Missing Tech student reportedly seen on bridge
VIRGINIA STATE POLICE
Local and state police have been searching for Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington since she was reported missing by her parents Oct. 18.
Related Info
Harrington timeline
A young woman matching Morgan Harrington’s description is seen outside John Paul Jones Arena on Oct. 17 from about 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.:
8:20-8:30 p.m. Harrington tries to re-enter arena near main entrance.
8:30-8:48 A woman fitting her description is seen outside the arena at various locations.
8:48 Harrington talks to friends by cell phone.
9-9:10 A woman fitting her description is seen walking through University Hall parking lot toward Lannigan Field.
9:10-9:20 A woman fitting her description is seen walking in the overflow lot at Lannigan Field.
9:20-9:30 A woman fitting her description is seen walking on the Copeley Road railroad bridge, between Ivy Road and the track at Lannigan Field. Investigators want to hear from anyone who might have seen a woman fitting her description getting into a vehicle, or anyone who recalls seeing a vehicle stopped in the roadway on Copeley Road that night.
Description: Harringon is 5 feet 6 inches tall and has blond hair. She was wearing a black T-shirt with “Pantera” written on it in tan letters, a black miniskirt, black boots and black tights, and she was carrying a two-strap purse/backpack.
Tips: Call (434) 352-3467 or e-mail
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SOURCE: Virginia State Police
Published: October 29, 2009
Updated: October 29, 2009
CHARLOTTESVILLE—The last reported sighting of Morgan D. Harrington was on a bridge over railroad tracks near the John Paul Jones Arena.
Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student, has been missing since Oct. 17, when she disappeared after leaving a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia’s arena.
After receiving about 300 tips about Harrington’s movements, Virginia State Police released a new timeline yesterday to draw more tips from the public.
Police say they are very interested in what happened outside the arena, particularly after 9:30 p.m.
According to police, Harrington left her friends to look for a restroom. She then exited the arena and, in an 8:48 p.m. phone conversation with a friend, said she couldn’t get back inside. She “stated she would try to get a ride home from friends around Charlottesville,“ said state police Lt. Joe Rader.
Harrington’s father, Dan Harrington, said that his daughter could have known people through either her parents or her brother, a U.Va. graduate, but the possible connections have been checked out.
Police think she stayed near the arena until about 9 p.m.
Between then and 9:10 p.m., a woman matching Harrington’s description was seen walking, with her purse, through the University Hall parking area.
In the next 10 minutes, a woman matching her description was seen in the overflow parking area near Lannigan Field. Harrington’s purse and cell phone, minus its battery, were found in that area the next morning.
Between about 9:20 and 9:30 Saturday night, someone matching the description was seen on the Copeley Road railroad bridge. “I think the focus is really trying to see if anyone saw anything of Morgan after 9:30 at that Copeley Road-Ivy Road intersection,“ Dan Harrington said.
State police have confirmed a $100,000 reward through Crime Stoppers, and Metallica is in final negotiations to add $50,000, Dan Harrington said.
Harrington and his wife, Gil, have hired Washington-based Levick Strategic Communications to help spread their message.
Ted Strong is a staff writer at The Daily Progress in Charlottesville.
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Reader Reactions
Something here just does not smell right. It is unreasonable to believe a college kid would travel from Blacksburg to Charlottesville for a concert, and leave the building just as the show was getting going. I never have visited JPJ Arena, but I am sure the plumbing is inside., she did not have to go out to go outside to use restroom. Even if she could not get back inside, she would not just say “I am going to catch a ride back”. She would have just waited for her friends and rode back with whoever she came with. Somebody is not telling the truth here.
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