Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #8

[Mia]

There's streetwalkers in the malls even,I never see them,that I know of,but it's in the paper some have been arrested,wierd.I don't know where she was walking,but I know those Ladies like that hang out at the cheaper hotels.

It's actually the nicest city in Virginia,about 40 to 50,000 people,last I heard.I was just offering a scenario of what a perv might think.It also has Amtrak there,and a bus system,she could have been looking for that,unless she knew where they were already.But,if I was walking and saw,say a school,I would figure more responsible people would be there like teachers,to get help with a ride or something.She's a student,so why I thought that.

I forgot to mention,Charlottesville has a very high violent crime rate,it's ranked very high.

Wow, thanks for correcting me winterrose. I had no idea Charlottesville was so large and heavily populated. Thanks for clarifying that for me:thumb: And streetwalkers pushing their services in MALLS??? A high violent crime rate? Previously I had pictured Charlottesville as a small town, the kind where everyone knows everyone else, with almost NO violent crime, I now stand corrected. Thanks again for clarifying that for me. What you say about the town seems to now be pointing to Morgan running into a predator, or just your average guy who becomes aggressive when rejected. IMO, JMO, MOO etc etc

 

[cianne]

Despite the fact that Security says they didn't kick her out, I think that would totally explain 1) Why she was outside the Arena &
2) Why she was not able to buy a ticket & re-enter

The JPJ doesn't want to lose their liquor license, right? So it makes sense that they would have under-cover staff in the halls watching for the under-age set to shoulder tap. That is a huge liability for them. Many establishments close down b/c of lack of enforcement. If MH tried to obtain beer, I can see them wanting her out of there completely.

This seems quite plausible.

it doesn't sound all that strange to me either. i doubt security would toss her for a single incident, but maybe she had been caught more than once trying to get someone to buy her a drink and they decided enough was enough.

and really, i wouldn't be surprised if the security staff who booted her didn't remember it. they'd probably removed more than one person that night if they were doing it at all, and there are a ton of blonde girls in black clothes at a metallica show. they're not likely to be focusing on her necklace or her shirt all that closely. with 20,000 people around, everyone blends together. (i also think that explains why no one really remembers seeing her, TBH. i can guarantee that if someone went missing from a concert i had attended, i could have been standing next to them in the mosh pit and not remember them.)

 

[kemo]

I'm sorry, but this "hitchhiking" report just doesn't seem right. I can see her saying "i'll hitch a ride" meaning she will "find" someone to give her a ride; (call a friend, charm some guy in the parking lot, something like that). If the friends said that she really said she was going to "hitchhike" back to Harrisonburg (or Blacksburg) that night, then it was crazy talk, perhaps an angry threat to hurt herself. If she really said it, she may have been mentally unstable. Perhaps this is part of a lie the "friends" made up to justify their actions (or just one more example of misinformation).

If she was really seen hitchhiking on the Copeley bridge, it raises a few questions. Is it possible she really was really so impaired/delusional that she would try to hitchhike home? I would bet that anyone who saw her hitching there at 9:30 would rembember it and come forward. A pretty girl hitching late at night would be very unusual. If there were multiple reports, it would be pretty convincing. I don't know about just one report, in fact I would wonder about the person making the report. One possibility is that she planned to walk to a store over on Ivy and, on a lark, stuck her thumb out in hopes of avoiding a ten minute walk. If she did, It was a big mistake.

This information about the Basketball players is interesting. Apparently she met up with them, talked with them a while at the RV area and then they (not her) left; presumably by car. I would assume she told them what she was doing there (how she came to be locked out of the concert, etc) and what her plans were (wait for her friends to get out, hitchhike to Harrisonburg, get something to eat across the bridge?) Realistically, what else would you talk about if you were hanging around by yourself at a Concert venue at 9:30 at night? They would have also be able to describe her mental condition and they would likely have remembered if there was anyone else there when they left. Yet none of this has come out and the only reason the "basketball players" were acknowedged is that the story broke on the various net boards. They are "managing" public information in a strange manner. It makes you wonder if there is something they don't want the public to know.

 

[Waddles]

the "hitching a ride thing"... I've gotta tell you that today I stopped and scanned a public bulletin board (that is an actual board with tacks) at the grocery store here in Blacksburg.. (I've been here since last Friday for Thanksgiving with Dh's family).. numerous postings by apparent students asking for a ride to numerous out of town destinations with offers to pay gas, etc...

I do not think this is a bit uncommon for any college town, students just have a different sense of community and a lack of fear from one of their own, even if they aren't actually aquainted. I've thought from the beginning that her "plan" after whatever bad thing happened to get her out of the arena was to find average looking students heading back to Roanoke, B-burg, Harrisonburg .. one of those places. That's what I think a student would call "hitching a ride" (not sticking her thumb out on the side of the road where a crazy would surely find her) and I think her friends would have not seen this as a risky plan b/c they are students also. Yes, its naive to the extreme and tremendously risky.. just as advertising in the grocery store or on Craigslist for a ride is, but kids do it all the time.

This all makes a lot of sense really - it would have been a common thing in my university back in the day too. If she really said "hitch a ride with someone" as in fellow student or acquaintance of an acquaintance or nice looking students or whatever rather than "get a ride with a friend" it might make sense that they viewed it in the same way and never crossed their minds it was dangerous.

 

[weetziebat]

This all makes a lot of sense really - it would have been a common thing in my university back in the day too. If she really said "hitch a ride with someone" as in fellow student or acquaintance of an acquaintance or nice looking students or whatever rather than "get a ride with a friend" it might make sense that they viewed it in the same way and never crossed their minds it was dangerous.

I despair. You drill it into kids heads not to hitchhike, not to take a ride with strangers and then they change the term to 'hitch a ride' and do it anyway. Yeah, I remember only too well the insane things I did at 20, but you always hope they'll listen and not have to learn for themselves. I feel so bad for Morgan's family today - such a terribly sad Thanksgiving day.

 

[Bobbisangel]

Very interesting, if true. She apparently told her friends she may try to hitch a ride home!?

http://topstoriesrichmond.com/news/audio-uva-responds-to-harrington-rumors/

I wonder if the person that took Morgan might have somehow got her outside when she left her seat to use the restroom....after they were outside he could have made her send a text to her friend or call..whichever. After the call or text was made he could have thrown her phone away along with the other items that were found.

For some reason I can't picture this girl hitchhiking. I just wonder where she is and wish whoever has her would set her free.

 

[wanttohelp]

the people asking for rides on craigslist, or bulletin boards are wackos. never normal looking people which morgan was above normal looking

 

[LogicalMinds]

I too think this might be a reporter mis-stating this

this case seems to be going nowhere...

I don't get it...things that should have (IMHO) been "put out" from the start held back...like the info on the necklace??

very ambiguous info from LE....I am glad the University put out the info on the basketball players finally

no friends in the media...very odd

I have a gut feeling that from the start this has been slanted two ways...

to find Shannon...and to cover up for Shannon/her friends

I think the parents really felt she had run away or was on a "bender" or :: ?::?

I think that LE, parents, friends know more about Shannon's "condition" (*drunk, high)
from the start..and this was not put out there

from the bits and pieces we see a picture of someone who was impaired
as for her "friends"?? they may also have been drinking, high

some things may have simple explanations...dropping the purse a lot...battery falls out of cell phone

others?? I don't know...no one knows..and whatever LE knows they are keeping a lot to themselves

the sad thing is that this is getting "colder and colder"

Nothing much being done...what about searches?? why isn't TES or ?? in there doing some searches at this point??
Nothing makes much sense here.....who knows, maybe this week LE will say "Oh, and we are now letting the public know that Shannon was wearing neon earrings that lit up...did you see them?"

 

[KAE]

Very interesting, if true. She apparently told her friends she may try to hitch a ride home!?

http://topstoriesrichmond.com/news/audio-uva-responds-to-harrington-rumors/

If you go to the link it lists 1140wrva.com as the source.
Here's a link to the article on their website:

http://www.1140wrva.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=128979&article=6369822

I've tried looking around their site for an email address to ask for clarification on this but can't seem to find one. I don't have the time today to look.
Maybe someone else will have better luck.

ETA: The audio link works on this site. It was pretty much what I expected - Someone reading the press release about the BB players.
Nothing about Morgan's friends and cell phones.

 

[Lindsaym]

LogicalMinds, I don't understand why you're calling her Shannon?

 

[Cardinal47]

I wonder if the person that took Morgan might have somehow got her outside when she left her seat to use the restroom....after they were outside he could have made her send a text to her friend or call..whichever. After the call or text was made he could have thrown her phone away along with the other items that were found.

For some reason I can't picture this girl hitchhiking. I just wonder where she is and wish whoever has her would set her free.

I don't think the restroom trip was a planned trip. She was leaving the concert on her way out and saw the restroom and thought "I'd better make a pitstop". MOO

 

[Wes]

it doesn't sound all that strange to me either. i doubt security would toss her for a single incident, but maybe she had been caught more than once trying to get someone to buy her a drink and they decided enough was enough.

and really, i wouldn't be surprised if the security staff who booted her didn't remember it. they'd probably removed more than one person that night if they were doing it at all, and there are a ton of blonde girls in black clothes at a metallica show. they're not likely to be focusing on her necklace or her shirt all that closely. with 20,000 people around, everyone blends together. (i also think that explains why no one really remembers seeing her, TBH. i can guarantee that if someone went missing from a concert i had attended, i could have been standing next to them in the mosh pit and not remember them.)

Has it been confirmed that she was booted from the arena?

I tend to think that is a very plausible and likely scenario - but I thought the "official" statement was that she wasn't kicked out of the arena.

 

[MeoW333]

Has it been confirmed that she was booted from the arena?

I tend to think that is a very plausible and likely scenario - but I thought the "official" statement was that she wasn't kicked out of the arena.

LE said in the official statement they had no reason to think she was kicked out of the arena- or something to that affect.

 

[Walker]

I too think this might be a reporter mis-stating this

this case seems to be going nowhere...

I don't get it...things that should have (IMHO) been "put out" from the start held back...like the info on the necklace??

very ambiguous info from LE....I am glad the University put out the info on the basketball players finally

no friends in the media...very odd

I have a gut feeling that from the start this has been slanted two ways...

to find Shannon...and to cover up for Shannon/her friends

I think the parents really felt she had run away or was on a "bender" or :: ?::?

I think that LE, parents, friends know more about Shannon's "condition" (*drunk, high)
from the start..and this was not put out there

Not sure it really makes that much difference. Even she had passed out, as long as she was near the arena, she would have been safe enough. Security would have gotten proper medical attention for Morgan. Problem seems to be that she left the likely friendly crowds around the arena.

from the bits and pieces we see a picture of someone who was impaired
as for her "friends"?? they may also have been drinking, high

some things may have simple explanations...dropping the purse a lot...battery falls out of cell phone

Dropping the purse a lot? What is your source of information?

 

[Walker]

Very interesting, if true. She apparently told her friends she may try to hitch a ride home!?

http://topstoriesrichmond.com/news/audio-uva-responds-to-harrington-rumors/

The easiest way to get a ride to JMU would have been to wait around and ask some students for a lift after the show.

 

[Walker]

Well,my goodness,whether she was hitching a ride or hitchhiking,she would still be picking up a ride with someone she didn't know,I think.She's 20,I don't understand what she would be thinking to go to strangers and try to get a ride.

Since it was an emergency, she would have been safe enough asking another college girl for a ride to JMU. Also, it seems given that she had a place to stay at JMU, but her companion, Sarah, was still at the concert (we assume). Who was she planning to stay with?

Can we confirm that Morgan was a former JMU student? That might explain a lot. Maybe she had only transferred in Sept 2009. VTech is probably a more competitive program, and maybe Morgan was having difficulty adjusting. Maybe something very bad had happened at JMU, which led up to this abduction?

 

[Cardinal47]

Since it was an emergency, she would have been safe enough asking another college girl for a ride to JMU. Also, it seems given that she had a place to stay at JMU, but her companion, Sarah, was still at the concert (we assume). Who was she planning to stay with?

Can we confirm that Morgan was a former JMU student? That might explain a lot. Maybe she had only transferred in Sept 2009. VTech is probably a more competitive program, and maybe Morgan was having difficulty adjusting. Maybe something very bad had happened at JMU, which led up to this abduction?

I have looked everywhere for that article telling about her schooling. I did find that DS is a student at James Madison, a sophmore. So perhaps that is why she and Morgan knew each other. It seemed like when Morgan wasn't with the friends the party planned between all of them...vanished..like Morgan.
MOO

 

[Walker]

Wow,concerts have changed since I went to my last one,that was Nugent,awesome,anyway I wonder if it wasn't sold out.I actually could see her trying to get to Amtrak rather than a bus and especially walking if it was only a little over a mile away.But for someone to know to take a battery out so there wouldn't be pings is not just a dum SO,IMO.They knew they could be followed and they wanted time to get far enough away.So,I'm thinking someone who knows the news and how cellphone pings are used or an educated student on it,just for starters,alot of college kids there.

Sometimes colleges & universities have their own shuttle services. Would any UVA shuttles be running that night? Does the bridge have a nearby shuttle stop?

 

[Walker]

You cannot compare a parking lot bet. a Metallica and a Jimmy Buffet concert.

Jimmy Buffet has fans that travel and go to every concert of his during his tour. A lot of these people have vans and do not go inside the arena for the concert. Instead they stay outside listening and sell merchandise, food, drinks, etc. They have Buffet music blasting and party it up. Also, a lot of people show up without tix trying to score one there.

It is the opposite with a Metallica concert. People go to the concert and they do not roam the lots while the band plays and they do not travel in caravans selling merchandise and food.

So, my point is, the night that Morgan disappeared, I bet the lot was pretty vacant by the time the band took the stage.

I agree. Wonder if we could get a description from someone who was actually there. How would the area around the arena look once Metallica started playing? Thanks to the early (and apparently discounted) eye witness report of Morgan and a guy fighting, we have been presented with a picture of at least a small crowd milling around out front of the entrance; this report was followed by similar reports of sightings of her in the company of different groups of men. But what if the whole area was actually deserted, and Morgan was roaming around looking for people, so that she could ask some nice & normal-seeming person for help?

 

[MeoW333]

I have looked everywhere for that article telling about her schooling. I did find that DS is a student at James Madison, a sophmore. So perhaps that is why she and Morgan knew each other. It seemed like when Morgan wasn't with the friends the party planned between all of them...vanished..like Morgan.
MOO

BBM
This is true, i wonder why that was..?
Where the friends having the party connected to the friends that Morgan went with to the concert only via Morgan?
Morgan's friends called the others about the party saying they couldn't make it since they were "missing someone"??
Please correct me if i'm wrong.. i wish i had a link for it..
That they were "missing Morgan", seems to be the reason they didn't attend the party.
Yet they still talked via at least cell phone to those having a party.. where was this party to be held? If was at a hotel nearby or somewhere nearby, then one would think Morgan would try to head there..
She said that she'd either meet her friends after the concert or find her own way home.. or hitchhike a ride (if any are true that's what was said)
it still comes down to that it sounds like Morgan had no intentions of going to the party afterwards..
Did her friends who went with her decide to not attend the party since they had Morgan's car and waited around for her a bit? Was their sole reason for not going to the party that Morgan was missing, and if they were concerned she was "missing" why didn't they call her parents at the very least, if not the police??
Most likely they couldn't reach her via her cell phone..