever (2 years) to “solve”- with 99% of the time taken up in the investigative stage (NTSB) after all of the evidence has been removed- piecing it all together. “Plane hits mountain- everyone killed”. Easy to say, tough to determine the cause of the accident. Same in this case- could take a year or more- who knows. Give ‘em a chance to do what they (the investigative police) know how to do better than most.
Yikes - it seems to me that you are half reading articles and comments. I don’t believe anyone said her “clothes” were scattered all over the place. It’s her belongings that were scattered in different places: camera - missing, cell phone battery-missing, purse-found in a parking lot, and one shirt-possibly found. Not to mention her body which was found on a farm 8 or so miles out of town. “The Hook” has confirmed, if you will read the article above in its entirety, and named a local who was questioned about a Pantera shirt found in the bushes on 15th St. The speculation about other clothing found on the body probably comes from these news articles: “Rader declined to say why investigators are confident the body is Harrington’s, except to say “significant items” were found in the field. In addition to her black mini-skirt, Harrington had been wearing unique jewelry, black boots and a black T -shirt with the name of rock band Pantera across the front.” ~The Roanoke Times; Also, “Early reports had indicated the remains were those of a young woman with long blond hair, like Harrington’s. The victim (referring to the skeleton remains) was wearing dark clothing and a bracelet.” ~Daily News.
I do agree with you on your last paragraph though.
“Justbeintheobjective”- be assured, The Hook would investigate traffic tickets if one or more were to warrant an investigation. (something like “Official is a scofflaw”.
Sorry Harry, disagree with you completely…unless Hawes thought it would bring some sensationalism to his paper…it would never happen.
To NAME (required)—-Obviously I wasn’t talking about obstructing justice. I’m going to assume that you aren’t an idiot, but that you just deliberately missed my point to be petty. And uh……. We are not talking about “cops” here. You seem to think that the people trying to solve this thing are the same folks who pull you over in traffic and give you tickets. Are you for real?? Furthermore……your accusation and assumption that there can’t be any “cops” that actually care is absolutely insidious. And ignorant. And ironically, saying things like that makes you the kind of person that you’re accusing ALL OF THEM of being……Uncaring robots. Do you have any other entire groups of people that you assume these things about? I mean how ignorant are you? Did it ever occur to you that many of these “cops” (by the way they are not cops) have children?? And families?? And hearts?? I’d venture to guess that most INVESTIGATORS get into this field because they want to solve problems and put away people who are a menace to us all. And yes, most of the “cops” I’ve ever met have been total control freaks who seem to enjoy their power. Most of us agree about that. JUST A THOUGHT— How do you know that one of the investigators on this case hasn’t lost someone they love to a tragedy like this? You know absolutely nothing about these folks. For the sake of everyone……please keep your adolescent ignorance and stupidity to yourself. What everyone needs right now is positive energy and faith around all of this. That is…….if YOU care.
quote: “code section… Seems to be non-existent actually.”
Of course it doesn’t exist. I just wanted to see my pro-cop fan club start debating that nothing in it appears to be unconstitutional. They didn’t take the bait, which is quite unusual.
The biggest clue that it would non-existent is the fact no code section in Virginia have any clauses such as (aaa) through (zzz), or clause (xxx) of subsections L, E, O. :)
@ jane
Rant much?
Note to Boo = I doubt Morgan was killed “miles away” from where her body was found. Farmer Bass’ account of her remains indicate she was not wearing any clothes, since he described seeing her toe bones and said he could not tell her gender. In a videotaped 90 second interview (you can Google this and I think it’s also on YouTube), he also said he found clothes near the body. That suggests to me that whatever happened to her happened where she was found. Perhaps the killer or killers took her that at gunpoint.
Note to Susan R. = In re your third point, Morgan called her “friends” about a half-hour before she was last seen hitch-hiking so it seems unlikely that either someone else made the call to her friends or forced her to do so.
OH Gasbag…now I took the bait and thought it was real!! Gullible to the core, I know. I just thought the (aaa) thru (zzz) was a “not going to that” type of information….geeze do I have the egg on my face! Glad it’s not real tho! That was pretty scary!
justbeinobjective, you got to be kidding me!!!! It was worded in such a way that even a first year law student who flunked out and never returned would know it didn’t exist! :)
Take me for example, I am allowed to say that there’s a rouge band of loose cannon lying corrupt cops locally that make the Keystone Cops look serious and extremely intelligent. And I am allowed to say it as often and as loud as I want to. I am allowed to say that an entire chain of command in a local cop shoppe sat in a courtroom and committed perjury under oath, because it happened. Even the judge commented on it taking place in his courtroom. I wasn’t there, but his his baliff said he was pretty upset and extremely insulted by their actions. He retired shortly thereafter. I personally think, as in IMHO, that he had seen enough and didn’t want to place people in jail any longer based on lies from cops. Obviously though, he could not and would never announce this publicly. See, I can say this stuff.
I can also say that every individual cop I have sued has fought me tooth and nail for years, but they always settle as soon as the jury trial date to hear my claims has snuck up on us. The most recent was two Alexandria cops, just a few months ago. But I can not divulge the amount of compensation they have had to pay me over the years, this was part of the signed and sealed out of court settlements. As part of the signed and sealed out of court settlements, I also can no longer say they were guilty of any wrongdoing. But all of this civil, it’s not covered by any criminal statute.
I dropped JADE an e-mail and told her that posting the fictitious code section was hilarious and that it would be amusing to see who took the bait. I was expecting a few members of my Fan Club here to take the bait and run with it!
why is every story in The Hook about murder, rape, or some other sensationalist piece?
the “award winning” (lol) journalist overstepped her bounds. not to mention it’s a pretty inconsiderate/disrespectful thing to do. class up, hook.
Gasbag…like I said, I’m gullible! and a Network/Software Engineer…not EVEN interested in law…guess I’m a full fledged GEEK!! :) but a happy geek!
“why is every story in The Hook about murder, rape, or some other sensationalist piece?”
Sensationalism generates readers. The more readers = more advertising they can get = more $$ profits. :) It’s general human nature to gravitate to voyeuristic sensationalistic soap opera stories involving murder and sex and scandal, even better if the story involves all three. That’s why we have all these soap operas and TV dramas and movies and books that involve these things. The general population can’t get enough of it.
speak for yourself, Boo.
so I guess what you’re saying is that this is the class of readers this paper is trying to reach?
I don’t buy for one minute she had Odd behavior other than being angry and mad as hell she could not get back inside as she should have been, I also believe she had an issue with her “so called friends “before she went to smoking area. She was extremely annoyed as witnesses have reported. Either someone in securiy told her they would get her backstage to meet and greet band memebers and lured her outside and when she realized his intentions and then attempted to get back in..as he lurked and waited.. and I believe it is someone in security or concessions or possibly a groundskeeper.. and that’s why she is is not scene on security cameras as in cover -up.. come on folks.. We also have not heard about boyfriend of friend who rode with them to concert. The “so called Friends” FAILED HER. I am sick of blaming the victim claiming she was psychotic,inibriated ect. She clearly knew she was in danger and wanted back in., To bad her “user friends” didn’t go to find her..KNOWING she wanted to see METALLICA.I also question why they didn’t call her folks /brother to see if they had heard from her. USER FRIENDS should be ashamed and hope they are not treated as they left her. Lets stick to facts and not make up stuff that continues to avoid who the perp is.. There is a murderer/s in town who holds a position that makes it unsuspecting to his/ victims. Someone knows who that perp/s is. Come forward and stop him now. You could be his next victim. I also want to say …parts of c,ville are complacent and turn their heads to a nudist who walks about in combat boots during the week and drives and church van on sunday. No one objects and allows it as the norm. Come on folks and use common sense. It was cold that night, she had no coat, no keys to her car, angry as hell she could not get back in, possibly because she was lured outside with false promises and learned so and tried to get back in. She also tried to get a stranger to pretend he was her father, friend, ect.in attempts to make the perp think she was safe..in my opinion. The whole community has failed Morgan and others in not getting the one/s responsible for these murders.C’ville is not safe and many are asleep at the wheel or to busy to preserve the safety of others. Lets get this murderer and put a stop to this insanity so there’s safety for all including those visiting from out of town.
Is there a way for LE to access game check station records to identify who has taken game out of that nabe?. Licensed hunters IMO are responsible, but they might have seen or come across something of interest and would not think to share it.
Steve b wrote, “Bass’ account of her remains indicate she was not wearing any clothes, since he described seeing her toe bones and said he could not tell her gender. In a videotaped 90 second interview (you can Google this and I think it’s also on YouTube), he also said he found clothes near the body.”
I hate to be gruesome, but you’re not going to find a three-months’ old body in a field with the clothing still neatly wrapped around the bones, because of the animals/birds that would have been at work. Everything, including any clothing covering the body, is going to get scattered. Plus, rain, wind, etc. But mostly animals.
Hoolarious = I realize that, but Mr. Bass gave the impression the clothes were together, not scattered. Plus she was supposedly wearing knee-high boots, presumably leather, which would seem to me to be tough to remove for vultures or 4-legged predators, even aided by rain and wind. Furthermore, it would certainly be easier for the killer(s) to get over the difficult terrain to where she was found if Morgan was alive and walking than if he/they had to lug her 120 pound dead body. I too hate to be gruesome, but this is a gruesome, horrendous incident and there’s no way around that.
How do we know the remains have been there since she went missing? I will be anxious to know what the autopsy shows and how long the remains were out there. That in and of itself would speak volumes. NO One should be eliminated as the perp/s. Someone knew that route and property and knows it was safe to leave the remains there.I suspect she never left THe JPJ parking lot alive. Thats why her purse and phone were taken back. I don’t believe the hitchinghiking story either. I find it Ironic that the friends that were to meet the friends that drove Morgans car..Just happen to have a look alike along with them. Dee.. I believe her name is and she came forward about one of the sightings.
The perp/s should be startiing to sweat bullets because the best of forensics is at work and will bring the murder/s to Justice.
Morgans remains will speak for her now. Justice will be done.
VSP video/ update from today
http://www.wdbj7.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?vt1=l&d1=0&ClipId1=mms%3A//a312.l1305338311.c13053.n.lm.akamaistream.net/D/312/13053/v0001/reflector%3A38311&LiveURI=mms%3A//a312.l1305338311.c13053.n.lm.akamaistream.net/D/312/13053/v0001/reflector%3A38311&h1=WDBJ7.com
COURTENEY-I’ve respected your coverage of the Harrington case. I’m going to ask a few questions that I’m sure will horrify most- if not all of those posting. Has LE done any investigation of Dr. Dan Harrington and mother Gil? I ask this because-from the very beginning-Dan insisted that there was no way that Morgan had a boyfriend, he “helped” her study for math tests and balance her checkbook. A 20-year-old? He seems very controlling, while Gil-an oncology nurse-vascillates between sounding like a 60’s love child “sharing the air” with Morgan’s friends, and then turning around and making the bizarre, horrid statement re “looking at her empty eyesockets in her cranium” something like that….I’m sorry, but Dan and Gil aren’t even addressing 1)the blood on Morgan’s chin, 2)her apparent toxicology..et al….I’m not trying to to be libelous-just curious that her father is a psychiatrist-was she on any medication that could have been contraindicated with alcohol? COURTENEY, as you have investigated this case so thoroughly, could you shed some light on any of this? Let’s face it, stranger things have happened…
Leslie ,
I will just add that I think your thought’s do not fit this case . Dan and Gil Harrington are the real deal !
Dakota
Leslie, I think we are all entitled to our own thoughts and opinions. I don’t agree with what you are saying, but you should be able to speak up like everyone else has with their opinions.
I still cannot help but be suspicious to the house fire that happened in the area. I realize the fire happened before Harringtons body was found, but it still raised concern.
With all the businesses in the Charlottesville area surrounding JPJ there were no cameras that saw anything? What about businesses from JPJ to Copeley Bridge? No cameras or traffic light cameras anywhere. Aren’t there suppose to be cameras in the lights to catch people that run the red lights?
Metallica has a few details about Harrington on their website. I am shocked that the police haven’t asked Metallica to post a request of photos that fans took the night of their concert here at JPJ. Although the chance of there being anything on them that will help is small, it’s a chance!!!
Leslie, DH and GH are not addressing the issues about Morgan to you or the public. They don’t have to. They don’t owe us anything. They deserve the right to grieve over their daughter without making sure the public is well informed on all of their thoughts. I respect your opinion, but I think you are way off. Also, GH got those words about “lovely bones” and such from a book she read. I can’t remember the title of the book, but the report wrote about how a loved one can look at something, like their own daughter’s bones through a murder, and love it just because it was their loved one’s bones. Remember, GH is use to seeing dead bodies, because she is a nurse. Her opinion about death may outreach wisdom way beyond anything we may feel about it. I’m sure Morgan’s parents have already had to give their alibis as a matter of routine. One more thing, is was reported that Morgan asked for help in Algebra, and balancing her check book. Not the other way around. Even so, if Morgan’s dad was having to shell out money because of overdrafts and bank fees, then he had every right to help her on this. My parents had to do the same for me.
KAT
Agreed and well said .
Dakota
Can we try to remember that did this to this girl? Right now, instead of looking all over the US we can focus on one small area and those people who had access to it. It would be good if people whould concentrate on that rather than Morgan’s friends. Yes she was outside JPJ, BUT someone took her and did this to her. That person needs to be found and punished. That is the issue.
People my apologies for all the typos above. I am a bit distracted. Remember the girl. Blame the killer. Deal gently with her family, and with your own families.
House fire! When-before or after the concert? She could have been kept at a location for days.
There have been many young women around the country who went out for a jog/to the store/to the bus stop and never came back.
I hate to agree with Jane Valaskez(sp) but there seems to be a “War on Women” going on.
Well, she’s right, peg. There is a war on women, but this is not news. This is why we all need to look out for each other. Not blaming anyone here. Take a martial arts class…something!
Dakota - thank you.
I’m having a hard time thinking of what businesses there are between JPJ and Copeley bridge. If you’re not familiar with the area, you might think there would be. But if you set out walking from JPJ towards Copeley bridge, you walk through the Assembly Hall parking lot before you get to the bridge. You don’t pass any businesses on your way there.
Face it, the killer of Miss Morgan H. is as good as caught because of DNA evidence under her fingernails and likely found on barbed wire around Mr. Bass’ farm. Yep, as good as caught. Time to turn yourself in before ‘Mad Max’ the police dog licks your face.
Since 1983 when Kary Mullis invented the “workhorse” for all molecular biology analyses - the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) - the FBI and police have been able to use an itty-bitty segment of DNA and grow it a million times so that accurate DNA profiles are easy to obtain. Moreover, the US military has been collecting DNA samples from all service members for around 30 years. Heck, even dentists that touch someone’s mouth likely obtained a usable DNA sample from every patient when they touched the patient’s medical chart. DNA samples can trace a person from the DNA profile of a distant relative.
Soo, what I’m suggesting is that IF the perp has not had a single relative to visit a dentist in a coon’s age, nor been in the military, nor worked at any government agency, nor been arrested … then maybe … he won’t wake up because of an early morning visit from the meanest, biggest (230 lb), most aggressive K-9 German Shepherd dog that goes by the name of “MAD MAX” to those that attempt to control/handle him. Those poor criminals that he “pulls down” call him the “Devil Dog”.
Max was taken by Federal agents after his 3-inch long canine teeth had been filed razor sharp by an underworld dog-fighting organization. Even former Virginia Tech Football star Michael Vick refused to enter his pit bulldogs against Mad Max for several reasons: 1) A Saber-tooth Tiger had shorter teeth; 2) he is a monster; and 3) Mad Max is a vampire-dog that makes a sound nobody can forget - his low, deep growl sounds like the growl from a 747 jet flying 3 miles overhead. You have heard that sound from jets before - next time it will be Mad Max. You have been warned.
Anyway Mr. Perp, my point is that you had better not try sleeping between sunset and sunrise or Mad Max will give you the wake-up call. Oh, by the way - last thing you want to risk is taking a bath too. If I were you and not wanting a rude awaking by the Devil Dog I think I would call the Sheriff right now. Well, I think I’ll get some restful sleep. Goodnight.
Wow, just wow. He sounds like “The Beast” from The Sandlot movie. way to go, Reverse. Sounds like you do need some sleep.
Anybody hearing anything ? I was hoping that wide net the VSP cast in the latest briefing would give them something to go on .
Morgan is at rest , we shouldn’t be !
Dakota
Exactly Dakota, wih the $100.000 reward up there..I would hope for an arrest anytime now. It might be up to the DNA left behind on her remains to point to the coward/s that did it and that would leave a plea bargain out for anyone. They/ He needs to think about that.. Because Va does have he Death Penalty. I am confident an arrest is in the works and we can hear it anytime now. The weather will have no baring on it. The wheels of justice will roll on when they do.
Justice For The Victims
Make that a 150,000 reward. YES somebody knows something, that kind of money goes a long way in this economy . Whoever knows the truth needs to lawyer up , speak up and be the hero !
Do it for yourself and Morgan whoever you are before the option is ripped away from YOU .
Dakota
I still haven’t heard anything about the surveillance films from the ATM’s on the corner of Ivy Rd and Copeley/Alderman.
We may not hear any solid evidence the police have at this point. Now that they are no longer looking for Morgan, but a killer. In my opinion, I would think the more info they have out on the possible killer would make the killer all that much more anxious and he would act out irrationally, or it could bring more tips from others.
On the other hand, a truly sick individual could kill without any remorse whatsoever and not act suspicious at all. He could be the “guy next door”. He could be Joe Shmoe computer geek, or look like the poster boy for all Christians. Remember who killed Sandra Cantu…her Sunday school teacher. That was just mind blowing.
From the Cavalier Daily printed today..
“It’s fair to say that if you’re a student, be that [at] U.Va. or any other university for that matter, and you participated in any other activities that involved Anchorage Farms, please call the number that I gave,” Rader said, adding that relevant activities may have taken place in years past. Hunting has taken place on the property, Rader said. He did not deny that fraternity parties may have occurred there or that activities may have occurred without the permission of the owners.
I too find it interesting that the Hook’s reporters would be harassed by cops over free speech. Since when is interviewing anyone a crime, or constitute “harassment?” People don’t have to answer, and may even be prohibited from doing so via a gag order or whatever, but asking questions is not, as far as I know, cause for harassment. Harassment has to have some kind of thresh hold. Doing one’s job in journalism, provided basic decency is observed in the approach, would not qualify. Such a rush to protect known criminals looks a little suspicious, frankly.
Whoever killed Morgan had to have lured her towards a isolated location near the arena. I have assisted other agencies with intuitive information and my mind is telling me that the person who killed Morgan saw her from a distance in the months prior to her abduction.
Morgan would never allow herself to become so impaired that her life would be imperiled. That applys to the theory that Morgans killer gained Morgans trust. Most likely the person who abducted Morgan triked her into think that he could assist her to get backstage or re-enter the arena from a placehe claimed exsisted.
Im also curious where Morgan purchased her concert tickets and if there is any security video that may exsist at that time of purchase. Morgan was set-up. The person who took her had a plan to abduct her. This was no spur of the moment. Metallica is a very common jail house tatoo along with AC/DC.
Her killer should be slightly older but not much. The killer may have a degree of seperation from her brother or some friend of a friend senario.
The farm where she was found should have pre-existing trails from ATV’s and other motorized vehicles such as a motor cycles. The killer may also have spoken to Morgan weeks before she went to the show. The killer may have shared some mutial interest in discussing heavy metal music such as Pantera and Metalica.
The killer also had to have parked in a remote part of the parking lot which was in the direction she was lead away torwards. Her killer is likely a outcast and a outside the circle type. His closest friend may know something but has yet to come forward. There may also be a another secondary person involved after the fact. Her killer is also likely described as a creep or a agressive person who his peers feel uncomfortable around or fear.
Her killer likely has a record of early age problems. Stealing unusual items, shoplifting, school violence and family health issues. I will continue to stay focused on this event and hopefully I can help. Her parents are destoyed and that is now the most tragic situation. Pray for help to find this scumbag.
Look for the FBI to take the lead. I believe it was Hammer who expressed feelings about LE. I think he may be referring to local LE. I read the post by another about Virginia Law protecting police officers.
What about US Law in respects to another blogger [not this site] allowing people to post people’s full names and basically dragging dozens of innocent people into their own level. Sometimes that other site uses initials.
The person in charge of that site will be held responsible when the dust settles. The FBI did what anyone does when things go bust. They started from scratch, at the beginning.
Morgan did nothing wrong, but other people are now using her name to lower the level of discussion. I doubt Morgan would want her friends and the community’s citizens to suffer this in her name. Consult Attorneys and file in Federal Court if some is implying that you are involved. The web crosses state lines; Virginia law cannot supersede the laws of the United States!
Let her have peace!
A properly drawn deuces tecum subpoena served on a host can eventually identify posters not hiding behind an anonymous proxy. After reading the farcical and libelous comments on some of the BBS (not here) concerning this case, there are multiple opportunities for interested and sympathetic counsel.
At least there are some real facts coming out of the hook. Blink on Crime has become a joke. Blink, J2K and Observer are one and the same by the way.
ED
I disagree !
Blink , J2k and certainly Observer are NOT one of the same . People it’s been 4 month’s . Frustration is building and people say the darndest thing’s . Keep Morgan’s name alive and think outside of the box . I agree thing’s get out of hand but I do not believe Malice of any kind is intended . My Very close friend’s think I am wrong , Observer is real to me and that is all that matter’s ( she has changed her linguistics the past couple month’s but the same person :) . I watch every word she writes and she is NOT blink ! J2k , localcvillegirl ,chad and skyler to name a few are all different people . TRUST ME ON THIS ONE BRO .
I understand the frustration and the psychology that goes with it . Let’s not get bogged down ….Just keep thinking ! Somebody has the answer .
Let’s not start a flame war and that’s coming from a guy that was flat out railroaded over at that site and still confused . Neither here nor there for me .
Keep Morgan and this investigation in focus and bring Justice to Morgan and her family . The Hook and a couple other sites have Kept Morgan at the forefront or this investigation would be long forgotten by many .
Peace
Dakota
Frank Speaker and S Jones are misunderstood over at blinks ! Call it what you want but they have great incite as many do . emotion’s are at play and we are all human ! Morgan was way to free spirited to ever get bogged down over trivial thing’s , I think she would expect the same from US .
I do understand why many are offended ! I just refuse at this point to see ANY malice !
I am not defending that some names such as the sheriff and others has not been handled well over at blink but look at the volume of traffic , thank GOD the interest in Morgan and the site changed format causing havoc . I still don’t feel anyone that I have seen means any malice . Misguided maybe but no harm meant !
They are working with what they have , of course mistakes are made and I have seen them corrected . As for lawsuit’s LMAO . Sorry you defense lawyers your not impressing me as I can post on this site and you haven’t a clue where I am coming from . I can post from a server in China today and Tibet tomorrow . If I wanted to hide nobody is going to serve a warrant anywhere close to where I am . I can be ghost online with ease !
Give it a break and relax ,let’s help bring justice for Morgan and her family . Especially S. Jones and Frank speaker . I am telling you Blink and the rest got you ALL wrong . I know it’s hard word’s to hear but the end result is to find the killer who is loose in Cville . All path’s must be taken to the end result !
peace
Dakota
It’s just personally revolting to see distant sites pimping this tragedy to pump up traffic. I hope you folks sleep comfortably.
Thanks Dakota, I think?
I never metioned a name. Unlike some. I nevered used initials.
I have never said a bad word about any poster. Worried about the Editors of sites and damage to innocents.
Defense Lawyers are not in play that I know of. Even if there is a POI an Attorney that would represent that person now, would probably not be the Trial Lawyer.
I would like to thank The Hook, but most of all!
Help Federal Authorities to investiagte the Murder, Kidnapping!
I from day one, knew she abducted. I have never said one bad thing about Morgan or her Family.
I believe [it is not for me to say, but perhaps the Doctor or Mother or Brother] that Morgan would not approve of the community being slandered in her name.
Please let be noted that you used names or refered to someone’s postings name / initials. Not I.
When and I hope it is sooner, this case has a trial I hope that family can start to take a breath.
Until then, as I said “The person in charge of that site will be held responsible when the dust settles”.
Limitations in Federal Court would be valid for the period of time after the time taht online printed material is taken down, not based on the dates that statements were posted.
IMO!
Dakota wrote “I can post from a server in China today and Tibet tomorrow . If I wanted to hide nobody is going to serve a warrant anywhere close to where I am . I can be ghost online with ease !”
With all due respect, just the fact that you apparently think posting from different servers in a day’s span somehow hides your identity shows you’re seriously in need of brushing up on your computer knowledge.
quote: “I can post on this site and you haven’t a clue where I am coming from . I can post from a server in China today and Tibet tomorrow . If I wanted to hide nobody is going to serve a warrant anywhere close to where I am . I can be ghost online with ease!”
Trust me, you are sadly mistaken. All these programs and software that claim you can post online anonymously online, you might as well give your money to a homeless person.
In addition to the “name (required)” above and myself, if you want a third and fourth opinion just ask the two women I successfully located and successfully sued for libel. They also thought they were extremely good at posting on the Internet anonymously.
I obtained judgements plus interest.
With all due respect folk’s
A child predator can sit outside your home using the local idiot who has their Wi-Fi wide open for the world to use with the door like the pied piper . Once the deed is done and the power is removed from the device ……who/what are we looking for ????? You can call the CIA for all I care . IP’s and ISP’s have to lead back to “something”….NOT SOMEONE .Pre paid cell phones + pr paid Wi-Fi- and throw in a pedophile and we have a disaster arising when you can buy throw away internet access that leads back to your neighbors open abyss to your children .
It’s hard to catch a ghost . You people better learn how to keep and eye on what’s going on in your living room’s because the predators are really sharp on their internet skills . That’s what predators do …..sharpen their skills and the INTERNET is a weapon of mass destruction ! Ask the FBI why they don’t know who was on the other end of that GHOST phone Morgan Harrington used the night Morgan was ripped off the earth …… You may be able to find a phone …… just not the ghost who stole it at the 7-11 last year .
Keep your loved ones close to you and the technology they use closer !
Dakota
GSOE . I got ya , two windbag’s thinking they are hiding behind a two way mirror …most certainly , remand’s me of “The Emperor Wears No Clothes.” .
Demopublican :)
S Jones
no thinking needed . I read and observed what went on and I do not feel you did anything wrong . I also understand your concern about the names being used and such . I learned something from Dr Harrington and backed off the name use myself . Screen names fair game , but what’s happening now kind of hit me when I seen the good sheriff’s name being used and some really way out there theories . The internet is a new neighborhood and we need to learn to respect people online as we would our next door neighbor’s . I say we look under every rock quietly and not pile the rocks we turn on innocent people . Observer at Blink on crime gave a scenario about her family and younger deceased brother that was excellent I thought .
We could all do better ,
Dakota
So many comments have been made about the sex offenders. However, in cases like this, it may be the nice guy living next door to you. It may be someone that once discovered, you say, “Oh my God, I never would have believed that he did it.” So look around more carefully-at EVERYONE. Employees should know who has been acting differently, neighbors should know who has an ATV nearby, and obviously with adjacent farms of 21 acres or more, there are usually farm hands that live or work there, in addition to the “rich kids” that live there whose parents would never suspect their kid could commit such a heinous crime. Look at the Craigslist Killer….
Asking bicyclists to recall an event in possible darkness 4 months old (to me) is not an encouraging sign.
Dakota:
Thanks, now lets get the murder suspect.
Also, note that if she was lured out of the concert, the plan would not work unless the murder suspect knew she had given her keys to someone. Just scary thinking that the person had that infromation before the message was sent to her. Sounds like this is not a random crime.
Whiterox: FBI started from beginnig. Pleas think about this, FBI does not information about that day or day after. When you ask the bike riders in general if over the past 9 months what cars, trucks and people walking have they seen in the area.
All the Fbi needs is to prove that a suspect knew the farm well enough to navigate. They do not need to place him there on that morning.
One other point, if you a person in the woods who does not want to seen. He can ovoide cars and trucks just my hearing engines. But, a bike rider would not be heard coming, no time to duck for cover.
I do not believe it was becouse bikers can hear things that car drivers cannot, it is the otherway around. People in the woods cannot hear the bikers.
I often ovoide cars.
I myself cannot wrap my mind around how so many things went wrong so fast for Morgan in such a short time . At this point I cannot except anything random . I also as GSOE has stated before hope it’s more than one person involved . Somebody somehow lured Morgan out of that arena .
I am a mountain biker myself , I remember basically one thing when I take off on a trail . The vehicles that are parked at the entrances where I go in . I run most trails on federal land so it’s easy to remember as there are usually only two or thee cars where I go .
I feel they are looking to spark ANYTHING someone may posses in memory in that area . It was a desperate net they cast . I hope it work’s
Dakota
Dakota: I agree.
To charge a suspect all the FBI needs is to place the suspect at the concert or bridge, prove that suspect has knowledge of the layout of the farm, disprove alibi and a connection of sometime of physical evidence. I believe, just my opinion, they 2 of these 4 things in place. Maybe they have 3, if so the physical evidence could also place suspect at the farm.
Seems like they need to make the link to the farm.
Then they proceed with questions to employeers, friends, family, locals and people at the concert or parking lot or witnesses to her being on the bridge.
I must say I have never once took a bite out of the hitchhiking theory . I don’t believe Morgan ever made it to that bridge . I say where the pocketbook and cell sans battery lay was close to her point of exit . If I ever accept random ,it was a flat out blitz in the area of found items ( RV LOT ) .
I am still waiting on confirmation from VSP or FBI that Morgan’s debit card was indeed used after the 9:30 timeline . I also want to hear more from UVA student’s about parties on the Anchorage/bass farm .
I so agree S Jones about the farm , tie in the farm and stick a needle in the perps arm !
I know I am against the grain and I don’t want to be , I want it over for many reasons.I still have this gut feeling there is no POI . I know the FBI will start from scratch , I think it’s where it needs to go back to . I also feel the FBI is doing it’s NEW WAY of not trampling on local investigation’s and keeping a low profile , I feel they are in more way’s than one running the SHOW now . It was time .
Here is where you will think I am a real nutcase . It’s time to turn the floodgate loose on Facts and move this case along , ( we don’t need to hear from Nancy Grace that the necklace was indeed found with Morgan ) It’s time for a change before people completely loose important recollection and even worse people just burn out and don’t pay attention . IT HAPPENS .
Dakota
O/T
Observador, conseguir que la pluma roja a girl:). Ha fundado un mensaje antes. Cualquier posibilidad de que usted podría compartir algunos de sus insite aquí. Si no te importa si me trajo algo de su palabra aquí, para el local de
Bass farm party ? Anyone ever been here ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_C8djIVgoU
Dakota
Dakota:
I agree, It is shame that the police stated that the sighting of her on the bridge was “confirmed”. I too, think that all local and campus videos should be released. No comments need to made by law enforcement. The Police and Campus Police should release anything that may help and protect students and the public. So much time was wasted. Now shoes, boots, cloths and cars have been cleaned and/or destroyed. Even a knife or gun would have been disposed of by now.
I feel so much better knowing that the FBI and Justice Department are reviewing this information. I expect there are a lot of local officers freaking out.
One question:
Why the He** did LE start the timeline at 8:30PM?
Ok, 2 questions:
Where was Morgan from 2PM call to dad until concert start???????? This “quality” LE never released squat about it.
Maybe perp was at a pre-concert party. Maybe perp was at the gas station? Maybe perp was at wing or pizza place. Gimme a break! Most information dealing with a death is available in the hours before a person’s disappearance! What kind of LE is this? - geeeeez.
I am hoping that the reason LE are withholding information and the “friends” are so quiet is a hope to catch somebody in a lie about pre concert activities . If not ,then LE has screwed up royally in my opinion by restricting the timeline and not opening up the paths of travel / pre concert activity to bring information from the public . As for the video from JPJA ,I am convinced PR is in play and it was before concern for Morgan was put in place . Again I state this with a certain understanding of large entities need to do so but I am with Gil Harrington when she states “Protect people rather than reputations, they are infinitely more precious.” .Video from the JPJA would have to show so many faces and bring a lot of people forward who recognizes people around Morgan both inside JPJA or in her plight to re enter or as she walked away . unfortunately it will also show JPJA sending a young lady , reportedly injured off to her death . I will leave it up to readers to decide why UVA/JPJA does not want to release video . A real hard pill for me to swallow is video does not exist . It may not exist now but I will never swallow it never did .
The next press release needs to be Morgan’s killer(s) in handcuffs or VSP and Lt. Rader are going to be up against some strong public outcry . Lt. Rader smirked through the last conference and that’s a bold move when he CANNOT assure the C-ville area we do not have a killer running loose . Actually he refused to address the issue of safety and a loose killer ( he will regret those words ! ) . If this was a political move he needs to be politically removed ! If he is on the trail of this animal I will be the first to back him up and eat CROW .
Protecting an investigation is a double edged sword , it’s also used to cover up the truth to protect peoples inabilities to properly do their jobs or to protect billion dollar empires .
Now, where the real focus should be ……. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION . People have got to rack their brains . People in the North garden area , Anchorage farm , students that have attended parties at the Bass farm . I would be all for a nice Holiday roadblock by VSP around the locations of the Bass farm . Just ask some questions , show a bold presence, make some notes,,hand out a few cards and get the people in that area thinking and most importantly TALKING .Stop a few cars and those people will pass it through the grapevine what’s going on ….get people TALKING ! Make a few people nervous and apply some pressure ! Don’t forget to notify the Hook and get some video to show the world that lady justice is hard at work . Use a couple FEMALE VSP with smiling faces ……people warm up to female officers , we have a couple in my sector with VSP that are OUTSTANDING and some sharp talent , they certainly are sharp in uniform .
Oh and a plea to Courteney Stuart. The 4 month mark would make a nice timeline for a new article about Morgan . It’s only takes a tiny spark to start a raging fire , we just have to find that spark .
Morgan is resting, we shouldn’t be .
Dakota
GSOE
Just had to say as I was lurking around the NET and I seen a great post from you .Well said . I realize now I had your name wrong but I got ya now .
May I add when you go back to read please overlook Lexy and gifter3 , they both now appear to me to be total morons ! Blinks reply was in very good taste and you should read . I say that because blink goes back and addresses things sometimes and you may have missed it . Needless to say I even took offense to the morons after knowing the penny story . Maybe a couple more million in your pocket will quiet them down ,LMAO .
Now back to Morgan . GSOE , any incite from former LE and of course a local on what you feel is happening in this case ? AND NO Bro I have enough trust in myself and my ability to read people to NOT even consider thinking what the moron’s are trying to put together .
Any incite, thoughts ?
Dakota
Morgan’s body has been returned to Roanoke. Gil and I had the privlege and honor of seeing and holding her for the last time. I cannot tell you how angry I am that someone could have murdered this beautiful young woman.
As we bring closure to this part of our family tragedy, we will continue to seek justice for her death. We also will continue to find ways to make Morgan’s life remembered and her death not be in vain.
Gil, Alex and I are so appreciative of your continued support and help in finding Morgan’s killer(s).
Dan, Gil and Alex Harrington
findmorgan.com
quote: “GSOE , any incite from former LE and of course a local on what you feel is happening in this case?”
You know I can’t answer that question. But I did talk to a cop friend the other night who filled me in on all the recent scandals, gossip, etc… within the local cop shoppes. I will neither deny nor confirm that any part of the discussion was about the Morgan Harrington case. :)
GSOE
I like your style .
Oh and you know I know something or I wouldn’t have asked :) . I hear some butt holes are cintched up tighter than a squirrels ear over the big boys asking question .
I refuse to say anymore . Besides I am getting old maybe I dreamed it LMAO . yea that’s it , I dreamed it .
Dakota
Dakota: Bad news / good news
The others here are very correct about the ‘anonymously online’.
Thats the bad, here is the good.
Video at any facility built or upgraded in the last 5 years would have security feeds going to a harddrive. If you have 30 camera’s the security may see 1 feed constantly and 3 to 7 randoming being displayed. But even those not displayed are still on the harddrive. Even if someone wanted to erase the harddrive, the data is still there. FBI can find info on harddrives after 10 years of being overwritten and re-formated.
Now, it seems that security had recordings. Why would they not procide them realy on, this would have helped people to remember while their minds were still fresh. Perhaps there are other things on these recordings that do not shine a good light on the security or police.
Not to worry FBI will address isssue. Campus Police must be in fear of losing their jobs now.
S Jones
Interesting about the hard drives .
But I must still kindly disagree about “anonymously online”. Now certainly me and you can be traced as we post daily not looking to harm anyone , we would be sitting ducks . The right tools in the wrong hands can and will do as they please online and tracing is virtually imposable of the “person” responsible if they do not want to get caught . If I pick up a used laptop at a flea market in WV and sit around at the local hotel accessing their “free” wireless internet access to commit a crime through a proxy that will be down usually within hours to a couple days . I AM A GHOST and LONG gone before LE even gets started looking for me . I head home purposely avoiding surveillance cameras that will be looked at two months later , throw the laptop in the woodstove and sit back and have a cup of coffee .
WHO are we looking for ? I am always trying to learn . If I am wrong I would like for it to be explained to me how we catch the evil ones doing these exact thing’s on a daily basis . Morgan’s perp very well could have been a ghost for some time online , the Pied Piper of evil . We just don’t know, but I would love to find a way to stop these freaks using the Web to lead our loved ones into harms way .
I agree , something should break soon with the FBI onboard in an active hands on manner . I am hoping so .
Dakota
Findmorgan.com……Gil’s words . I have no words !
From Me To You
Then From You To Me
Jewelry
They gave me your bracelet back
Tarnished now, rusty and black
It’s the one I had as a girl
The one you wore as you left this world
The one that witnessed mortal harm
I’m wearing now on my arm
And I do so with sorrow and with pride
Having seen your dessicated flesh inside
Knowing you w…ore it as you died
I have scrubbed it out repeatedly
Since it was returned to me
But still I can tell
It harbors a smell
Of old flesh and of rot
But it’s all I have got
And as long as it smells you can’t be forgot.
241
Gil Harrington