Missing Tech student believed to have been hitchhiking
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Virginia State poliec say Morgan harrington was wearing a necklace similar to this one when she disappeared. Courtesy Virginia State Police
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Virginia State poliec say Morgan harrington was wearing a necklace similar to this one when she disappeared. Courtesy Virginia State Police
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Virginia State poliec say Morgan harrington was wearing a necklace similar to this one when she disappeared. Courtesy Virginia State Police
Morgan D. Harrington
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Virginia State Police Tip Line:
(434) 352-3467
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View all articles related to Morgan Harrington
Investigators are confident Morgan Harrington had been hitchhiking for a ride before going missing, police said this morning.
Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student, has been missing since the night of Oct. 17, when she attended a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena.
After talking with friends on her cell phone, Harrington walked through the parking lot of UVa’s University Hall and was also seen in the Lannigan Field athlete parking lot, which is also used for RV parking. At about 9:30 p.m., she was seen walking on the Copeley Road bridge near Ivy Road, according to state police.
“Investigators are confident,” Harrington was hitchhiking while on the bridge, according to state police, based on witness accounts.
Anyone who recalls seeing a young woman hitchhiking the night of Oct. 17 on or near the Copeley Road bridge is asked to contact police. Anyone who remembers seeing a vehicle randomly stopped in the roadway on Copeley Road bridge that night is also asked to contact investigators, as well as anyone who loaned a cell phone that night to a young woman fitting Harrington’s description.
Harrington was wearing a black T-shirt with the word “Pantera” in tan letters, a black mini-skirt, black tights and knee-high black boots. She had a Swarovski Crystal necklace on, with large crystal chain links. She’s 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
The Virginia State Police Tip Line is 352-3467. Or tips can be e-mailed to . UVa Police can be reached at 924-7166. Anonymous tips are welcome.
Police timeline
All locations are for a woman or women closely matching the description of Morgan Harrington.
- Oct. 17
- 8:20-8:48 p.m. - in several areas immediately outside John Paul Jones Arena, possible including doors, and the side near University Hall.
- 8:48 - Friend calls her on cell phone, Harrington explains situation, says she’ll try to find ride home.
- 9-9:10 - Walking, with her purse, through the University Hall parking area.
- 9:10-9:20 - seen in the grassy overflow parking area at Lannigan Field.
- 9:20-9:30 - Seen on Copeley Road bridge over railroad tracks.
- Oct. 18
- Harrington’s purse is found in overflow parking area at Lannigan Field.
Reader Reactions
cripes.. more of this? I see Dr Harrington noting that hitchiking doesn’t justify murder or abduction. Knowing the attitudes of both the VSP AND the local police, I wonder if he said that because he felt that vibe from them.
And where is the outrage that more than 1400 folks would be sent to look around the copely bridge to later find out, “oh by the way,“ we the police have know all along that she was hitchiking????
and if she WAS, back to my wondering about the CCTV being reviewed?
AND, pardon my for saying so, but would someone PLEASE make some sense of the request for anyone who loaned her their cell phone to come forward???? For Pete’ sake, what left field does that come from? Let’s guess that Law Enforcement must know that she made a call to suggest this>> Then, to whom was it made?
Also, again with the tower pinging, HOW much data could be combed through to see who called from 930 to 950, say out of the towers that hit that area. Even if it was 10,000 calls, their being a metallica concert, and i’d bet more like 2,000. Even if it were 10,000, that could be 500 calls by 20 volunteers. I’d be willing to do that.
You know, a couple of years back, some microsoft exec. disappeared in the pacific ocean and msft asked volunteers to review patches of the wide open ocean via google earth via a volunteer effort. Why aren’t simple tech methods being combed to find her?
I realize it’s a manpower issue, but a call to more volunteers would take care of that.
Back to the reason for my rant, honestly? you KNEW she’d been thumbing a ride and you concentrated a 1400 person search around the bridge? I mean, I get it, BUT, really? REALLY?
way to keep everyone on top of things…
Just looking at all the timelines. My theory is that when she walked through the overflow lot, that perhaps someone was watching her that was parked in that lot and followed her to the bridge and then picked her up, went back to the overflow lot to pick up friends or perhaps their RV and dumped her purse. That is the only logical conclusion I can see as to why her purse would be found somewhere that she had already walked through and was fine until the bridge???
Just look at the timeline from 9:10 to 9:20.
Look at the Timeline for 9:20 to 9:30.
Now look at that the purse is found in Lannigan Field over flow lot.
Does the propect of removing the battery from her cell phone and throwing her purse away then walking to Copeley bridge sound like she would be hitchhiking on Copeley bridge?
Sure she could have been hitchhiking but why would who ever picked her up return to the overflow lot? Does not make sense.
Sincerely I want Morgan to be found, but these stupid articles by the police and reporters really need to be responded too.
Where are the sketches or the story that the sighting is not credible.
Oh my god! Why would you have done something so darned dangerous? Oh God that is so awfully wrong. Was she impaired to make such a catastrophic bad decision? Was she fighting with one of her friends? I guess these are police only details. We are keeping the family in our prayers.
When I checked online to see if anyone had posted anything recently about seeing someone hitchhiking, I got such knots in my stomach at what a Google search pulls up when you enter search words “blonde hitchhiker” (definitely not for children). Did any witnesses see her enter a car on the bridge? If so, was she planning to return to JMU or to Va. Tech? Or would she have asked for a ride to Roanoke? What routes & roadways should the community cover with fliers?
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