Hunt for missing student turns into crime case
Morgan Dana Harrington
Police are now treating the investigation into a missing Metallica fan as a criminal matter, though they say there’s still no evidence any crime has been committed.
Officials have Morgan Dana Harrington’s purse and her cell phone, but no idea where she is, though they’ve received more than 100 tips of varying quality.
Soon, they plan to offer a reward of at least $50,000 for information leading to the location of the Virginia Tech student.
Lt. Joe Rader of the Virginia State Police said that a ground search of the area around the John Paul Jones Arena, the site of Saturday’s concert, didn’t turn up any sign of the missing Roanoke woman.
The last anyone heard from her, she had left the show looking for a restroom and ended up leaving the arena entirely, Rader said at a news conference Wednesday outside the University of Virginia police headquarters.
She called her friends from outside the arena to tell them not to worry and that she would try to find a way to get home, Rader said. The arena, like many venues, doesn’t allow re-entry during concerts.
The next day, a passerby found Harrington’s purse and cell phone, without its battery, in a parking lot, and her parents reported her missing.
“We have a purse, and we have a cell phone, and we have a missing girl,” he said.
Rader said it wasn’t unusual that her phone would be without a battery but didn’t elaborate.
Police have scoured surveillance footage and interviewed Harrington’s friends, but neither has yielded significant progress in the case.
Authorities are also asking concertgoers to review photographs and video footage they shot to see if anyone resembling Harrington is visible.
The 20-year-old, who stands about 5 feet 6 inches and weighs about 120 pounds, was wearing a black T-shirt with “Pantera” across it in tan letters, a black mini skirt, black tights and black knee-high boots. She has long blonde hair and blue eyes.
Metallica has posted a statement on its Web site asking anyone with information to contact police.
The statement says the band is “deeply concerned.”
“Our thoughts are with Morgan and her family for her safe return,” it reads, in part.
The case has garnered attention from a variety of national outlets. CNN has been heavily promoting the Nancy Grace show’s coverage in its news stories online.
Callers have reported seeing the missing woman in vastly different parts of the country at nearly the same time, Rader said.
State police are starting a new, 24-hour-a-day tip line at (434)352-3467. Tips can be e-mailed to . UVa police are at 924-7166.
“I would never say it’s a hindrance,” Rader said of the national attention.
But he did say that the most valuable tips have come from people who were at the concert. Many of the calls from far-flung corners of the country have been from people who have theories about the crime, rather than facts.
The reward will be offered through the Crime-stoppers program, and there will be conditions attached, though they haven’t yet been set, Rader said.
“Right now the time frame is very critical,” Rader said. “Unfortunately, I don’t know how to stop time.”
This story was edited to correct the tip reporting contacts.
Reader Reactions
Gordie, you cannot say “I resent the remark that this happens on other campus. Those are words that cover up the fact that violence is in C-ville’s back yard and till the public gets on the police to do a better job, then nothing will get better.“
Where do you think the national statistic “1 in 4” came from?
One in four women are sexually assaulted each year on very college campus. How sad is that?
Everyone turns a blind eye - until it happens to them.
www.uvavictimsofrape.com
First; of all I said a “GOOD” discussion. I never said great.
Second; if someone says it happens everywhere else, that is just an excuse that brushes local responsibility aside. It may be a point, but it is a bad point.
Third; I must have really hit home that a poster has been overcome with insults at a simple word “Resent”. Especially one who tends to “Assume”.
BUT enough of this foolishness over a very sad event which I pray has a happy ending.
Maybe those in power with end the comments.
This discussion is great? That’s a load.
Gordie, you just don’t get it. You resent the remark that this happens on other campuses—WTF does that mean? The point is, it is not JUST a local problem—are you so thick as to think that was offered up as an excuse? Sexual assault on campus is a national phenomenom. The attitudes that allow it to be unaddressed here at UVA, and elsewhere, are pervasive.
The notion that this situation was created by a police presence, or not, is wrong. Ditto the faux issue of reentry. The crap about not being told anything—how about none of your business! Holding police accountable, that can only be done after the fact, after the case is closed, or old enough to look at, and I sure would not advocate the like of any of you nuts being the judge and jury over a police investigation. This is not a sport for the seriously unhinged.
I share the poster’s exasperation over getting the issue addressed, but short of a Dean’s daughter being assaulted on campus somewhere, the media appears focused on titilating viewers with ‘updates’ on the mystery of missing coeds. Gordie, that’s what I resent—just like I am not fond of those rubberneckers on the highway that get curious whenever they see a car crash. I can picture you all speculating, judging, and resolving all of life’s unfortunate outcomes.
This stops when we are open and honest about sexual assault. Under the influence of modern chemistry, women do have things happen to them involuntarily, and the ignorance thereof is appalling.
The suggestion is great .... BUT local police have no jurisdiction on the UVA campus.
To remedy this situation, House Bill 154 was introduced during the 2006 Virginia Legislative Session by Delegate Ken Alexander, D-Norfolk. This Bill’s focus was to mandate that local law enforcement have primary jurisdiction when felony crimes (rape and murder) occur on college campuses. Unfortunately, the Bill was absorbed into HB1036, requiring Campus Police to be better trained. The Lawmakers did not understand the complexities of HB154. UVA is now publicizing that their campus police are a standard for the Nation. God Help us All.
This has been a good discussion.
I resent the remark that this happens on other campus.
Those are words that cover up the fact that violence is in C-ville’s back yard and till the public gets on the police to do a better job, then nothing will get better.
Maybe it is time to open the campus to any police department who want to police the area. A large presence is always better then just keystone cops.
The main reason why people can’t re-enter is because of terrorism!
You used to be able to re-enter Scott Stadium, for instance: you could leave the stadium at halftime to go in to the parking lot and have a tailgate party during halftime of football games. But UVa makes it plainly clear now that if you leave, you can’t get back in, for ANY reason, period.
So likely, no matter what Ms. Harrington might have said, they wouldn’t have let her back in to see the concert. However, it is possible to enter the building but not actually pass through the area where the ticket-takers stand.
That’s about a 10-foot area where they would permit you to stand for perhaps 5 minutes before they would ask you to leave.
If the reward gets large enough, she will be found. I say this because if she was murdered, whoever did it has a sibling, parent, child, co-worker, or neighbor who will start to wonder if they could have done this!
There ARE outside restrooms, at least right now! I don’t know what the situation was when Metallica was playing. I was over at University Hall and there are about half-a-dozen PortAJohn’s on the edge of the University Hall parking lots toward the baseball field. Is this for tailgaters? Baseball fans?
She had to have willingly got in to a vehicle with someone. Maybe later they assaulted her, perhaps inside the vehicle.
But I feel certain that she willingly got in to a vehicle with them, if only to smoke inside the vehicle.
I’ve been to a lot of events at the JPJ. If you leave by the front door and are standing outside, there’s no way you could be abducted! The parking lot isn’t close to the building, and even after the concert started, the area is well-lit and there would be people walking past you to the arena.
She would have had to have intentionally walked either at least 100 yards: across the street to the University Hall parking lots to have gotten in to trouble, or to the JPJ indoor lots. It’s just not believable that she could have been abducted at the John Paul Jones Center.
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