No, JLM was
not yet with HS when the guy who initially spotted her started following Hannah, hiding in doorways, etc. on the surveillance video (this man was referred to early on as "white guy" / WG or "white man" / WM.) WG claims that he was acting out of concern for HG b/c she appeared to be in distress. He says he backed off when someone -- now confirmed to be JLM -- came up to Hannah and put his arm around her
as if they knew one another.
The odd thing is that WG's supposed description of the man who came up to Hannah (per LE) matches the sketch of MH's killer (AA male, tall, heavy set, short hair with goatee) rather than JLM (with dreads.) Since WG
saw whoever came up to Hannah, it seems strange that he would give a description of a bald/short haired guy rather than someone with mile-long dreads... It's all on the video, after all.
My guess is that LE may have done this deliberately to suggest a link bet. the two cases to JLM and play with his head a bit. LE assumed MH's perp likely would have altered his appearance after that crime due to the widely circulated sketch, and noticed strong similarities bet. the cases from the outset.
Here's a link to the early descriptions of the possible "person of interest" supposedly given by WG (despite LE having video of dread-locked JLM):
http://www.insidenova.com/headlines...cle_8c08d858-3dad-11e4-9089-3f06c0723e32.html
Detectives have been studying surveillance video showing the 18-year-old West Potomac High School graduate walking around downtown Charlottesville late Friday and early Saturday. Police have talked to one man seen in a video following Graham, who said he was concerned about her and wanted to see if she needed help. He told detectives that another man, whom he described as black, came up and put his arm around her.
That man, despite heavy news coverage, has not come forward.
He is described as black, 5 feet 10 to 5 feet 11 inches tall and 250 to 285 pounds, with a close shaved head, goatee and a slight "beer belly." He was described as being in his late 20s to early 30s and wearing black jeans and a white t-shirt, police said in a news release.
As the search for Graham entered its fifth day, fears that something sinister happened to her intensified. Police said they are well aware of the similarities between Graham’s disappearance and the 2009 abduction and murder of 20-year-old Morgan Harrington, who vanished at a Metallica concert on the U.Va. campus.