Yes, I too always wonder if JM was familiar to HG in a casual sort of way, but what I always imagine is that possibly in her time as a nursing student, she may have run into him at the hospital where he worked. It would be hard not to recognize him, he was pretty distinctive looking for his size and his bountiful dreadlocks. That is the only way I can see Hannah going off somewhere with him.
[ETA: Sorry, this was intended as a reply to Evie Ivy Over, who said she thought HG must have seen JM around and thus wasn't afraid of him. I agree.]
Possible that she had seen him before, but so what? First of all the way the nursing major works at UVA, as it does at a number of major universities is that the students spend no more time at the hospital or medical centers until core classes are achieved. As a first term, second year, I doubt HG was there. .
The fact of the matter is that JM's demeanor, that Hannah was tired, drunk, confused, discouraged made it easy for her to accept his offer of help. He might even have had a UVAMC id on a lanyard to show her, but I think it's just the way he approached her that disarmed her. Regardless of why, it's very clear, on tape and verifiable by eye witnesses that she was not being coerced or forced to accompany him. Went totally willingly. And without evidence to the contrary, JM could have dropped her off where she asked to go, Without evidence that there was a struggle, a true assault, that's a possibility, unlikely as we may feel, know in our guts otherwise. So what if they had sex? He could say it was consensual, and then he dropped her off where she asked. Seriously, if there is any footage or witness saying he did do that, JM is off scott free on this case, unless there is some pretty good stuff in that car that shows forced harm was done.
Now those other case, if there are direct DNA matches, JM would be on the hot seat for them. But if the Fairfax rape victim refuses to come forward, and if the case with MH is not very tight, yes, he could walk from them too. I don't get the feeling that the DA in Charlottesville is planning any victory laps any time soon and is likely taking a lot of Alka Setlzer and Tylenol these days as is Chief Long. if they have some good stuf in the evidence pot, that s one thing but this last appeal makes me wonder. They are running up against a time constraint for the search. And 35 or so searchers in that terrain even with dogs and drones doesn't sound good to me.
I hope those civilian volunteer searches didn't trample over evidence. I watched 5 college kids, all UVA calibre, search a 4 X16 feet strip of swale/ditch with heavy groundcover, growth for a football they KNEW was there, and came up empty for 20 minutes. I wouldn't have bet $1000 that they wouldn't have missed a body lying there.