FYI,
Parents plead for return of daughter
The case of missing Tech student Morgan Harrington has drawn nationwide attention.
By Mike Gangloff
The search for Morgan Dana Harrington stretched into its second full day Tuesday, drawing national attention to the disappearance of the Virginia Tech junior during a weekend Metallica concert in Charlottesville.
Harrington's parents took to the television, appearing on HLN's Nancy Grace show and other broadcasts to ask for Harrington's return and bringing camera crews to their Roanoke County home.
Postings about the missing 20-year-old spread across online forums, and a Facebook group dedicated to her had more than 2,100 members by Tuesday evening. On the official Metallica Web site, the band posted an article titled "One of our fans is missing."
Dr. Dan Harrington, who is Carilion Clinic's vice president for academic affairs, and Gil Harrington, a nurse who is active with the Roanoke-based Orphan Medical Network International, were encouraged by the energy that seemed to be pouring into the search, said the Rev. Diane Scribner Clevenger of Unity Church of Roanoke Valley, who was acting as the family's spokeswoman.
Virginia State Police asked concertgoers to check videos or pictures from Saturday's Metallica show and to contact authorities if they thought they had captured images of Harrington. Blond, 5-foot-6 and about 120 pounds, Harrington was wearing a black T-shirt bearing the name of the metal band Pantera in tan letters across the front, a black miniskirt, black tights and black knee-high boots.
Friends said that Harrington, an education major who lived in an apartment in Blacksburg, left the University of Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena before Metallica came onstage. They were not sure why.
Her purse and cellphone were later found outside, said Amanda Melvin, a friend of Harrington's. Melvin's younger sister is Harrington's roommate and had attended the concert with her. Harrington's car, in which they traveled to the concert, was still in the parking lot, Melvin said.
Gil Harrington said on the Nancy Grace show that she thought her daughter's friends waited a long time before leaving the concert without her.
Dan Harrington told The Associated Press that his daughter planned to come to her parents' house Sunday to study, and when she didn't, he checked with some of her friends, then reported her missing.
Clevenger said that Morgan Harrington keeps in close contact with her parents, traveling from Blacksburg to do laundry and calling frequently.
Clevenger described Harrington, a 2007 graduate of Lord Botetourt High School, as someone who loves music, and who keeps a wall of her apartment's bedroom decorated with music-related items. She also enjoys visual art and has been a painter since childhood, Clevenger said.
She had been recognized in 2007 for volunteer work with the Mental Health Association of Roanoke Valley.
And Harrington had kept Metallica tickets on her refrigerator for weeks, Grace said during her Tuesday broadcast.
State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said in an e-mail Tuesday that investigators were following up on dozens of tips and canvassing the area around the arena.
Staff writer Jorge Valencia contributed to this report.