One possible witness has been speaking publicly, in part, she says, because she doesnt believe investigators have fully followed her lead.
I know what I saw, says Norma Parson, a newspaper delivery woman who believes she saw Morgan or an incredible lookalike coming out of a room on UVAs West Lawn at 3:45am October 18, six hours after the last confirmed sighting on Copeley Bridge.
She was tall and thin, says Parson, who says the womans high black boots had heels making her appear taller than Morgans reported height of 5′6″ and that she wasnt wearing the black hose or tights police have described.
Because the woman also was wearing a jacket that was fastened shut, Parson says, she couldnt determine whether the womans blonde hair, which was tucked inside, was long or short. But as the blond woman accompanied by three young men, two shorter, one taller passed by her in the well-lit brick walkway along the Lawn, she says, she got a clear look at her face, and her heavily made-up eyes, in particular. She says the womans presence in the wee hours of a chilly night and her bare legs seized her attention.
I thought, Whats she doing out here dressed like that, Parson recalls. When she learned of Harringtons disappearance two days later and saw photographs of heavy mascara- and eyeliner-wearing Morgan, I knew immediately it was the same girl I saw, says Parson, who credits art training for teaching her to examine facial details even those she sees in passing. I never had a moments doubt, she insists.
Evidence experts, however, say that even the most earnest and certain witnesses can err.
Its well established that confidence and accuracy are not clearly correlated, says UCLA Law Professor Jennifer Mnookin, an evidence expert. Mnookin says thats the reason police confirm every alleged sighting and look for multiple witnesses or surveillance tapes before releasing new reports.
The mind isnt a camera, she says. Recollections can be affected in all kinds of ways by other information, by what we want to believe, by other biases.
The female student who lives in the room Parson identified did not respond to repeated inquiries from a reporter, but a neighboring student says police interviewed him and his neighbors following Parsons tip.
There is no blond girl who lives along this stretch, [BEGS QUESTION: no one claimed that MH lived there] says John Griffin, a Fourth Year engineering student, who lives next door, near Pavilion VII.
Griffin says these rooms are among the quietest on the Lawn [BEGS QUESTION: MH may have been seen there regardless of whether the dorm was quiet or not]and that neither he nor the woman whose room the Morgan lookalike was allegedly seen exiting were home on concert night. In fact, he notes, the Colonnade Club, which occupies Pavilion VII, was busy that night, and Griffin wonders if Parson may have simply seen wedding guests. [QUICK EXCUSE! "Methinks he doth protest too much"? ] There were people from that party all up and down here that weekend, he recalls.
Parson says she remains frustrated that police have not allowed her to identify the men she saw with the woman particularly because she saw one on a subsequent night on the Lawn.
I just want them to let me identify who I saw, says Parsons, who now fears that her status as a potential witness may have put her in danger as she makes her middle-of-the-night newspaper rounds. But law expert Mnookin points out that police are limited when it comes to identifying people who havent committed a crime.
You cant arrest someone for no reason, [BEGS QUESTION: the woman did not request that police arrest the man, just that she be allowed to identify him somehow to the police ] and cant make someone be in a line-up, she says. If there were an already existing photo or if Parson could point one out in a public place, police could question him.
Parson acknowledges theres a possibility the woman she saw wasnt Morgan, but without knowing who it was or who the men with that woman are she says, theres no way to rule it out.
Two doors down from the room Parson identified, Fourth Year student Declan Tansey says he was not interviewed by police and hadnt heard anything about the case except what hes read in news accounts. He, however, agrees with Griffins assessment that his room and the rooms around it are not the party rooms on the Lawn.[BEGS QUESTION: MH may have been there regardless of whether the dorm had a rep for parties]
According to police spokesperson Corinne Geller, police have thoroughly vetted Parsons lead but have not found anything connecting it to Morgans disappearance.