Police, U.Va. officials seek help in locating missing woman

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia State Police and University of Virginia authorities are creating a timeline tracking a Virginia Tech student who was reported missing after attending Saturday's Metallica concert at U.Va.'s John Paul Jones Arena.

Authorities spent yesterday following up potential leads. They are asking concert-goers to review pictures or videos of the concert to look for anyone resembling 20-year-old Morgan Dana Harrington.

Police have been canvassing the area around the arena since Monday night for evidence. Harrington's parents said they usually talk to her every day, and said her disappearance is very out of character.

"Morgan is a pretty transparent kid who's had a really close relationship with us," her father, Dan Harrington, said in a telephone interview yesterday. "I don't think there are lots of secrets, so this kind of behavior . . . is not something I think we would expect."

State police Lt. Joe Rader said investigators are treating the disappearance as a missing-person case because there isn't evidence of a crime.

Dan Harrington, who lives in Roanoke, said his daughter had asked him to help her study for a math test and go through the class schedule for next semester on Sunday. He called her friends around 12:30 p.m. after he didn't hear from her.

Police said Morgan Harrington, a junior majoring in education, was wearing a black T-shirt with "Pantera" across the front in tan letters, a black mini skirt, black tights and black knee-high boots.

She has long blond hair and blue eyes, is 5-foot-6 and weighs about 120 pounds. She was not carrying an identification card or cell phone.

Anyone with information about Harrington's disappearance should call state police at (434) 352-3435 or e-mail . U.Va. police can be reached at (434) 924-7166.