Harrington Public Memorial Services Set
Posted: Feb 01, 2010 3:39 PM EST
Updated: Feb 01, 2010 3:39 PM EST
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The family will honor Morgan with a Mass on Friday, February 5 at 3:30 p.m. It will happen at Saint Andrews Catholic Church in Roanoke.
A reception to celebrate Morgan's life will follow at the Hotel Roanoke
The Harrington family released this statement concerning the services:
"To recognize some of Morgan's passions we ask that, in lieu of flowers, gifts to honor Morgan's memory be made to the Morgan Dana Harrington Memorial Scholarship at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine or to OMNI - Orphan Medical Network International, an organization that provides medical care in Africa.
Scholarship donations may be mailed to: Virginia Tech, Attn: Gift Accounting, University Development (0336), Blacksburg, VA 24061, and OMNI donations to 6930 Empire Lane, Roanoke, VA 24018.
Video: Harrington Public Memorial Services Set
http://www.nbc29.com/global/Category.asp?C=175568&clipId=4506498&autostart=true
Article:
http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=11914301
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Local search intensifies as Morgan Harrington's remains are found [with video]
A detailed look at the Harrington case, from her discovery to possible new leads
02/02/2010 - 02/08/2010
<snipped>
Dan Harrington believed that his daughter would be found within five miles of the Copeley Road Bridge, where she was last seen alive. In fact, Morgan Harrington was found a little more than 10 miles from the bridge, on a remote portion of David Bass’ 750-acre Anchorage Farm.
Reports of violence in a secluded area
According to CrimeReports.com—a web site that maps crime data, linked from the Albemarle County Police Department’s web-site—there were two separate assault incidents reported in the month before Harrington’s discovery. The first, dated December 26, 2009, is listed at the 1800 block of Red Hill Road—less than 2 miles from the entrance to Bass’ property. The most recent occurred on January 6, in the 4900 block of Monacan Trail Road, less than 7 miles from the Anchorage Farm entrance. A call to Albemarle Police about those incidents was not returned by press time.
The Virginia State Police’s Sex Offender Registry lists six registered offenders in the 22959 North Garden zip code that includes Anchorage Farm. One offender, listed with two convictions in Albemarle Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for rape and one for sexual battery in Charlottesville Circuit Court between 2006 and 2008, lives within two miles of Anchorage Farm.
The same resident said that a few bowhunters control the deer population in the community, but “they will always let us know when they are on our property.”
“The grass probably would’ve been at least two feet, maybe three feet tall, at the time of this tragedy,” said a resident about their property. “Anyone going through that field by foot or by car, I would’ve seen the tracks…[A]nd I saw no tracks.”
The resident also detailed the division between Anchorage Farm and their property in Blandemar: a half-mile that includes a ridge (“very steep”
, a creek, woods and several rows of barbed wire fencing. “Not that it couldn’t be done. It could be done, but with great difficulty. At night, I’d say pretty much impossible.”
"Most likely it will be a homicide"
According to Flaherty, “significant items and evidence” were found near the remains. As his comments joined the rumors spreading through the community that the remains were those of Harrington, Flaherty explained that state police “cannot release the evidence that leads us to this conclusion at this particular time.”
"This is known to someone here"
“This is known to someone here…,” he said, speaking about the location where the remains were found. “And as I’ve said all along, Morgan would be found within five miles of this bridge, and it was probably a local person. And I’m sure I’m 100 percent right.”
A new lead on 15th Street?
On Friday afternoon, January 29, several residents of 15th Street, just over a mile from Copeley Road Bridge, reported they were interviewed by investigators who canvassed the area in connection with Harrington’s death.
“About 11:30am, I got a knock on my back door. I opened it up and it’s a guy who flashes a badge and says he’s a detective,” said one resident, who asked to remain anonymous due to privacy concerns. “He just told me that they were canvassing my building, because they had found what they thought was Morgan Harrington’s shirt somewhere in the bushes in front of the building.” Harrington was wearing a black Pantera t-shirt the night she disappeared.
A second resident said that two days earlier, “I was going to my car, and there was a woman who was kind of digging in the bush, and there were two guys walking around the apartment across the street. I heard the one guy [say] they hadn’t found anything, so the one guy was like ‘Well, we found her shirt over here.’” A third resident confirmed the reports; both remained anonymous due to privacy concerns.
Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said she didn’t know whether there was a law enforcement presence on 15th Street. “We’ve gotten a lot of tips and a lot of different leads related to the case. They may’ve been just following up on a tip almost in a process of elimination versus it being some critical aspect of an investigation.”
What comes next?
The day that Harrington’s remains were found, an Albemarle High School student created a Facebook group called “R.I.P. Morgan Harrington.” The group currently has more than 10,000 members, and comments appear on the page nearly every hour. Many offer condolences to the Harrington family; one reads, simply, “Justice for Morgan.”
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie1l40GLFms[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRSYflUgCuI[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAV7Be5iyJs[/ame]
Anchorage Farm, a 750-acre cattle farm, is partially bordered by Monacan Trail Road, Red Hill Road and a subdivision named Blandemar Farm Estates. “People live out here because they like their privacy,” one Blandemar resident said.
Article:
http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=11101808092903167&ShowArticle_ID=11800102104276532
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Harringtons Plan Memorial, Start Scholarship
Updated: 3:37 PM Feb 2, 2010
<snipped>
The Harrington family announced plans for a memorial mass and reception for daughter Morgan, whose remains were discovered on a farm in southern Albemarle County last week.
The Harrington family announced plans for a memorial mass and reception for daughter Morgan, whose remains were discovered on a farm in southern Albemarle County last week.
Video: Harrington Scholars and Memorial 0:45
http://www.whsv.com/video/?autoStar...default&clipId=4507596&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
Article:
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/83316972.html
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Harrington Death Ruled Homicide
Posted: Feb 02, 2010 6:12 PM EST
Updated: Feb 03, 2010 6:49 AM EST
<snipped>
There are new details in the Morgan Harrington investigation.
The Richmond Medical Examiner's office has officially ruled her cause of death a homicide. That report coming from Richmond NBC station WWBT Tuesday afternoon.
State Police tell say they have no new information to release on the investigation at this point.
Video: Harrington Death Ruled Homicide
http://www.nbc29.com/global/Category.asp?C=175568&clipId=4509553&autostart=true
Article:
http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=11922131
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Morgan Harrington's death ruled a homicide
The medical examiner's office is not yet able to release information on how she was killed.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
<snipped>
The medical examiner's determination closes out speculation that she wandered away from Charlottesville and died of exposure on a chilly night.
A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office said the office is not yet able to release information on how Harrington was killed.
Forensic experts say it could take weeks, or longer, to make that determination because of the decomposition of her body over the past three months. If, as her family believes, her body was left in the hayfield the night she disappeared, it has endured warm and cold weather, rain and snow storms and possibly the activity of animals and insects.
All of those factors could "make it a lot more difficult to determine the cause and manner of death," said Emil Moldovan, an adjunct instructor of criminal justice at Radford University and former death investigator in the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office.
For instance, Moldovan said, if Harrington were bludgeoned or shot to death, that might be readily apparent to examiners, but if she were strangled, there would be little evidence outside the possible fracture of the tiny hyoid bone in the neck. The skeletal and tissue remains also might not show any sign of a stabbing.
Article:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235212
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Virginia Tech Student Morgan Harrington Was Murdered, Police Say
Cause of Death Still to Be Determined by Medical Examiner
Feb. 3, 2010
<snipped>
The police announcement did not say how Harrington was killed, however. "The cause and time of death are still to be determined by the Medical Examiner," the statement said.
Jenna Testerman, one of Harrington's best friends, said that she knows Harrington would not have succumbed to a killer without putting up a fight.
"I really don't know what happened to her," Testerman told ABCNews.com, just days after the search for Harrington came to a grim ending with the discovery of her body. "She wasn't someone who would just wander off." "But what I do know is that Morgan is a fighter and she would have fought to the death," said Testerman.
"We were all hoping that they were going to find her safe and while we knew it would take a lot of work to get Morgan back to normal, we just wanted her to be alive," said Testerman. "We just wanted her to give us one of her big hugs that she's known for."
Testerman said she is particularly feeling the loss. She and Harrington were part of a close-knit group of girlfriends who called themselves "The Nine." Some of the girls even got the number nine tattooed on their bodies as a symbol of their friendship when they all went off to college. Now they are eight.
"We just hope that she didn't have to go through any pain and that her killer showed her mercy and that she's up above in heaven looking down on us," said Testerman.
In a chilling blog entry on Jan. 31 on a Web site dedicated to Harrington, the girl's father, Dan Harrington, wrote about retrieving his dead daughter's body after months of hoping she'd be found alive.
"How could someone have erased so much of what Morgan was and reduced her to a jumbled heap of bones?" wrote Dan Harrington. "Who would ever have thought it would be mine to see every image of Morgan's life – from her first faint shadows on fetal ultrasound to the gaping orbital hollows in her skull? An abomination to witness this ending."
What Happened to Morgan Harrington After the Metallica Concert?
Sarah Snead, who had accompanied Harrington and another friend to the concert, told WSLS in Raonake that she had been the one to receive the phone call telling them that she was stuck outside the arena.
"[She said] don't worry, I'll find a way home," said Snead. The morning after the concert, Harrington's purse and cell phone were found in that grassy field and later, her parents Dan and Gil Harrington, called police to report her missing.
Dan Harrington wrote on his daughter's blog on Jan. 24, "3 months! Despite the length of time Morgan has been gone I remain hopeful. Part of me is waiting to be surprised. Waiting for God to pull the rabbit out of the hat and bring Morgan home."
Now Dan Harrington is speculating on who took his daughter. He told NBC's "Today Show" last week that his daughter's killer must have been from around Charlottesville. "There is absolutely no way that a stranger to the area would know [the local roads and the farm]," said Dan Harrington. "It is someone who lives in the Charlottesville area."
Friends Believe Someone 'Bad' Got Harrington
Jill Helm, whose daughter Chelsea was one of "the nine" and who frequently had the group over to her Roanoke home, said Harrington must have bumped into an evil person.
"I think she went out to smoke and they wouldn't let her back into the concert and he got her out there," said Helm. "Someone who is as bad as all the crazy people in the world got her." "Morgan had nothing to run from," said Helm. "Her friends and family are absolutely wonderful."
Related:
Confirmed: Remains Those of Missing Va. Woman
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=9676116
Va. Tech Student Vanishes From Concert
http://abcnews.go.com/US/virginia-t...arrington-disappears-concert/story?id=8872201
Article:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/virginia-t...ingtons-death-ruled-homicide/story?id=9740132
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Harrington Investigators Make Plea to Local Community
Febuary 4, 2010
<snipped>
At an afternoon news conference Thursday, Lt. Joe Rader, the lead investigator for Virginia State Police in the death of Morgan Harrington, made an impassioned plea to the local community.
Investigators need information from locals about the area in and around Anchorage Farms.
He said the person or persons involved would have had intimate knowledge of the terrain necessary to traverse to get there, including, he said, streams, fences and other unexpected challenges. He added, such knowledge would be critical to someone enduring a "high-stress moment," although he would not confirm whether that "moment" meant disposing of a body. David Bass, the property owner, has said the nearest road was more than a mile away from the spot where her body was found.
In urging members of the local Albemarle County community to come forward with whatever information about Anchorage Farms they might have, Rader stressed investigators were not "looking for names" just information about what activities may have gone on from time to time on the property. He would not specify what activities may have been involved, but owner Bass has said hunters sometimes used his property. When asked whether the location may have been used for "parties," Rader would not answer. Rader said information about people who passed through, or worked on the Farms was important, and no bit of information was insignificant.
He asked the community to listen to six key points of "significance:"
1. The person responsible for the tragedy of Morgan Harrington, may or may not be formally connected to the Anchorage Farm properties, but investigators believe that person may have travelled, worked, recreated, or passed through that particular farm or the area close by.
2. As a result of the responsible person's past experience with that location or general area where Morgan's body was recovered, that person was inclined to return to the area in a high-stress situation.
3. Investigators are confident that someone knows the offender (through no fault of their own) and investigators need that information.
4. Investigators believe the person involved has specific knowledge and was comfortable operating in the area where Morgan's body was located. It was a significant distance from a roadway.
5. The choice of that particular area is important. It would have been a higher risk location unless you are familiar with the area. People living in that area understand what that means.
6. Travelling to Anchorage Farm location would have created a significant risk for anyone not familiar with that area and not comfortable with that type of area. Farmland such as where Morgan's body was found, has obstacles like streams, fences and terrain that changes. It can be very risky unless you are familiar with the area.
Rader concluded by pointing out the person responsible would have "passed up other more convenient areas" --presumably for disposal of her body -- en route to the remote Anchorage Farms locale.
Article:
http://www.wtvr.com/news/harrington-investigators-plea,0,486679.story
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Location of body biggest key in Harrington investigation
Posted: Feb 04, 2010 2:46 PM EST
Updated: Feb 04, 2010 3:39 PM EST
<snipped>
The location of the area where her body was found is what investigators are most focused on right now, said Virginia State Police officer Lt. Joe Rader at a Thursday afternoon press conference in Charlottesville.
The body was found "a considerable distance from the roadway" and the person likely was familiar with the area, he said.
Rader said that based on experience and some common sense, the Anchorage Farm location likely wouldn't present an unnecessary risk for the person that took Morgan Harrington from John Paul Jones Arena. Traveling to Anchorage Farm area would have created a significant risk to a suspect. The area is a high-risk location to take a body and police believe the person willingly chose the farm.
The person responsible may or not be connected to the Anchorage Farm area, but may have worked, recreated, visited or periodically traveled through the area near the farm where her body was found, Rader said.
RAW VIDEO: Morgan Harrington press conference - February 4, 2010 13:51
http://www.wtol.com/global/Category...default&clipId=4516279&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
Article:
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=11934373
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Cops Say Whoever Killed Morgan Harrington Knew Tricky Farm Area
Virginia Police Ask for Help From Farm Area Residents
Feb. 4, 2010
<snipped>
Whoever killed Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington and left her body on a remote farm knew the tricky "obstacles" to get to the location, Virginia police said today.
Rader said investigators believe the person or persons responsibile for Harrington's murder was familiar with the area on Anchorage Farm where the 20-year-old's body was found.
"People in the Anchorage Farm area, you know what goes on there, you know the history," said Rader. "You know who comes in and out of the vicinity and you might not realize it but you probably have some information for us that you don't even think is important."
Among the items in Rader's list was information about the "obstacles" that a person unfamiliar with the farm would have faced trying to get to the stop where Harrington was found.
"The choice of that particular location is quite different than if the person responsible had chosen the public highway or the shoulder," said Rader. "This particular location would have been a high risk location unless you're familiar with the area."
"People living in that area, this will mean something to you," Rader said cryptically.
Article:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/morgan-harringtons-killer-knew-obstacles-farm-area/story?id=9749253
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PRESS RELEASE
VSP Stress The Importance Of LocationIn Morgan Harrington DEath Investigation
Virginia State Police Www.vsp.Virginia.gov
Febuary 4, 2010
Link:
[ame="http://www.scribd.com/doc/26392650/Virginia-State-Police-Www-vsp-Virginia-gov"]Virginia State Police Www.vsp.Virginia.gov[/ame]
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Police Ask For Help With Harrington Homicide
Posted: Feb 04, 2010 6:01 PM EST
Updated: Feb 04, 2010 6:10 PM EST
<snipped>
The 20-year-old Virginia Tech student vanished in Charlottesville October 17th. Her body was found last Tuesday about 10 miles away off Route 29 south on a distant corner of the 700-acre Anchorage Farm property.
State police say whoever left Morgan's body there had to be familiar with the area and the terrain on that piece of land.
Rader says, "The information that we need is going to come from people who understand the area where this body was located better than we do. So we're asking you basically community, educate us, educate the police.
The location is so critical to investigators that they have now set up a separate tip line for information from people living nearby. That number is 434-709-1685.
That's all state police would say Wednesday. They refused to take questions about the cause of death, suspects, leads, or anything else relating to the Harrington case.
Video: Police Ask For Help With Harrington Homicide
http://www.nbc29.com/global/Category.asp?C=175568&clipId=4516874&autostart=true
Article:
http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=11935901
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State Police calls access to Anchorage Farm "high risk" for those who don't know area
February 4th 05:25pm
<snipped>
One day before more severe weather returns to cover Anchorage Farm, the location where the remains of 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington was discovered on January 23, Virginia State Police held a press conference to strongly encourage locals who know the area to call with any information.
"Community, educate us," said Lieutenant Joe Rader. "Educate the police."
Asked whether there was any knowledge of "field parties" on the Anchorage Farm property, Rader responded that "there were some activities on the farm, which we're not going to speak about now." He reiterated that people who know the North Garden and Anchorage Farm property shoud call the new tip line to speak with police.
Anchorage Farm owner David Bass told C-VILLE today that police left his property three days after Harrington's remains were found. The day after he found Harrington's remains, Bass said "I did give them the names of people who come to the farm frequently"—among them, maintenance workers, acquaintances of his daughter, and a complete list of tenants who have lived in a farm house on his property, dating back 20 years.
"I happened to've kept leases, so I had the names," he told C-VILLE. "No current addresses, but [Virginia State Police] have their names."
Article:
http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=1991704080566501&act=post&pid=12030402100447991
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State police provide update on Morgan Harrington's case
<snipped>
State police say the people who know Anchorage Farm and the North Garden area know information that will help them lead to Harrington's killer. That's because investigators believe the suspect(s) is(are) familiar with the area. State police say because of the terrain changes, fences and layout of the land, it would have been too difficult for someone who didn't know the area to navigate.
State police say the person(s) responsible felt inclined to return back to the area during a high stress situation. Authorities say Morgan's body was found a considerable distance from a public roadway and the location would have been a high risk one if they didn't know the farm.
Video: Police emphasizing how important the location is to solving Harrington crime (2/4) 2:03
http://www.wdbj7.com/global/Categor...default&clipId=4517081&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
WDBJ7.COM EXTRA: State police news conference updating the Morgan Harrington case 2/4/10 ~ 29:17
http://www.wdbj7.com/global/Categor...default&clipId=4516247&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
Article:
http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=11933882
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Police: Harrington’s killer familiar with rural Albemarle
Published: February 4, 2010
Updated: February 4, 2010
<snipped>
“I think … the person is familiar with the area,” said Virginia State Police Lt. Joe Rader at a news conference. “I don’t know if the person lives in the area. Nobody knows that right now.”
“[That pasture] is the most significant part of the investigation,” Rader said. He added later, “Location, location, location is very important. It’s important to the police, but it needs to be important to those in the community.”
The farmer who found the remains, Dave Bass, has said that the pasture is at the very back of his property, and anyone hoping to access it through his property would have to drive past two houses, risking discovery. The terrain is difficult to cover on foot, Rader said. It’s also accessible through Blandemar Farm Estates, a development of large homes widely interspersed on sizable lots.
Rader said that investigators and profilers believe that the location indicates the person had been there before and was comfortable crossing uneven terrain studded with a creek and barbed wire fences.
“Traveling to [the site] would have created a significant risk to any person not familiar with that area and not comfortable with that [rural, rugged] setting,” Rader said.
Bass has also said anyone sneaking onto the farm, particularly through the front gate, would be risking, but not guaranteeing, detection.
Rader said police suspect the body was dumped there the night of the concert, so police are particularly interested in activity in the area on or before that evening. People should think about goings on along U.S. 29, Route 708, Red Hill Road, the farm itself and the Blandemar subdivision behind it, Rader said.
He also said the person could have been on the farm for any number of reasons, including work or recreation, and felt comfortable enough with it to return during what was probably a high-stress situation — disposing of a body. In fact, the person went through a region with many potential dumpsites that are more accessible, he said.
It’s likely someone in the area knows the person, Rader said. Local people know what goes on in the area, who comes and goes, what has happened out of the ordinary and what the history of the spot is, he said.
“We will solve this,” Rader said.
Article:
http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/n...s_killer_familiar_with_rural_albemarle/51890/
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