Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #13

[gnomony]

why would a newspaper delivery woman be on the Lawn at 3:45 in the morning? :waitasec:

All the small-town papers that I worked for in bygone years would have the paper coming off the presses between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. or so. To be delivering the morning paper to residents of The Lawn at any time between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. would seem very unremarkable to me.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Let's review this witness testimony:

The red highlighting shows words and phrases which may reflect a certain bias on the part of the journalist against the trustworthiness of this particular woman's testimony. Note that the testimony of the man who claimed that MH kicked him (same link) contains no such elaborate disclaimers; after all, the reader should assume that any such testimony is possibly mistaken, until corroborated by further evidence.

The purple highlighting shows words and phrases that reflect on the sureness of the woman's statement....

Could it be that the journalist is trying very hard to discredit this one woman's testimony, because she would place MH on the UVA campus and in the companionship of three men who were likely UVA students?

Link: http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/15/concerned-witnesses-before-hitching-morgan-harrington-caused-worry/

For whom does the journalist work? Or might this be an unconscious bias, for the reasons you suggest? Or perhaps because LE seemed to have a narrative that puts Morgan hitchhiking on a bridge? And that "eyewitness" has been deemed more credible for some reason that this one, who is a newspaper delivery woman and not, say, a faculty member?

The same logic about eyewitness testimony (that it is notoriously unreliable) that applies to the newspaper delivery witness also applies to the sighting of Morgan on the bridge. That's not to say that either witness is right or wrong, just that eyewitnesses make mistakes.

Morning (A.M. papers) hit places like convenience stores after midnight. We used to see morning papers at the end of major league night baseball games. That is, we would get the EARLY Wednesday morning paper on Tuesday night.

 

[Walker]

Quietest in UVa context = not a partying area. It says this later in the article. They mean that it's unlikely that she would have been over there because she had been invited to party by other students. Those old dorms don't have great soundproofing. (I never lived on the Lawn but lived in older dorms.)

Maybe she was invited for a quiet get-together.

I think you are really, really reaching to say he is making an excuse. He is noting that the woman could have seen someone else since there were quite a few people there, probably some from out of town. After all...

Someone says that they saw a missing college girl somewhere in the vicinity of his college dorm. Instead of expressing concerned interest, or offering to help out by asking around, instead he tries to deny the very possibility.

... so perhaps not the same height, and not the same clothing. Did she bring clothing with her to UVa, when she had no plans to stay overnight in Charlottesville? Did someone give her clothing to wear? That's reaching.

College kids borrow each other clothes. She may have borrowed some girl's jacket.

This woman sounds like a kook or someone who wants attention.

Why does everyone jump on this one woman, but not the others?

She thinks someone is going to place a hit on her? Please.

She only said that she may be in danger. MH was murdered, and if those guys were the perps, she is right to be concerned for her own safety.

It says the police vetted the lead, I'm guessing she saw someone else, if she saw anyone at all.

LE hasn't rejected it either.

According to police spokesperson Corinne Geller, police have “thoroughly vetted” Parson’s lead but have not found anything connecting it to Morgan’s disappearance.

Begs the question again: Just because LE hasn't found a connection doesn't mean that they might not believe that some possible connection exists.

Could be strategy not to emphasize a certain possibility.

 

[KeenEyes]

pip !

 

[Walker]

The Lawn is a public place.

For those not familiar, students who live in rooms on the Lawn are generally high profile - either student leaders or top-of-the-class. The Pavilions (except for the Colonnade Club) are occupied by faculty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lawn

It's right next to the Rotunda, so you get a lot of tourists there. You also get students wandering through, even late at night, if they want to go to the Corner (kind of the main strip of stores and bars closest to that part of the University), heading home, north to where most of the frat houses are (Rugby Road), etc. Back when I was a student, I would sometimes be in New Cabell Hall very late on Friday night, and you'd see people walking around.

If she was on the Lawn, she probably would have been seen by others.

Also, why would a newspaper delivery woman be on the Lawn at 3:45 in the morning? :waitasec:

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 woman’s presence in the wee hours of a chilly night— and her bare legs— seized her attention.
“I thought, ‘What’s she doing out here dressed like that,’” Parson recalls … 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 Parson’s tip.

Link: http://www.readthehook.com/blog/ind...fore-hitching-morgan-harrington-caused-worry/

Parsons saw her in the brick walkway (which I assume is outdoors), and notes the cold temps; but she also identifies one particular room in which a female student lives. Could a dorm room open directly onto the walkway?

 

[Walker]

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/66248292.html

Norma Parson believes she saw Morgan Harrington on the University of Virginia grounds at 3:45 a.m. last Sunday, just a few hours after she disappeared. Parson delivers newspapers to the University. She believes she saw Morgan Harrington walking with three men down the sidewalk of the Academical Village.

"She walked right by me with boots on, and you could not have missed her," said Parson.

Parson says she called the police Tuesday when she saw Harrington's picture for the first time. Investigators gathered the information from her. Parson never got the chance to give a description of the men which she believed would help.

"I can't believe no one else saw that woman wearing all that black and that mini way up her hips, and...high knee boots," said Parson. "She was too noticeable with those long legs."

The Virginia State Police say they followed up with Parson's story, but, it did not produce any significant leads.

http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/n..._morgan_wont_take_anything_for_granted/48658/

Norma Parson, a Daily Progress newspaper carrier who believes she saw Ms. Harrington on the Lawn at the University of Virginia the morning after she walked out of the concert.
“I was doing my papers at 3:45 in the morning [Oct. 18] and I was making a decision as to how I wanted to put the papers out,” Mrs. Parson recalled. “I noticed all of this noise going on to the right of me and I see this young lady, all in black with long blonde hair, and she was leaning against the wall with this tall boy with curly hair and two shorter boys nearby.”
It wasn’t the first time Mrs. Parson has seen a bunch of kids somewhat intoxicated and hanging out at too-dang-early on the Lawn. In fact, it’s a common occurrence, so she thought little about it.
“I turned to go up the steps to Pavilion V and I noticed as I put the papers in the mailbox that they were coming toward me,” Mrs. Parson recalled. “She was near me, not on the other side or in the middle, but she was next to me. I saw her face and I’m a painter and I draw faces when I can’t even see them, so I remember faces. It was hers.”
As Mrs. Parson took care of newspaper business, the woman walked up the steps right next to her.
“She put her foot on the steps where I was and she looked up at me and I noticed her legs: They were long and white and she had no fat on them. Then I thought, ‘What in the world is she wearing!’”
A mini-skirt with no stockings and high boots, Mrs. Parson recalled.
Still, she thought nothing of it. Remember, kids out too late — or early — aren’t rare on the Lawn and neither are Gothic vestments. But when she saw a picture of Morgan Harrington in the paper a few days later, she thought about it, a lot.
Standard procedure
Mrs. Parson has told her story to police and local media and Ms. Harrington’s parents, but said she has heard nothing back from detectives. She said she has not been asked to pick out the boys she saw in a lineup, although she said she remembers their faces well.
Detectives said they checked out her story and are continuing to do so, but have not contacted her for further follow-up. That, they said, is standard procedure.

Do they mean that students wearing "Gothic vestments" are not unusual on the Lawn or that students leave such vestments on the Lawn as some type of local college joke?


http://www.readthehook.com/blog/ind...harringtons-body-creates-new-mysteries-angles

One person who finds the discovery of the shirt interesting is Norma Parson. A newspaper deliveryperson who works early mornings, she has long insisted she saw Morgan– or a Morgan lookalike– walking out of a room on UVA’s West Lawn around 3:45am on October 18, hours after the Metallica show ended. Accompanied by three males, Parson says, the blond woman she saw was dressed all in black and wearing a coat, miniskirt, and knee-high boots.

Parson has long claimed that police failed to fully follow her lead, although police insist her tip was fully vetted, and a student whose room is adjacent to the one Parson noted confirmed that police interviewed him and his neighbor.

“I still believe it was her,” says Parson. Police have not recontacted her.

 

[Walker]

http://www.readthehook.com/blog/ind...fore-hitching-morgan-harrington-caused-worry/

Minutes after the concertgoer’s encounter, another witness says, a woman resembling Morgan was walking across the street with several companions.
“It was right about 9pm when we were driving down Massie Road with JPJ to left,” says a Richmond bookkeeper/musician whose late arrival prevented her from hearing opening acts Gojira and Lamb of God— but got her there in time to spot a “wobbly” blonde woman step in front of the car.
With the blonde were four young, white men— a conspicuous group, says the witness, because of the direction they were headed: away from the Arena.
In addition to a black miniskirt, tights, and a black shirt, the young blonde was wearing distinctive high-heeled boots, says the witness, a mother of two who spoke on condition of anonymity over concern for getting “pulled into the fray.”
Until now, the missing woman’s boots have been described as “knee high,” but this witness insists they were “over the knee.” (Through a spokesperson with the Harrington’s recently hired PR firm, Gil Harrington says the boots she saw Morgan try on prior to the concert were not above the knee.)
The men, says the witness, were allegedly laughing.
“I thought, ‘That girl should have no business going off with those guys, walking into an empty parking lot when the concert is getting ready to start.”
The blonde, however, did not allegedly seem distressed and even, seemingly as a joke, shook one leg at the men, also clad in black. The witness estimates the time at 9:05pm since she placed a phone call to a friend a minute later while still on Massie Road.
It wasn’t the last time the Richmond woman saw the young blonde. After she, her husband, and friend parked near U-Hall, she says, she saw the same group of five gathered around a vehicle in the RV Lot, or Lannigan Field overflow parking lot— the spot where Morgan’s purse and phone were found and one of the last places police have officially placed her.
“I figured, ‘They’re going to party before they go into JPJ,” says the woman, who estimates the RV Lot sighting as 9:15pm. When she learned about the disappearance on Monday, October 19, she says, she immediately relayed her information to police, who have interviewed her as many as five times in the past three weeks.

Both women describe MH with a group of men, and claim that she was wearing high-heeled boots.

 

[PaulR]

Maybe she was invited for a quiet get-together.

Someone says that they saw a missing college girl somewhere in the vicinity of his college dorm. Instead of expressing concerned interest, or offering to help out by asking around, instead he tries to deny the very possibility.

The article says the police investigated.

BTW, "The Hook" also employed (until she 'retired') Barbara Nordin, probably the best crime reporter in the area, who won at least one award for her reporting on the disappearance of Pat Collins. They have no love for the local police. I doubt "The Hook" would be biased. Though I'd love to hear from Nordin...

College kids borrow each other clothes. She may have borrowed some girl's jacket.

And tights? Who borrows tights? It's not just the jacket that doesn't match the description.

Why does everyone jump on this one woman, but not the others?

It could be a grand conspiracy, or it could be that she's wrong or just wants to see her name in the newspaper. Talk to police, this happens all the time. All the leads can't be right.

She only said that she may be in danger. MH was murdered, and if those guys were the perps, she is right to be concerned for her own safety.

Maybe if it was a mob hit, MAYBE, but I rarely hear of witnesses killed. Besides, if she was scared, why is she calling the media and the local newspaper and doing interviews? :innocent: That'd be the last thing I'd do if I was really afraid.

Begs the question again: Just because LE hasn't found a connection doesn't mean that they might not believe that some possible connection exists.

Could be strategy not to emphasize a certain possibility.

A strategy on whose part? The police? Why?

The only way this makes sense is if she met someone, who presumably went to UVa, managed to get from the Arena all the way to the Lawn (on the other side of the Grounds, i.e. campus), without being seen by anyone else, even though she didn't know anyone at UVa that we know of, and wouldn't have a reason to backtrack through the grounds six hours after her last sighting if she was trying to catch a ride to JMU or VT, plus she somehow changed her clothes with another girl who hasn't come forward. I'm sorry, that doesn't make much sense.

Both women describe MH with a group of men, and claim that she was wearing high-heeled boots.

No, they both describe a blonde who looked like MH and was wearing a similar outfit, which isn't particularly uncommon among college girls. Neither were confirmed sightings of MH.

 

[Calliope]

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/66248292.html



http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/n..._morgan_wont_take_anything_for_granted/48658/

Do they mean that students wearing "Gothic vestments" are not unusual on the Lawn or that students leave such vestments on the Lawn as some type of local college joke?


http://www.readthehook.com/blog/ind...harringtons-body-creates-new-mysteries-angles

"...all in black with long blonde hair"

In your previous post (575), she says the hair was tucked in the coat and she couldn't tell if it was long or short.

Also, it's never been clear (from any report I've seen) if the boots had high heels.

 

[burbqueen]

I dunno, 2 eyewitness reports?? I'm on the fence...again.

I have a hard time with eyewitness reports cause many times they are false or just mistaken identity. However, this fits in with my theory that she took off with someone or somebodies young and non threatning. I need more info though.

 

[gnomony]

Could a dorm room open directly onto the walkway?

Yes.

Some rooms like this: http://www.virginia.edu/academicalvillage/restoration/images/photos/LawnRoom.jpg

Open onto walkways like this: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bLuK4t9Rc.../s320/Under+a+portico+along+The+Lawn,+UVa.JPG

 

[Walker]

The article says the police investigated.

BTW, "The Hook" also employed (until she 'retired') Barbara Nordin, probably the best crime reporter in the area, who won at least one award for her reporting on the disappearance of Pat Collins. They have no love for the local police. I doubt "The Hook" would be biased. Though I'd love to hear from Nordin...

The bias would against the crime being associated with UVA.

And tights? Who borrows tights? It's not just the jacket that doesn't match the description.

The Lawn sighting was hours after the bridge sighting. She could easily have removed tights.

It could be a grand conspiracy, or it could be that she's wrong or just wants to see her name in the newspaper. Talk to police, this happens all the time. All the leads can't be right.

Yes, but the reaction only occurs when MH is placed on UVA property. The kicking incident could also have been false.

Maybe if it was a mob hit, MAYBE, but I rarely hear of witnesses killed. Besides, if she was scared, why is she calling the media and the local newspaper and doing interviews? :innocent: That'd be the last thing I'd do if I was really afraid.

If a group of young men murdered MH, they just might threaten a witness. She just spoke of danger.

A strategy on whose part? The police? Why?

We would only know later.

The only way this makes sense is if she met someone, who presumably went to UVa, managed to get from the Arena all the way to the Lawn (on the other side of the Grounds, i.e. campus), without being seen by anyone else,

The other witness also saw her in high-heeled boots with a group of men.

even though she didn't know anyone at UVa that we know of,

VTEch, JMU & UVA students socialize and commonly know each other. Plus her brother had recently graduated UVA.

and wouldn't have a reason to backtrack through the grounds six hours after her last sighting if she was trying to catch a ride to JMU or VT,

I don't see any backtrack. She went from the RV lot, to the bridge, and (let's say, for example) the same group of guys she was with in the RV lot gave her a ride somewhere & hours later they are seen walking on the Lawn.

plus she somehow changed her clothes with another girl who hasn't come forward. I'm sorry, that doesn't make much sense.

She borrowed some girl's jacket.

No, they both describe a blonde who looked like MH and was wearing a similar outfit, which isn't particularly uncommon among college girls. Neither were confirmed sightings of MH.

Didn't say that they were confirmed. Just seems like the idea that she may have been on UVA property triggers a certain reaction.

 

[Walker]

"...all in black with long blonde hair"

In your previous post (575), she says the hair was tucked in the coat and she couldn't tell if it was long or short.

Must have been long enough to tuck in the coat.

Also, it's never been clear (from any report I've seen) if the boots had high heels.

http://www.readthehook.com/blog/ind...fore-hitching-morgan-harrington-caused-worry/

Minutes after the concertgoer’s encounter, another witness says, a woman resembling Morgan was walking across the street with several companions.
“It was right about 9pm when we were driving down Massie Road with JPJ to left,” says a Richmond bookkeeper/musician whose late arrival prevented her from hearing opening acts Gojira and Lamb of God— but got her there in time to spot a “wobbly” blonde woman step in front of the car.
With the blonde were four young, white men— a conspicuous group, says the witness, because of the direction they were headed: away from the Arena.
In addition to a black miniskirt, tights, and a black shirt, the young blonde was wearing distinctive high-heeled boots, says the witness, a mother of two who spoke on condition of anonymity over concern for getting “pulled into the fray.”

“She was tall and thin,” says Parson, who says the woman’s high black boots had heels making her appear taller than Morgan’s reported height of 5′6″ and that she wasn’t wearing the black hose or tights police have described.

 

[Calliope]

Must have been long enough to tuck in the coat.

Well, she says it was long, then she says she couldn't tell if it was long or short. Length of hair is considerably easier to remember than specific facial features.

 

[Walker]

Well, she says it was long, then she says she couldn't tell if it was long or short. Length of hair is considerably easier to remember than specific facial features.

LE never really specified the exact hair length or style; though the companions could surely have described her appearance that night. Plus, we don't know if she was wearing the Swarovski necklace, or if the boots had high heels.

 

[Calliope]

LE never really specified the exact hair length or style; though the companions could surely have described her appearance that night. Plus, we don't know if she was wearing the Swarovski necklace, or if the boots had high heels.

She said she recognized her from photos. Those had her hair down.

I'm not saying this person didn't see her. Who knows? Personally, I wonder if many of the alleged sightings were of other young women. She was pretty and all, but her general description and attire isn't that uncommon for girls that age.

 

[Walker]

She said she recognized her from photos. Those had her hair down.

I'm not saying this person didn't see her. Who knows? Personally, I wonder if many of the alleged sightings were of other young women. She was pretty and all, but her general description and attire isn't that uncommon for girls that age.

My point is that the journalist seemed to jump all over this one woman who said that she saw MH on the Lawn (on the UVA campus), even though another potential witness gave a very similar description of MH with four men near the arena & RV lot. Other posters seem to react strongly against even the suggestion that MH may have been present on the UVA campus, yet UVA was the closest & most likely destination for a college girl on a Saturday night.

 

[SusanB]

My point is that the journalist seemed to jump all over this one woman who said that she saw MH on the Lawn (on the UVA campus), even though another potential witness gave a very similar description of MH with four men near the arena & RV lot. Other posters seem to react strongly against even the suggestion that MH may have been present on the UVA campus, yet UVA was the closest & most likely destination for a college girl on a Saturday night.

I agree with you Walker. It does seem that whenever the possibility that she was involved somehow/ UVA and it's campus, the info is brushed off.
There are several references in this case of a person matching the description of Morgan with a group of young white men.
i do not know the race of the UVA basketball players who self-admitted to speaking to Morgan outside of the concert, but again little was said about that.
Why would LE not even investigate Mrs. Pearson's allegation? I would think they would want to check out any and all possibilities. And then, if she is bogus, at least she would be eliminated after her sighting was thoroughly disproved. What harm would that be? They have not arrested anyone yet, so apparently they do not have all the answers.
Looks like UVA does not want the negative publicity. I'm NOT saying UVA is involved! But as Walker stated, the sighting of Morgan on the bridge that LE has so defiantly supported is the same type of eyewitness account as Pearson, and that view is even further away and less reliable than Pearson.
IMO it would not hurt to let her attempt to ID the men she thought were with the woman that fit the description of Morgan.

 

[MLE]

I don't think Ms. Pearson is a kook for being worried about her safety. I think most of us, whether we want to admit it or not, have pretended like we didn't see a crime/car accident/etc go down and instead chose to go on with our lives because we didn't want to get mixed up in it and compromise our personal safety. After all, we are talking about a homocide here and some unknown someone or someones who have, to this point, gotten away with murder and could do it again. I think it's good for people to give info they feel is relevant to the police if they know anything, but I wouldn't have the balls to have my name in the news like that. I would demand the police keep my name confidential.

 

[PaulR]

The bias would against the crime being associated with UVA.

The Hook is not associated with UVA. They are a town weekly.

The Lawn sighting was hours after the bridge sighting. She could easily have removed tights.

Why? I'm guessing it was chilly. Why remove tights on the way to the Lawn?

Yes, but the reaction only occurs when MH is placed on UVA property. The kicking incident could also have been false.

Um, no. Nobody doubted seeing her outside of the Arena, or on Copeley Bridge which may as well be on University property.

If a group of young men murdered MH, they just might threaten a witness. She just spoke of danger.

The article said she "fears that her status as a potential witness may have put her in danger as she makes her middle-of-the-night newspaper rounds." Then she goes and does an interview with a few newspapers and brags about how she can still recognize the guys who were allegedly with her.

We would only know later.

That shouldn't stop us from speculating. There must be a reason, right?

The other witness also saw her in high-heeled boots with a group of men.

No, the other witness you quoted saw a woman matching her description with a group of men. They also said she was "wobbly"; I don't believe any of the other witnesses noted that.

Also note that one witness saw her with four guys, the other with three.

VTEch, JMU & UVA students socialize and commonly know each other. Plus her brother had recently graduated UVA.

No offense, but I went to UVA for four years. VT is a few hours away and is the rival state college. JMU is closer, but there isn't that much socializing. The only time I saw students from JMU or VT was (a) during games and (b) if they were friends from back home.

I think if Morgan had friends at UVa, we would have heard about it. Certainly the police would have interviewed them.

I don't see any backtrack. She went from the RV lot, to the bridge, and (let's say, for example) the same group of guys she was with in the RV lot gave her a ride somewhere & hours later they are seen walking on the Lawn.

She's backtracking as far as heading away from where she ultimately wants to go. Heading towards Copeley makes sense because you are heading towards 250 which gets a decent amount of traffic, and eventually 29. Going to the Lawn? Why?

She borrowed some girl's jacket.

A girl who hasn't stepped forward? A girl she didn't know? (Otherwise she would have presumably come forward.)

Didn't say that they were confirmed. Just seems like the idea that she may have been on UVA property triggers a certain reaction.

It has nothing to do with her being on UVA property because we already know she was on UVA property.

This "witness" has made some statements that make no sense. If she is enough of an artist to remember exactly what this girl looked like, she'd remember whether she had long/short hair, or that she couldn't tell. I think she threw in the bit about "being an artist" so that people would believe her; I'm betting none of the confirmed witnesses were artists, and that didn't stop them from remembering seeing her.

The State Police vetted her story and apparently don't think this woman saw Morgan. The reporter didn't seem to believe her either, as you noted. There is a reason for this.

I'm a fan of Occam's Razor (can you tell I was a Toolie?) Having her get a jacket from a girl she doesn't know, getting rid of her hose, appearing with four/three guys on the other side of the campus hours later, with no confirmed witnesses, the police and local paper discarding her story - do you see what I mean? You have to twist the story around a lot.

I'm not defending UVa - please, ask my opinion of how they handled the Pat Collins case.

But I don't think she made it that far from Copeley.