Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #9

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I started from MBLover's excellent recap at the end of thread #7, my additions are in red:

1) Tickets for Metallica purchased approx 6 months in advance - purchased by DH for MH and friends (some have said there were 9 tickets others have said there were 4 or 6 - but we know there were at least 4 tickets - one for MH, one for Amy, one for Sarah and one for mystery bf of friend guy).

2) Shopping trip for clothes for concert (was there a shopping trip or merely “trying on session”?) - Choice of 3 different ones - she and Mom decide on outfit. Pantera t-shirt/top with mini skirt, black tights, at knee or above knee mid heel boots. Also carrying purse that can be carried as a backpack.

3) Sometime Sat. MH & roommate (however she got to the Harrington's) leaves for Harrisonburg to pick up other friend for concert. MH arrives safely per phone conversation with her Dad.

4) Sometime Sat. MH, roommate & friend (were there others?) leave JMU & pick up mystery guy somewhere around/between JMU & C'ville. Friend was driving MH’s car.

5) Arrive JPJ arena in MH's car. (Supposedly does not call and let parents know they have arrived to their destination)

6) Upon arrival guy in car next to them makes small talk with those in MH's vehicle.

7) Enter into arena (per friends). "Friend" retains keys to MH's car.

8) At some point MH separates from friends to either go to restroom or smoke or both or neither. Supposedly kisses one of her friends on the cheek when leaving.

9) "Witnesses" report seeing MH taking pictures and also report seeing MH fall near curtained section exit and/or have injury to face

9A) Witness reports seeing MH in bathroom upset/crying and appeared if she had been hit.
9B) 8:20-8:30 Denied re-entry to JPJ
9C) 8:20-8:48 p.m. - in several areas immediately outside John Paul Jones Arena, possible including doors, and the side near University Hall. Definitely still close to front doors.
9D) … Witness reports MH out front of arena - makes comment to her - she tells him to "F" off.


10) Friend calls MH at 8:48 PM (battery still in phone) and MH states she has been locked out of arena and unable to return inside. MH tells friends she will find a ride home?

10A) Texted a young man in another town (battery still in phone)
9-9:10 - Walking, with her purse, through the University Hall parking area.

11) Reports of her having had some kind of interaction with people here and there - or of them having seen MH at various places outside of the arena. (Reports of woman seen dropping purse)
9:10-9:20 - seen in the grassy overflow parking area at Lannigan Field.
12) 9:20 Supposed interaction with 3 BB players (and allegedly in the company of 4 "white guys".)

Did she ask someone to borrow their cell phone? (dead battery or missing battery)

9:20-9:30 - Seen on Copeley Road bridge over railroad tracks.
13) MH supposedly spotted on bridge hitchhiking

14) MH disappears

15) Friends leave concert - hang around car for a significant amount of time - never see MH and leave venue returning back to JMU

16) Supposedly purse has already been found by a passerby (early Sunday morning) and is supposedly reported as "found property" 8:00a. LE says cell phone is missing battery. Later it is released that one of the straps is cut/severed on purse/backpack (where was this released?).

Morgan's phone could not have been found without a battery. I called her on Sunday. It rang several times before going to voicemail. It wasn't until Monday that it started going straight to voicemail. (posted to FB)
Could LE have put a battery in the phone in order to check its "history" so the phone rang but they didn't answer it? ...


17) Sunday Noon: MH doesn't show up at parents as expected (to study for Math test and to balance her checkbook). DH begins calling friends.

18) 1:40: DH reports MH missing the day after the concert (Sunday) sometime after lunch.

19) Tuesday: Corrine Geller of the VA State Police confirm that it was MH's car driven to the JPJ arena

20) Phone battery missing... not relevant... MH was walking and talking

21) Only trace of MH found inside or outside of the arena is the pocketbook - Supposedly MH is not picked up on security cameras, or other personal video recorders or personal cameras in or around venue. (That info could be being withheld by LE). Dog searches

21A) Searches performed at Comfort Inn (250E), new MJ Hosp, 1600 volunteers searched a 3 mile radius of JPJ
22) Three weeks later: Description and picture released of necklace MH was wearing. Still no picture released of MH dressed in what she was wearing and how her hair was styled the night of the concert.

23) Bank releases a statement of "no comment" when reporter from The Hook asked if their video had captured MH.

24) 3+ weeks later: LE releases report of MH hitchhiking on the bridge.

Interesting comments from some news stories:

The group arrived safely, according to a 2005 UVA grad who parked next to them. Morgan-- a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman clad in a black mini skirt, black tights, and knee-high black boots-- seemed excited to go in, more so, even, than the rest of her friends.

"She pulled up with her party and got out of her party's car and kind of immediately engaged me and my brother and my cousin and my friend who were at the concert," Dave Gardner, now living in New Jersey, told Lynchburg television station WDBJ.

"She did seem excited to see Metallica because she asked us who the opening act was, and when we told her, she said 'Who cares, we're here to see Metallica, right?'"

Gardner, who did not return the Hook's calls, told the station he was "100 percent certain" that it was Morgan he'd spoken to and that he saw no signs of pre-concert drinking by Morgan or her friends.

Police have confirmed that Morgan ended up outside the Arena sometime around 8:20pm and made multiple attempts to re-enter.

By 9:20pm— about 10 minutes before she was last seen on the bridge— according to the police timeline, Morgan was spotted in the RV Lot, directly across Copeley Road from the U-Hall lot and adjacent to the UVA track. Her black purse, which could also be worn as a backpack, and battery-less cell phone were spotted by a passerby the morning of Sunday, October 18. Geller says the battery cover was also recovered and that Morgan’s family says the “condition of the phone” meant the battery could come out easily if the phone was dropped. Geller says there was no sign of a struggle.

An employee of nearby BB&T bank declined comment on investigators reviewing surveillance at the bank, and the manager of the Cavalier Inn on Emmet Street did not return the Hook’s call.
 
(Wow, amazing and comprehensive summary above. Thanks!)

Okay, so I don't know how seriously to take the insinuations of the moderator on *ahem* another blog, but s/he claims to have "inside sources," and after reading through her replies in the massive comment thread on the last Morgan related post, it sounds like she thinks/"knows" that the car was driven to the concert not by one of the girls but by the GUY -- who did NOT go into the concert with them.

This proposition opens up a whole new can of worms: perhaps the guy was playing designated driver, is my first thought.

And perhaps Morgan didn't have her car because he drove off with it to spend time elsewhere while the girls were in the concert (thus explaining why nobody brought out the keys to her).

Perhaps he was the guy whom Morgan was calling and texting when she needed a ride (thus explaining why the basketball players felt okay leaving her).

Maybe he's even the "gentleman" referenced by her dad as being outside Charlottesville at the time when she was texting. (Having gone elsewhere to wait for the concert to conclude.)

For that matter, if Morgan wasn't supposed to let random people drive off with her car (I can see my parents having had a problem with this), it could explain the initial confusion (between LE and the Harringtons) about which car was at the concert that night. Her friends, mistaking the seriousness of the situation, might have been covering for her at first with her parents, by saying they took someone else's car from campus. Once LE got involved, they probably told the truth, but maybe that truth hadn't gotten back to the Harringtons yet when they first spoke to the media.

Another claim made in that other blog's comment thread: this guy with them, who supposedly drove, is the boyfriend of Sarah Snead. Since his name hasn't been released, I'm uncertain about how people can know that, but they seem to think they do. If this is so, and the guy has been under some scrutiny (although I am sure he must have an alibi), that would be a very, very uncomfortable thing for that tight-knit circle of girls to endure.

Like I said, though, I don't know how seriously to take the claims of the person who moderates that site, much less those replying with "local knowledge."
 
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Body found on mountain near Lynchburg could be ID’d today
CHRIS DUMOND

Campbell County Sheriff Terry Gaddy said he hopes medical records taken to the medical examiner's office in Roanoke could yield the identity of a body found on Candlers Mountain near Lynchburg as early as this afternoon."We have several people who are missing from the Lynchburg area. Based on the description of clothing one of them was last seen wearing, I have a strong hunch," Gaddy said of the body, which was found Sunday.
"I'm leaning strongly toward one of those people," he said.
Gaddy declined to put a name with his suspicions, noting that things could change based on forensic findings.

Several? I live near there and the only one I've heard of was Cassandra Morton and then it was just a couple of small local stories a few weeks ago. Yesterday was the first I heard about the Lynchburg College student, and that was only because of the body found near Camp Hydaway.

Really odd how so many go missing and there is no, or virtually no, news and media coverage of it.
 
Several? I live near there and the only one I've heard of was Cassandra Morton and then it was just a couple of small local stories a few weeks ago. Yesterday was the first I heard about the Lynchburg College student, and that was only because of the body found near Camp Hydaway.

Really odd how so many go missing and there is no, or virtually no, news and media coverage of it.

Very frustrating isn't it?? I wish we had some sort of national database, some sort of "uniform" reporting

so little info on Cassandra....and the other "student"?? Not a word about her

why wouldn't the LE say who the "other missing people" are?? how frustrating
 
Very frustrating isn't it?? I wish we had some sort of national database, some sort of "uniform" reporting

so little info on Cassandra....and the other "student"?? Not a word about her

why wouldn't the LE say who the "other missing people" are?? how frustrating

Extremely frustrating. I spent at least an hour yesterday trying to come up with a name for the Lynchburg College student from Pittzylvania County--and NOTHING anywhere. If I had a loved one missing, I'd demand that her/his name and info were put out there. I'd do that much for my cats, why wouldn't I do that for a human loved one? Odd.

JMO, IMO, MOO and so on and so on and so on ...
 
I've read all the posts in all the threads, and wanted to pick up on a couple of recent items.

From the excellent summary at the start of this new thread on the tickets. It's collective wisdom that DH purchased some number of tickets 6 months ago, which MH kept on parents' fridge. The number is somewhere between 4 and 9. But I recall seeing one item that said it was only 2 months ago. I think it was on the Hook's site, but it could have been FindMorgan or one of the other ancillary sites that have been covering the case. Iirc, the quote was something about "why would MH leave a concert she had been looking forward to for 2 months?" May not matter, but if 2 months it may not have as much to do with DH's comment about things really being good starting 6 months ago (whether they were bad before or just good).

On the references to heroin. To me, HighYa, All Good, Bonnaroo, Blue Mountain Festival, tie-dye, certain FB friends, Phish, and Grateful Dead all equate much more with smoking some green than with anything harder. Metallica and Pantera, IDK. Whatever other bands she had posters of in her room, IDK. But I've also been thinking about SS's statement along the lines of "obviously, we wouldn't have done it if we had known" Italics mine. What was "it?" I find it a long-shot possibility, but a possibility nonetheless, that it could have been first time hard drug use or combining drugs and alcohol.

Still doesn't change that she is missing, and unless by her choice, that shouldn't have happened.

Finally, small points on the recent discovery near Lynchburg. The skeletal head was detached, but nearby, which I believe argues for animals having moved it, and I read in one of the links provided earlier that the rocks would have needed at least two people to move them (or perhaps, as one poster noted, one very strong individual).

I share the consensus frustration with lack of solid info on MH and virtually no info on the two other cases from Lynchburg.
 
Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - VA-Morgan Dana Harrington, 20 Charlottesville #8

RSBM:

The basic gist is that a lot of people (my note - not necessarily the girls she was with, or I'm guessing not friends her parents could 'see' on FB/Myspace) Morgan hung around were known as heroin (my note - specifically heroin) addicts. The other thing was that Morgan had gained a reputation as a bit of a 'man stealer.'

Going on this potential rumor above (great post by the way, thank you!), let's say that maybe the whole 'six months ago' thing that was put out there by her parents was her getting off some type of drug. They did say she quit smoking cigs 6 months ago, didn't they? maybe she also quit other stuff at the same time. So this quitting leads to Morgan spending a lot more time around her parents, close to home...balancing her checkbook...shopping with her mom...family trips, etc. This could be the "phenomenal" time that the parents are describing. Then, Morgan goes to this concert that night and ends up doing some type of drug and overdoses. It is a proven fact that many overdoses happen to former users who relapse. They take the same amount of drug that they took before they quit, and it ends up being way too much for their now clean system to handle. Their former tolerance is gone. It's possible, IMO. I also find the other part of this "rumor/local talk" very interesting: Morgan had gained a bit of a rep for man stealing. I speculated a few weeks ago that perhaps the issue that night was a fight over a guy.

Sadly, there's so little confirmed info out at this point. I come here each day and hope to find at least some sort of resolution to this case so she isn't just forgotten.
 
Does anyone know:

Was this Morgan's first year at Virginia Tech? Did she transfer there as a junior, from -- maybe -- James Madison University? TIA.
 
Regarding the heroin rumor, this is something I have been wondering about for some time. It's purely speculation, and doesn't change that she's missing, and not placing blame or anything like that. Heroin has been a problem in the Northern VA suburbs for a while. High school and college age kids have been dying. Drugs were around in my youth, but nothing like heroin. It's sadly more common than it used to be. Not sure about the rules for posting links, but the Washington Post recently ran the story on Alicia Lannes who OD'ed last year, and a group of her friends/acquaintences who were heroin addicts and dealers. Something like 20 people were arrested and sentenced, average age 19-20. These are people from affluent suburbs, who don't fit the stereotypical profile for heroin addicts, but the problem is there. I wondered if drugs played a part in this, or a possible overdose, it's not out of the realm of possibility.
 
This is a follow up to my post on November 28th regarding my trip to Roanoke, VA and the total lack of support there in Morgan’s hometown as it relates to flyers being up, media coverage and efforts to call attention to her missing. In that post I mentioned that Roanoke hosted a fund raising “run/walk” to raise money for the homeless on Thanksgiving Day. I pointed out it was attended by over 7000 people who participated. The event was called the Drumstick Dash and like I said before, 7000+ people in Roanoke, VA is a huge crowd. I thought that it was strange that there were no flyers up on the businesses that lined the route the runners took, no booth set up to pass out flyers, nothing in the bars or restaurants, etc.

Well, under the “This case just gets stranger all the time” comments, let me add this. So many of you continue to be frustrated (and rightly so) over the lack of anything being done by the friends and those who know Morgan to help find her. With that in mind I wanted to let you know this; that Drumstick Dash was attended by folks from 34 different states. I didn’t know this until yesterday. Maybe it’s just me, but if I knew that people from 34 states were going to be in Roanoke, as a friend I would have had a bullhorn in my hand and flyers printed up and be in the middle of things passing them out or putting them on cars. I would have made sure the local hotels/motels and restaurants had flyers in them as well as the rest stops and gas stations in the area. If I was Morgan’s family I would have done something as well. The family could have rented several billboards in the area to showcase Morgan being gone. Both in the downtown area and the surrounding Interstates. So WHY is it that Morgan’s friends and family did nothing? Yes, the family went to C’ville and was on TV for 90 seconds and I understand that was important to them but this race was over at 11am, they could have easily done both. It’s just a little over an hours drive. There were so many great opportunities to get the word spread that day but it never happened. Her family didn’t bother, her friends didn’t bother, the media didn’t bother and LE didn’t bother. Like I pointed out in my earlier post, there was no information about Morgan anywhere in Roanoke or the surrounding area. Why is it that with such a captive audience that day an opportunity like this was wasted? A chance to reach people 34 states and nothing was done. What in the world is going on with this case? MeoW333 pointed out in response to my earlier post regarding my trip that “the truth is what we search for here”. I thought that was a great line. It defines everyone on this forum. But I wonder if we are the only ones searching for the truth these days?
 
Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - VA-Morgan Dana Harrington, 20 Charlottesville #8

RSBM:



Going on this potential rumor above (great post by the way, thank you!), let's say that maybe the whole 'six months ago' thing that was put out there by her parents was her getting off some type of drug. They did say she quit smoking cigs 6 months ago, didn't they? maybe she also quit other stuff at the same time. So this quitting leads to Morgan spending a lot more time around her parents, close to home...balancing her checkbook...shopping with her mom...family trips, etc. This could be the "phenomenal" time that the parents are describing. Then, Morgan goes to this concert that night and ends up doing some type of drug and overdoses. It is a proven fact that many overdoses happen to former users who relapse. They take the same amount of drug that they took before they quit, and it ends up being way too much for their now clean system to handle. Their former tolerance is gone. It's possible, IMO. I also find the other part of this "rumor/local talk" very interesting: Morgan had gained a bit of a rep for man stealing. I speculated a few weeks ago that perhaps the issue that night was a fight over a guy.

Sadly, there's so little confirmed info out at this point. I come here each day and hope to find at least some sort of resolution to this case so she isn't just forgotten.


ditto to all you posted ;)
 
This is a follow up to my post on November 28th regarding my trip to Roanoke, VA and the total lack of support there in Morgan’s hometown as it relates to flyers being up, media coverage and efforts to call attention to her missing. In that post I mentioned that Roanoke hosted a fund raising “run/walk” to raise money for the homeless on Thanksgiving Day. I pointed out it was attended by over 7000 people who participated. The event was called the Drumstick Dash and like I said before, 7000+ people in Roanoke, VA is a huge crowd. I thought that it was strange that there were no flyers up on the businesses that lined the route the runners took, no booth set up to pass out flyers, nothing in the bars or restaurants, etc.

Well, under the “This case just gets stranger all the time” comments, let me add this. So many of you continue to be frustrated (and rightly so) over the lack of anything being done by the friends and those who know Morgan to help find her. With that in mind I wanted to let you know this; that Drumstick Dash was attended by folks from 34 different states. I didn’t know this until yesterday. Maybe it’s just me, but if I knew that people from 34 states were going to be in Roanoke, as a friend I would have had a bullhorn in my hand and flyers printed up and be in the middle of things passing them out or putting them on cars. I would have made sure the local hotels/motels and restaurants had flyers in them as well as the rest stops and gas stations in the area. If I was Morgan’s family I would have done something as well. The family could have rented several billboards in the area to showcase Morgan being gone. Both in the downtown area and the surrounding Interstates. So WHY is it that Morgan’s friends and family did nothing? Yes, the family went to C’ville and was on TV for 90 seconds and I understand that was important to them but this race was over at 11am, they could have easily done both. It’s just a little over an hours drive. There were so many great opportunities to get the word spread that day but it never happened. Her family didn’t bother, her friends didn’t bother, the media didn’t bother and LE didn’t bother. Like I pointed out in my earlier post, there was no information about Morgan anywhere in Roanoke or the surrounding area. Why is it that with such a captive audience that day an opportunity like this was wasted? A chance to reach people 34 states and nothing was done. What in the world is going on with this case? MeoW333 pointed out in response to my earlier post regarding my trip that “the truth is what we search for here”. I thought that was a great line. It defines everyone on this forum. But I wonder if we are the only ones searching for the truth these days?

I realized now for the first time really-the friends are not desperate to know where she is because they already know what happened.Doesn't that make sense?They know she's gone.
 
I realized now for the first time really-the friends are not desperate to know where she is because they already know what happened.Doesn't that make sense?They know she's gone.

yes - i must have missed ghostmasters great post and your summation is sadly the same conclusion that i am coming too as well.


eta: i see your post now ghostmaster :blushing:
 
I realized now for the first time really-the friends are not desperate to know where she is because they already know what happened.Doesn't that make sense?They know she's gone.

ITA.... and also.. if one of my friends went missing.. my first inclination would not to be to get a lawyer.. it would be to find her. Again.. the lawyer thing makes things sound quite hinky.. imo..

(However, I'm not rich and wasn't by any means while I was growing up, so maybe things are done differently around those types of families and that's just what they do.... I just don't know.. all I'm saying is that I'd be much more worried about finding my friend than finding an attorney..) :cow:
 
so, what does anyone think of the idea that the boyfriend had morgans car all along? and any implications that it may hold? i wont mention the site that this idea was posted since it is against tos, but i guess it doesnt hurt to ponder the idea...
 
ITA.... and also.. if one of my friends went missing.. my first inclination would not to be to get a lawyer.. it would be to find her. Again.. the lawyer thing makes things sound quite hinky.. imo..

(However, I'm not rich and wasn't by any means while I was growing up, so maybe things are done differently around those types of families and that's just what they do.... I just don't know.. all I'm saying is that I'd be much more worried about finding my friend than finding an attorney..) :cow:

When you think about it there are 3 reasons possible for the friends lack of desperation finding MH
#1 They just secretly hated her and don't care
#2 They are somehow responsible for her disappearance and are protecting themselves
#3 They knew from the start or have since learned she is gone and there's no real urgency to find her
 
so, what does anyone think of the idea that the boyfriend had morgans car all along? and any implications that it may hold? i wont mention the site that this idea was posted since it is against tos, but i guess it doesnt hurt to ponder the idea...

I totally agree that it makes sense why Morgan didn't have her keys and why her friends did not bring the keys to her. Also, if this guy perhaps was still in the area (@ campus perhaps) then maybe that is where Morgan was heading to.
 
My answers are in blue..

When you think about it there are 3 reasons possible for the friends lack of desperation finding MH
#1 They just secretly hated her and don't care If this is true, that's awful that these are people she supposedly considered her friends
#2 They are somehow responsible for her disappearance and are protecting themselves ITA that this may very well be the case, or they may know whoever is responsible, if someone is..
#3 They knew from the start or have since learned she is gone and there's no real urgency to find her I would want to bring my friend home.. regardless of the situation..


as always.. jmo. :sheesh:
 
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