VA - Hannah Elizabeth Graham, 18, Charlottesville, 13 Sept 2014 - #4

[teeandcee]

There seems to be some magical formula for when a missing person's case gets a lot of attention. I think in this case having all that footage of her helped, so it made the case seem more "real" to people. Plus, I think cases where there has clearly been foul play make it scarier (an thus more interesting) to the masses.

I agree. In addition, I think a lot of people can identify with these types of victims. They're like so many of us.

When I hear of a prostitute gone missing I sympathize greatly for the victim/families, but it doesn't scare me in a personal way because I'm not leading that high risk type of life. With Hannah or anyone like her though, that could have been me many years ago. I did lead that very typical life. I was a decent kid who partied sometimes and did a few dumb things here and there. It makes it very personal.

 

[Skigirl]

Interesting article about using social media postings to ID potential witnesses. Map with several people who were in same area as Hannah at the mall, posting around the time she was there.
"Using our tools, analytical creativity, and the information police have already collected, we are able to identify hundreds of potential witnesses that were posting on twitter, Instagram, and YouTube around the same time and area Hannah was last seen. Given the time sensitive nature of the requirement, it’s not realistic for police to contact and question hundreds of people, but as the police collect more information from witnesses and surveillance videos, we can narrow the list of most likely witnesses substantially. Although we have identified 20+ users that may be able to help police, we’ve only provided 4 in this sample for blogging purposes."
http://gisagroup.com/index.php/conflict-research-2/102-can-social-media-solve-crime

Thanks for that link! It's weird/scary/ironic that someone tweeted at 1:02, "Braving the streets alone #danger". How unintentionally true.

 

[thinksalot]

Maybe what is getting many of us upset about the WG is that he says he was trying to protect her, yet he changed his mind at the very moment when she most needed protection. Imagine how he must be feeling if what he has said is true.

 

[cluciano63]

Imo, criminals might be more attracted to a college town not in a huge city...more likely to find young women alone, feeling "safe" in their neighborhoods. Those students in a major city might be more wary and aware. Jmo

 

[trigger]

My Dad is retired LE, and used to tell me all the time, "Criminals are stupid."

Reminds me of Lt Kenda to!

 

[Inthedetails]

Richmond just an hour away is at least 4x as big and has UR,VCU,VSU all close to the city. It doesnt seem like they have nearly the amount of missing women.

But is Richmond a college town? I went to college in a large city with other college campuses nearby. The atmosphere in a "college town" is much different, in my observation.

I don't want to argue about it though. Whatever the reason, assault and murder are unacceptable.

 

[Jmm124567]

Harry Wilson, a butcher, told MailOnline: 'a big black dude with dreadlocks lives in that apartment. He has a pit bull dog. I've seen him walking around.

‘He drives a copper color car which has been taken away. I have never seen him go to work. The police were here this morning when I got up at 7 am.'

Another neighbor added: 'A black man who is in his 20s lives in that apartment. He drives an orange coloured two-door car, a Dodge Stratus, I think.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...arch-car-apartment-complex.html#ixzz3DnABv0F3

I think it is the big pot bellied black guy with dreads in the video at the mall. I watched the jewelery store surveillance video two dozen times and it's obvious that the black guy with dreads is walking with her. If you click play and pause over and over repeatedly on the video it slows it down a little and allows you to analyze it better. It's the black guy. I think that's who the police were looking for and they changed some details of the POI they released to the public so they wouldn't scare him off.

 

[SheltieMom1]

I can only speak for myself. When I was a student at UVA, I (looking back) did some pretty risky, stupid things. This would include drinking way too much. The only thing that saved me was that my best friend insisted on going everywhere with me and she didn't drink.

I'm so sorry you experienced that. I was also a student there and acted incredibly irresponsibly at times, always related to my consumption of alcohol. I think that's why this case, and Morgan Harrington's murder a few years ago, speak to me in a way I don't experience with any other cases I follow. And I follow a lot of them. There but for the grace of G-d, I did not suffer Morgan's fate and I never went missing like Hannah. Most of us have done stupid stuff that we look back on in amazement that we survived at all. My heart hurts for the Harringtons and the Grahams.

 

[Fireweed]

Maybe what is getting many of us upset about the WG is that he says he was trying to protect her, yet he changed his mind at the very moment when she most needed protection. Imagine how he must be feeling if what he has said is true.

Honestly, I think he was probably a little drunk too, and just thought, "look, a hot young woman who is drunk. Maybe if I could get a little closer...."

Again, very creepy to me, but I think so many men especially are totally unaware of how they come off when doing stuff like that. I do not buy that he was worried or protecting her. I think he thought she was cute.

 

[REBroker]

Thanks for your honest post. It appears there are folks in this world who want to believe the worst of everyone. If the person had approached that young lady, he may have scared her. I'm from a different era and we would have actively tried to help her but today that type of action can result in trouble. I don't know his intentions and until I am given solid reason otherwise, I won't act like an immature child and scream "wolf". I'm may get a time out for that last statement but I have been reading some of these comments and have had enough. If you are going to accuse a person, you had better have you facts straight beforehand. Peace

I currently live in Richmond, but lived in Charlottesville and Richmond during college. I can honestly say I would have tried to help a young lady in potential danger then in both towns, but now would be very hesitant to get involved beyond calling the cops anywhere, because you know I am a male and that makes me a danger and a threat. Isn't that kind of sad, a problem in itself that that's where we are these days?

 

[Zinn]

An older man APPROACHING a casually walking young woman would have alarmed HER and would be CREEPY. He kept his distance just to keep an eye on her as a buffer to the group that got his attention.

Until you are a father of a 20 year old young woman like me.. you have no earthly idea how powerful the instinct of protecting someone her age would be.. unless you were a man. I would not have made the move to close the distance to intervene unless I saw someone get too close or touch her in a manner that she was unwilling.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth. You've got to trust at face value that if the cops said WG was not involved and was concerned about her safety, that this is correct.

BBM.

I'll just speak for myself, as a woman and a former girl who experienced many, many instances of older men approaching me. There were times when men approached me and actually made physical contact as they approached. That was sometimes scary. But I was never alarmed by men approaching simply to talk to me. It happened all the time. On the other hand, on the rare instances when I was followed, I was completely terrified. Just one woman's perspective. MOO.

 

[Heroine]

I think that LE has likely asked Hannah's family and friends if the guy on the video resembles anyone that she knows, as a means to identify him, and I think if they had said yes, we would have heard about it so that the public would be aware that BG needs to come forward and say what he saw.

My parents never knew all of my friends. So in my situation that would have never helped me very much so it could be the same with her. Especially people that your parents didn't particularly agree with you hanging out with. I will now stop discussing WG. It seems to put people into an uproar and no matter what I say or think there will be people on here with very different views of all of this and I understand and respect that. I just feel like sometimes the thread gets derailed by talk of WG because people have very different thoughts on the subject matter. And honestly everyone is right depending on which side you're taking or the reasoning for your thought processes.

 

[MOMDET]

BBM. Yep, I have done this very thing. Took a chance on a stranger to flee from another stranger. I also once knocked on a stranger's door to escape someone following me in a car. Both times I was young and panicked and anything seemed safer than allowing the person following me to gain control.

If you have ever been followed then you know there is nothing more terrifying than feeling of the distance between you and someone following getting shorter and shorter. As a parent in a protective mode, I would have called out to the girl, and asked for confirmation that she was ok
, not lurked in a blind spot and then followed her. I feel the hair on my neck stand up when I see him drop behind her ....too close! JMO

Not saying he is has anything to do with her disappearance, but I don't believe he was concerned with her well being, either!

 

[Stormy415]

Is it 5pm yet????? I can't stand this waiting. Can someone please put up a link to the presser?

 

[JenMom]

I get the whole trailing thing. I've done it, largely when I see a parent who seems to be on the verge of losing it or most recently when a teen girl was being verbally abusive to her elderly grandparent in public. I fear getting in the middle of a situation that seems combustible/but want the folks to know I have my eyes on them....usually not stuff that rises to the level of calling 911... Just situations where I think a little accountability from the general public is the best I can offer.

 

[MOMDET]

At least if they approach you have a sense of some control, to let them know you aren't comfortable, but being followed is a feeling of being prey, because predators hunt from behind. Protectors lead!

 

[parttimesleuther]

Leaving until press conference. No new info leaves me :banghead:

 

[BloodshotEye]

Thanks for posting the link. Fascinating use of social media analytics. How prophetic was that twitter post: "braving the streets alone #danger" (time of post 1:02). Sends chills up my spine. Perhaps this Geospatial Intelligence & Social Analytics, will soon become LE's bff. And I thought this type of analytics, would be limited to serving up location specific advertising. Well done, GISA.

edit: In my haste, I clicked 'reply' rather than 'with quote'. Would like to thank Partimesleuther, and include their link: http://gisagroup.com/index.php/conflict-research-2/102-can-social-media-solve-crime. Sorry about that.

 

[cady]

One person's "creepy" is another person's "caring". Not worth fighting ww3 over. Although, it's probably safer to heed the creep factor than ignore it! AMEN JMO

 

[bessie]

Is it 5pm yet????? I can't stand this waiting. Can someone please put up a link to the presser?

This is one link:

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/local/watch-live-backup-livestreaming/25755784