Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #15

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Happy Birthday Morgan!

MorganDanaHarringtonAlwaysinOurHear.jpg

http://media.photobucket.com/image/.../MorganDanaHarringtonAlwaysinOurHear.jpg?o=22
 
Ok so I heard the parents tonight and am taking the advice to channel my Caylee Anthony frustration over onto this case. It's the first I've dug into the case and here are my thoughts on what I've seen so far about it. Please feel free to give input on these points.

The killer has the 2005 sexual assault which a cold hit was made on his DNA. Assault occurred in Fairfax, VA near a grocery store. Sketch made, african-american, likely in his late 30s now.

Body found on Anchorage Farm, lots of speculation he had to know about the farm. Apparently this lead nowhere on follow-up.

Shirt of Morgan's found in Nov 2009 few miles from concert arena. The parents said tonight it is tied to another crime but could not elaborate (?)
Apparently this lead as to possible home area of killer lead nowhere.

Common thread in the two incidents is severe violence against the two women. The woman in 2005 got away as someone was seen nearby and the killer fled.

Where Morgan's body was found, the concert, and the t-shirt are all in a relatively small radius. The two crimes being four years apart, and with the sketch having been made after the first one, I suspect he moved to Charlotesville to not feel so hunted in Fairfax. I would assume records have been checked for African American males in this age range who have moved in just such a fashion in the last few years.

I would also suspect a rap sheet of at least domestic violence, possibly other rapes, prostitute assaults, etc. If I was an investigator on the case I would pass his sketch around to prostitutes, as this sadist will need fixes more often than every few years. My impression is he is a loner type with little in the way of friends and romance, and is unattractive. He thus considered Morgan quite a trophy, kept her necklace and clothing items as a memento, and uses it for stimulation when fantasizing later about the rape.

The ditching of the t-shirt to me is a symbol of a killer who wants to get caught, leaving a clue behind to eventually get caught with. Also, the way it was left behind a month later tells me he perhaps enjoyed the news coverage the case initially got, and wanted to stir up the media again. For a low-life loner like this the fame and attention would have been tantalizing.

More than likely he skipped town, as he did in Fairfax a few years earlier after the sexual assault. Based on his last move, he probably has not traveled far. He is carefully searching for his next victim.

I get the impression that Morgan was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that the killer had not pre-selected her before this date. Morgan, being at a rock concert, appears to have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Ecstasy is common at concerts, and would have caused her to have her guard down in getting in a stranger's vehicle.

Hope they find this killer.
 
Something I don't know if I've posted before. The North Garden area is near a somewhat prestigious boarding and day school, The Miller School. It's possible the killer attended and therefor knew the area (to get to 29, one would have to drive through areas of N. Garden). While driving to Miller to get a family member, I thought, "Gosh. The discarded shirt and brazenness of this crime speaks to me of someone who thinks they are entitled and just cocky." Just a thought.

I hope they've checked out that possibility. What a scary thought that where Morgan was found was maybe "just on the way home" for the perp. =P I know it doesn't really fit what we know already (Fairfax DNA), but still.
 
I remember hearing about this case on the news when it happened...never realized she had been found. I'm glad her body was found, so the family at least had her.

I spent hours last night reading the old threads, trying to come up to speed on this mystery. I hope they catch the monster and there is justice for Morgan in the very near future.

Prayers to her parents.
 
After listening to Morgan's parents last evening - and what wonderful folks they are - I went to the findmorgan website. Gill has blogged throughout this experience and she is a great writer.

It is agonizingly heartbreaking to read her accounts of her and her family's feelings throughout this terrible ordeal. But enlightening and heartwarming to read of their struggles and strengths.

Having gone through the grief of losing a loved one unexpectedly (to illness, not to murder) I could relate to Gill's grief - the little things that pop up during the course of a day that trigger a flood of memories and tears.

Link to sketch of possible perp: http://www.readthehook.com/67132/morgans-killer-fairfax-case-connection-offers-hope-fresh-fear

After reading various articles describing Morgan's strange behaviors both inside and outside the arena that night, it seems obvious that she had taken a drug. Police stated there were no indications that anyone drugged her without her knowledge, but "in defference to her parents" would not give further details.

It is my thought that her parents, in addition to wanting her killer caught, would want to tell the full story of what happened that night - as a means to caution other young women against such actions. I am not a "blame the victim' type. But the reality of life is that taking drugs leaves young women even more vulnerable than they already are.

My deepest sympathy to Morgan's family in the loss of their loved one.







Great show, Trish!
 
I hope LE is cross referencing with other agencies, including Richmond and all the way up the I95 corridor into Baltimore. Something just screams that the perp probably has numerous victims... and the reason more haven't been found is because the perp is possibly using the guise of being a commuter along the likes of Hwy 29 up into the DC/B'more area, as well as the I95 Corridor.
 
Man, Gill really knows how to wretch the tears from a person with her sincerity, I love that woman. Morgan must have been a truly spectacular girl with parents like that.

I just have to say, I hope familial DNA is run because the sketch of that man does not appear to me to be your average African American male. Although many times sketches space eyes incorrectly and tend to make people look more "exotic" than they do in real life, it seems this guy was intentionally drawn with what ends up looking like Veddoid or possible partial Mid-Eastern heritage, if not the most likely case: he is actually Latino or admixed with Latino but also African American, just from the sketch.
The Foods Of All Nations grocery is interesting as it was where Morgan's scent left off, and the Fairfax rape victim was attacked leaving a grocery store late at night. Foods Of All Nations is closed at 8:00pm I believe, but still, just interesting.
 
I also agree that this perp is a habitual offender and probably regularly mixes abduction/rape with murders, he just usually picks lower profile targets and Morgan put herself in a position, sadly, of looking "on the fringe" that night if she was hitchhiking.
No one does that anymore.
Poor thing, poor sweet girl, a night so out of character for her turned out to define her public legacy.
 
I am pretty sure Gill meant that the shirt was linked to a previous crime via the Fairfax DNA, police have never officially announced what item the DNA was found on so she'd have to keep that part quiet but since the DNA itself has been made public it might have slipped her mind when she let it slip. My money is it's on the shirt and he took it with him to wipe ...himself...off and then displayed it as a trophy later when he realized he got himself a victim lots of people cared about and he got off mightily on that media high.
 
that poem was absolutely heart wrenching. i wouldn't have been able to hold it together enough to even say "i don't know what to say", tricia.

i have faith that this horrible crime will be solved. all it takes is one mistake and they will have a name to match with that DNA.

the parents are absolutely wonderful people. i love the way they are handling this tragedy. i just want to give them both a huge hug.
 
REWARD: $150,000


The Harrington family is offering a $100,000 reward for the safe return of their daughter, Morgan Harrington, or information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Morgan Harrington's disappearance.In addition, the band Metallica is offering an additional $50,000 to the reward bringing it to $150,000 for Morgan's safe return or information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Morgan's disappearance.
http://findmorgan.com/
 
I've been looking through the VA SO wanted database for potential matches, several of them are listed as not having DNA on file, so they wouldn't come up in a DNA match attempt. Here's what I have so far, none of these guys have DNA on file. Nothing really jumps out, but the photos are all taken at different times and sketches can be difficult to match:

http://sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov/sor/offenderDetails.html?regId=34701
05+fairfax+assault+suspect1.JPG
034701-01.jpg


http://sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov/sor/offenderDetails.html?regId=26661
05+fairfax+assault+suspect1.JPG
026661-02.jpg


http://sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov/sor/offenderDetails.html?regId=16115
05+fairfax+assault+suspect1.JPG
016115-01.jpg


http://sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov/sor/offenderDetails.html?regId=27575
05+fairfax+assault+suspect1.JPG
027575-02.jpg
 
I was thinking about Morgan today--but I was a few days off the anniversary. May this be the year that her killer is caught.
 
Gil Harrington filed a lawsuit against the company that provided security at JPJ Arena the night that Morgan went missing. I heard this on the radio earlier this week but totally forgot about it until tonight. I was kind of surprised that no one here had posted it yet when I came to look.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/299828
 
davehead21 said:
Gil Harrington filed a lawsuit against the company that provided security at JPJ Arena the night that Morgan went missing. I heard this on the radio earlier this week but totally forgot about it until tonight. I was kind of surprised that no one here had posted it yet when I came to look.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/299828
Click to expand...

I don't understand the grounds for the lawsuit. There was a rule about not letting people in after they left the concert. Morgan left before the band she wanted to hear. She was described as intoxicated by others near the entrance. The security would be under no obligation to admit someone that was as intoxicated as we heard about Morgan. They would also not be responsible to look after her. Their job is to look after the venue, not intoxicated people trying to be admitted or accosting others near the entrance. Furthermore, she was not abducted on the venue grounds ... she was on or near the bridge crossing the train tracks in the vicinity.

What have we heard about Morgan being injured inside the building, and it was reported earlier that she stepped out to smoke ... but there was a smoking area inside the arena, so the question was more about drugs than smoking ... at the time. If she had an injury inside the arena, was it related to intoxication?
 
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