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

[Hejlena]

Shawn Curtis, certainly has the obvious traits of a violent sadistic sociopath. What do you think about the resemblance to the FBI Sketch for the suspect/poi in Morgan Harrington's abduction/murder?
Curtis had shaved his beard to change his appearance after the NJ home invasion. I am not very good at comparing photos to sketches but his beard seems unique, imo..
Guess, we will see once his dna is taken, if not in FBI CODIS and is allowed before conviction by NJ DNA Laws...


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...d=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk2&pLid=338059

Shawn Custis Arrested For NJ Nanny Cam Home Invasion

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/june/help-FBI-catch-morgan-harrington-killer

FBI: Morgan Harrington - Help Us Catch a Killer
Unknown Offender Linked by DNA in Two Separate Cases

Similar nose, lines on the sides of his nose (I know there's a name for those?). Our home invader is a bit chubbier, but I can see it.

 

[carbuff]

It's possible it's the same man. It would depend on how accurate the sketch is; if it's only an approximation, it could be Curtis. If it's accurate, the eyes look wrong to me. Possibly the jaw, too, but the camera angle makes it hard to judge.

Hopefully they'll investigate thoroughly. Newark is not that far from the DC area and VA. Just straight down I-95, about 5 or 6 hours.

 

[ktgirl]

I recently came across the threads for some other missing young women in Virginia (whose cases have not garnered the attention Morgan's did/has). Anyone think there may be a connection to Morgan's perp?

Samantha Ann Clarke, 19, Orange, VA, missing since 9/13/11-
VA VA - Samantha Ann Clarke, 19, Orange, 13 Sept 2010 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community


Lauren Susann Smith, 22, Madison County, VA, missing since 9/21/11-
VA VA - Lauren Susann Smith, 22, Madison County, 21 Nov 2011 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community


I don't know whether or not they're connected, but if Morgan's killer is still out there (as opposed to being dead or in jail on other charges) and in the area, I doubt Morgan was his first abduction & murder or his last. This guy needs to be found & brought to justice. For Morgan, for other victims, and to prevent him from harming future victims.
Do any locals know of any other missing girls/women or unsolved murders of girls/women in the area?

 

[arielilane]

My point is that to "save the next girl" ....we cannot let our daughters think that any Security set-up in a public place CAN or does have a personal interest in their safety. And if they drink or take drugs to excess...their judgement can become so impaired that THEY put themselves in danger. Even if sober, NEVER get in a car with a stranger!

Even of Morgan was sober and hurt from a fall...a jury might ask themselves...was she at more danger in the parking lot..or when SHE WILLINGLY got in that car? GETTING IN THAT CAR WAS MORGAN'S DECISON ALONE. I think if she had stayed in that crowded parking lot...near or IN her car...she would never have been alone with her Killer.

And why was she in the Parking Lot?Because she left the Arena without a ticket. Why was she walking around alone? Because she told her friends she would find her ownway home. How did she get in the Killers car...it seems she had her thumb up and got in willingly. THOSE are all Morgan's decisons. "The next girl"needs to know that those decisons had tragic consequences.

Yes, in an ideal world we SHOULD be able to do ALL things. Leave our doors unlocked, walk streets late at night, hop in cars. BUT THAT IS NOT THE REALWORLD. It is a dangerous fantasy!

Anyone who gets into a car with a stranger is gambling with their life. Do it drunk or impaired and that risk multiplies. How will giving the Harringtons and their lawyers millions of dollars "save the next girl?" It may force the Security company to let in many people without tickets...and many drunk or drugged out people to the venue...because they cannot do tests to see whose "cut" is because they have an injury or because they were drunk, drugged and "moshing." Will it keep our kids safer to let in more unticketed drunks and druggies to these venues? How about crowd control and safety under THOSE circumstances? Do you want to wait in line while Security does Breatalyzers and Drug tests so they do not get sued?

How about teaching "the next girl" to go to the Bathroomin venues like this IN PAIRS...teach her to stay with her friends...teach her to ask for help NOT reentry if it is HELP you need...teach her to stay in a crowd not walk in lonely places...teach her NEVER get in a car with a stranger. Millions to The Harringtons and their lawyer...says it is ALL somebody elses fault.

Personal responsibility is key. A child shot dead in broad daylight is unimaginable. A beautiful girl who gets in a car at night with a stranger and is raped and murdered? Sadly, NOT so unimaginable. I wish it were..

This was not a 4 year old. The Harringtons trusted her decison making and treated her as an adult. So did the Security. They had posted rules. Morgan knew them. She had been to other concerts.

It is notblaming the victim to look at the mistakes Morgan made that night. Morgan was very much like many young women her age..but the goal of "saving the next girl" rings hollow when we pretend that there are no lessons to be learned that might keep those girls safe...from the mistakes Morgan made that night.

I'm so confused by your post. Anyway, why didn't the arena call the police on Morgan if she was so out of control? She possibly would still be alive.

 

[arielilane]

Only the perp would know that Morgan got in the car willingly. How do we know that Morgan didn't know her killer and put her thumb out when she recognized the killer and then got in the car? Unless you were there you can only speculate about what happened.

 

[carbuff]

Another girl missing in Virginia -- they say she was heading to Lynchburg for shopping.

Now they're saying her car has been found in Charlottesville.

Connection?

ACTIVE SEARCH VA - Alexis Murphy, 17, Shipman, 3 Aug 2013 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

 

[Codger]

I need to go back + read previous posts to catch up. After following this case when Morgan first went missing have only checked in sporadically. So I apologize up front for my lack of detailed knowledge. :blushing:

Its fast approaching the 4 yr. mark since the night Morgan met her horrible fate. Heartbreaking to still find no answers. Has there been any progress on the forensic link to the previous sexual assault? Any progress at all? At first glance it looks like there is no more known now than there was shortly after her remains were located.

How is it known that Morgan was hitchhiking near the bridge? Is this a fact or commonly accepted assumption?
My muddled memory = JMO I'd thought she probably went off with at least 1 person she was familiar with (maybe didn't know well but had met before) + onto a party/gathering of some sort that likely her parents + maybe friends at concert wouldn't approve of. Older bunch? Drugs? Some not so acceptable something they were into? Something went horribly wrong at this gathering which led to Morgan being left out on the land near AF. The way LE worded things to the public, looking for person/s to come forward that were 'nauseated' always stuck with me + made me think there was a "group" possibly small, but more than 3 (MH, perp, 2 or more others). I wondered if the "others" were unaware of the evil amongst them prior to that night. Then terrified of repercussions from the same after.
OTOH I can see the theory of it being a lone predator as well.

So before I read 14 threads would someone give me a recap of where the investigation is at now if its changed at all?

And something like this might be the reason why: http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news...oned-rape-kits-brings-justice-to-victims?lite

This is just one jurisdiction. How many more are out there? hundreds of thousands -- probably millions?

This is unbelievable. Thank you for posting. :stormingmad:

 

[SK_Hunter]

Just wanted to apologize for my last post here...when you look at so many of these cases...its easy to substitute in wrong recollections without brushing up first on the facts...not perfect but my intentions are

With that being said I just called in a tip for this gift to society:

http://www.wavy.com/news/crime/man-sentenced-in-odu-rape-case

I thought he looked alot like the first composite. Nose is not as elongated as the sketch but fits the rest of the nasal composition. Fits age wise and he targeted University populaces. Looked good enough for me to pick up the phone and call this in. Something I dont take lightly and rarely do.

Hope this helps!

 

[ktgirl]

Just wanted to apologize for my last post here...when you look at so many of these cases...its easy to substitute in wrong recollections without brushing up first on the facts...not perfect but my intentions are

With that being said I just called in a tip for this gift to society:

http://www.wavy.com/news/crime/man-sentenced-in-odu-rape-case

I thought he looked alot like the first composite. Nose is not as elongated as the sketch but fits the rest of the nasal composition. Fits age wise and he targeted University populaces. Looked good enough for me to pick up the phone and call this in. Something I dont take lightly and rarely do.

Hope this helps!

I'm glad you called this in.

 

[TravelingBug]

Just wanted to apologize for my last post here...when you look at so many of these cases...its easy to substitute in wrong recollections without brushing up first on the facts...not perfect but my intentions are

With that being said I just called in a tip for this gift to society:

http://www.wavy.com/news/crime/man-sentenced-in-odu-rape-case

I thought he looked alot like the first composite. Nose is not as elongated as the sketch but fits the rest of the nasal composition. Fits age wise and he targeted University populaces. Looked good enough for me to pick up the phone and call this in. Something I dont take lightly and rarely do.

Hope this helps!

Wow! Very glad you called it in.

 

[joerose]

My point is that to "save the next girl" ....we cannot let our daughters think that any Security set-up in a public place CAN or does have a personal interest in their safety. And if they drink or take drugs to excess...their judgement can become so impaired that THEY put themselves in danger. Even if sober, NEVER get in a car with a stranger!

Even of Morgan was sober and hurt from a fall...a jury might ask themselves...was she at more danger in the parking lot..or when SHE WILLINGLY got in that car? GETTING IN THAT CAR WAS MORGAN'S DECISON ALONE. I think if she had stayed in that crowded parking lot...near or IN her car...she would never have been alone with her Killer.

And why was she in the Parking Lot?Because she left the Arena without a ticket. Why was she walking around alone? Because she told her friends she would find her ownway home. How did she get in the Killers car...it seems she had her thumb up and got in willingly. THOSE are all Morgan's decisons. "The next girl"needs to know that those decisons had tragic consequences.

Yes, in an ideal world we SHOULD be able to do ALL things. Leave our doors unlocked, walk streets late at night, hop in cars. BUT THAT IS NOT THE REALWORLD. It is a dangerous fantasy!

Anyone who gets into a car with a stranger is gambling with their life. Do it drunk or impaired and that risk multiplies. How will giving the Harringtons and their lawyers millions of dollars "save the next girl?" It may force the Security company to let in many people without tickets...and many drunk or drugged out people to the venue...because they cannot do tests to see whose "cut" is because they have an injury or because they were drunk, drugged and "moshing." Will it keep our kids safer to let in more unticketed drunks and druggies to these venues? How about crowd control and safety under THOSE circumstances? Do you want to wait in line while Security does Breatalyzers and Drug tests so they do not get sued?

How about teaching "the next girl" to go to the Bathroomin venues like this IN PAIRS...teach her to stay with her friends...teach her to ask for help NOT reentry if it is HELP you need...teach her to stay in a crowd not walk in lonely places...teach her NEVER get in a car with a stranger. Millions to The Harringtons and their lawyer...says it is ALL somebody elses fault.

Personal responsibility is key. A child shot dead in broad daylight is unimaginable. A beautiful girl who gets in a car at night with a stranger and is raped and murdered? Sadly, NOT so unimaginable. I wish it were..

This was not a 4 year old. The Harringtons trusted her decison making and treated her as an adult. So did the Security. They had posted rules. Morgan knew them. She had been to other concerts.

It is notblaming the victim to look at the mistakes Morgan made that night. Morgan was very much like many young women her age..but the goal of "saving the next girl" rings hollow when we pretend that there are no lessons to be learned that might keep those girls safe...from the mistakes Morgan made that night.

Morgan's murder was not her fault in any way, shape or form. Whether she was intoxicated or not, it simply was not her fault. The only person at fault is whoever murdered her. I find the above comments very hurtful and I hope her parents do not read them. Justice for Morgan.

 

[Walker]

My point is that to "save the next girl" ....we cannot let our daughters think that any Security set-up in a public place CAN or does have a personal interest in their safety. And if they drink or take drugs to excess...their judgement can become so impaired that THEY put themselves in danger. Even if sober, NEVER get in a car with a stranger!

Even of Morgan was sober and hurt from a fall...a jury might ask themselves...was she at more danger in the parking lot..or when SHE WILLINGLY got in that car? GETTING IN THAT CAR WAS MORGAN'S DECISON ALONE. I think if she had stayed in that crowded parking lot...near or IN her car...she would never have been alone with her Killer.

And why was she in the Parking Lot?Because she left the Arena without a ticket. Why was she walking around alone? Because she told her friends she would find her ownway home. How did she get in the Killers car...it seems she had her thumb up and got in willingly. THOSE are all Morgan's decisons. "The next girl"needs to know that those decisons had tragic consequences.
Yes, in an ideal world we SHOULD be able to do ALL things. Leave our doors unlocked, walk streets late at night, hop in cars. BUT THAT IS NOT THE REALWORLD. It is a dangerous fantasy!

Anyone who gets into a car with a stranger is gambling with their life. Do it drunk or impaired and that risk multiplies. How will giving the Harringtons and their lawyers millions of dollars "save the next girl?" It may force the Security company to let in many people without tickets...and many drunk or drugged out people to the venue...because they cannot do tests to see whose "cut" is because they have an injury or because they were drunk, drugged and "moshing." Will it keep our kids safer to let in more unticketed drunks and druggies to these venues? How about crowd control and safety under THOSE circumstances? Do you want to wait in line while Security does Breatalyzers and Drug tests so they do not get sued?

How about teaching "the next girl" to go to the Bathroomin venues like this IN PAIRS...teach her to stay with her friends...teach her to ask for help NOT reentry if it is HELP you need...teach her to stay in a crowd not walk in lonely places...teach her NEVER get in a car with a stranger. Millions to The Harringtons and their lawyer...says it is ALL somebody elses fault.

Personal responsibility is key. A child shot dead in broad daylight is unimaginable. A beautiful girl who gets in a car at night with a stranger and is raped and murdered? Sadly, NOT so unimaginable. I wish it were..

This was not a 4 year old. The Harringtons trusted her decison making and treated her as an adult. So did the Security. They had posted rules. Morgan knew them. She had been to other concerts.

It is notblaming the victim to look at the mistakes Morgan made that night. Morgan was very much like many young women her age..but the goal of "saving the next girl" rings hollow when we pretend that there are no lessons to be learned that might keep those girls safe...from the mistakes Morgan made that night.

I agree with your main point that making a rock concert or other public venue 100% safe for everyone is not possible. Adults do have to accept responsibility for themselves.

However, we don't know a lot of the facts.

The UVA student and her father both witnessed MH appearing to hitchhike on the bridge, but we don't know for certain that she voluntarily entered the vehicle of a stranger.

The hitchhiking may have been a desperate effort to get away from someone or some group who were threatening her.

Pleading with the athletes for a ride (destination withheld by LE) may also indicate a feeling of being threatened.

In my opinion, the problem may be due to outdated attitudes; as you say, "dangerous fantasies."

Seems to me that MH was trusting people around her, probably because of their connections to college. Her thinking was like, "This area is college town, all nice young people."


"To better yourself, go to college."
"At college, you will make the friendships to last a lifetime."
"Colleges are very selective, so at college you can be sure that you are meeting the right sort of people."
"People who go to college are either from very successful families, or else they are very talented and ambitious. You can't go wrong with socializing at a college."
"College faculty and staff are the brainiest people in our society, and their influence is always positive and beneficial. They never abuse their authority."
"$140K in red ink is well worth the wonderful experience you will have a college."
"College faculty & staff don't get paid more than a few pennies. They do their jobs because they are just good people. They don’t care about money or power the way corporate types do."
"The heavy drinking and drug abuse will have no lasting negative effect; as soon as the student leaves college, they are swept up into challenging & rewarding careers, and instantly put the 'partying' behind them."
"To get a good job, get a good education. Paying back the debt will only take a couple years."
"A mind is a terrible thing to waste [by not going away to an expensive private college]."
"To go to an expensive private college is to move up-class."
"To get into a car with other college kids is okay. All college kids & their associates are 'nice.'"
"Nothing can really go wrong in a college; everyone just naturally looks out for each other."
"Cherish these days. These are your golden years. Once you leave academia, nothing will ever be the same."
"Once you leave college, finding someone to marry is almost impossible."

Part of these delusions are based on adult revisions of their own experience at college in decades long past. For example, Grandfather would take a break from his long hours of studying chemistry to informally join with fellow students on Friday afternoons for a quick game of football. His tale becomes, "Oh, boy, did we have fun, all we ever did was play football ..." Consider the industry that college sports has morphed into now.

A future mother, tired in her college days from long hours in the university language lab, would occasionally slip out late on Saturday night for a glass of wine with her roommate, come home around 1 am & fall asleep watching TV on the couch. The tale she tells her children might be, "We were all ‘hippies’ … Every night the party would begin at 11pm ... We would all go to the Rat, get totally smashed and then just fall out wherever ..."

People don't want to say that they worked hard, took their work very seriously, and only rarely behaved in any wild manner; because they don't want to come across (even to themselves) as boring. So they distort their memories, but thereby inadvertently teach their children, and other young people, that college is supposed to be a four-year party surrounded by intimate, loving & supportive friends.

So we see a Snowball Effect, with each generation pushing college into more and more of a foolish and dissolute waste of time.


Please don't misunderstand: College is a useful and worthwhile experience for those who are talented academically, and genuinely interested in research, scholarship and writing. Roughly 10% of our population can benefit from obtaining a BA degree.

However, college these days is being way oversold. And, sentimentalized, which can lead to terrible disappointment. Derek Bok once said that something like Harvard is 4 years of Club Med, plus courses, to explain why the tuition cost so much. Problem is we are not all rock stars & we can't afford the Club Med.

Obviously, MH was not enjoying that evening, but she didn't feel free to just ask for help getting home. Why not?

 

[Straitfan]

The "friends" are going to be in an interesting situation if this goes to trial. They will be asked about events leading up to their arrival at the Arena. They will be asked about Morgan's condition, her trip to the bathrooom, her demeanor and the conversation on the phone. It defies logic that these girls "who loved Morgan" just let her stand outside while they enjoyed a concert on tickets HER PARENTS PROVIDED....orthat they allowed her to seek other, dangerous ways home...rather than give her the keys to HER OWN CAR!

Is this what the Harringtons really want?

Certainly not the kind of friends I would have had as a teenager. And this is something I've always wondered about!! To my knowledge they have never spoken publicly, your friend and gone and you dont speak??? Who does that??

 

[Straitfan]

Walker, that may have been some's world but not all. I for one, dont indulge in telling my son's any and everything I've done in life, that is not a "welcome thing" children want to know..

Went to plenty of concerts in the late 70's in HOUSTON no less, noone ever went to the bathroom alone nor would we have left someone behind even if it meant sleeping in the parking area waiting, and I wasnt in college, under 18

 

[goldiegirl]

Morgan's murder was not her fault. BUT, living in this society it's important that women protect themselves. That doesn't mean at all that it is their fault if something happens to them. But think of how you take steps to protect yourself against other things that other people do wrong - you drive defensively if someone is about to hit you, you lock your home at night, you walk quickly to your car in a dark parking lot, etc.

If you DON'T lock your home at night, no one is going to say that it was your fault if you are murdered. But I think the point is that, unfortunately, we CAN'T make the world the ideal place that we want it to be, and we can't control the behavior of others, so we have to protect ourselves. Jane Velez Mitchell always talks about how women should be able to walk down the street at night alone without having to worry about being abducted and so forth. Yes, we SHOULD, but that's not the world we live in. Doing it to make a statement is only going to put yourself in danger. Warning young girls to protect themselves from the bad acts of others is not blaming the victim. Think of all the things we say to those we care about "don't respond to this scam, you'll lose all your money" "don't take this medication with this medication, it could harm you," the list goes on. No one is saying it's their FAULT if something goes wrong, but when we don't want something to happen to someone we care about, we tell them to do whatever they can do avoid it.

Regarding composite sketches - I have to admit I never put TOO much weight in those. They can be useful, but a few things bother me about relying too heavily on them:

-Things like weight can change, obviously. So I am careful not to dismiss someone who doesn't look like a composite because "their face looks thinner" or whatnot.
-In a split second, especially a traumatic split second, how much can a person REALLY see or retain about someone's features? I would remember things that stood out, like hair, facial hair, piercings - unfortunately all things that someone can change. I met a few new people today selling things on Craigslist, and I talked to them for a good 5 minutes each. Face-to-face conversation, nothing traumatic going on. And if someone asked me about their features now I wouldn't have the SLIGHTEST clue how to describe them.
-Lastly, even if someone remembers features well, can you imagine how hard that would be to convey it to someone else, have that person understand it the same way you do, then draw it?! It's a wonder to me whenever I see any of these end up being remotely accurate. Those sketch artists are so talented. I'm just saying, imagine how much can get lost in translation or be inaccurate from the beginning. Eyewitnesses often even misidentify people in lineups. I know I probably would, based on features alone, all else being equal.

 

[Veidt]

I'm still reading through this thread... can someone explain who group #2 is (I read it on the last page of this post)? I've tried to search for article that mentioned a second group of friends, but all I find are articles that only mention one group of friends. Do you mean the group of men she talked to outside the venue? I have also found this article, I don't know if it's been posted yet but it adds some details about her group of friends.

I've wondered if there's a chance she could have been drugged somehow. The behaviour described, from hitchiking to (according to some reports) acting up outside the venue. She seems to have been responsible about drinking and drugs and what witnesses have said about her behaviour has sounded atypical to those who knew her. So maybe she could have drugged? I assume she wouldn't have been the type to leave drinks unattended but maybe she meets someone she knows outside of her group of friends who hands her a drink or someone slips something in her glass while she's talking to her friends, in a crowd that would have easily gone unnoticed. Do we know she ever found the bathroom? Maybe she went inside, asked someone to hold the glass for her, someone who seemed trustworthy for some reason. Just throwing a possibility out there. Or perhaps she was genuinely distressed, it seems like it was a big event for her so knowing she'd miss it probably made her feel really terrible, I know I would have been broken hearted. Another idea, this one also mentioned by others, is she was being scared by someone around and trying to get away. Even just the fact that she was stranded on a parking lot surrounding by strangers, many of which guys, could have made her feel uncomfortable and want to get away.

Another question, does anyone know when she got injured... did she happen while she was with her friends or at some point between that and talking to security?

It's also crossed my mind that maybe whoever did it was working with security if reports are true that other concert goers were allowed to go back into the show after going out to get their wallets. It seems shady of security if that's true, why wouldn't they allow her back in too? Not necessarily someone who worked as a security guard but maybe someone who was friends with one of them, maybe even someone who worked at the venue or whom the staff was used to seeing around.

This is not about "saving the next girl."

Snipped by me.

And what would you expect her to do? If she couldn't somehow access her car was she supposed to wait in the parking lot? Once the show started it would have been emptier and more dangerous, I would have tried to get away too though I personally wouldn't have hitchiked. Several of the articles I saw suggest that security turned her away but were letting people in and out to get stuff from her cars.

The Arena was supposed to have allowed her in if they were allowing other people to reenter too, also she was a young woman and being a demographic that is often targeted for assault and such at events they were there to keep people attending the concert as safe as possible. We're not talking about getting elbowed in the face while pushing to the front, we're talking about a young woman being distressed and security doing jack all to help. This would be like if I went to a club and was injured or unsafe, it would be security's duty to direct me to the first-aid area or call someone to help me. That's what they're paid for.

Also over here concerts at major vanues ALWAYS have to provide some kind of first aid to concert goers. I once injured myself moshing at a festival and it was only a minor injury but security immediately pulled me out of the crowd when I reached out to them and helped me get to the first aid tent.

As to her friends, the articles I've read through this post and from simply searching her name on a search engine, suggest she texted her friends to let them know she'd be ok and they should go on and enjoy the show. I would have done the same thing, I would have felt guilty about spoiling a show for my friends if I wasn't allowed to reenter the venue. On their side of things I can see them believing her when she said that and deciding it wasn't worth getting themselves locked out too if she said it was fine.

As to her injury in conjunction to her friends... do we know if she was injured by the time she left them? All I've heard is she left for the bathroom, by the time she tried to go back she had a gash. Maybe they wouldn't have known. Also from experience, that time I mentioned above that I got injured, I left my friends in the crowd as it would NOT have been practical for a group to get pulled out, we had phones to keep in touch and I was working on the assumption I'd try to find them again and they'd even be saving our spots.

The "friends" are going to be in an interesting situation if this goes to trial. They will be asked about events leading up to their arrival at the Arena. They will be asked about Morgan's condition, her trip to the bathrooom, her demeanor and the conversation on the phone. It defies logic that these girls "who loved Morgan" just let her stand outside while they enjoyed a concert on tickets HER PARENTS PROVIDED....orthat they allowed her to seek other, dangerous ways home...rather than give her the keys to HER OWN CAR!

Is this what the Harringtons really want?

Right. From the accounts I've found, it seems like she texted her friends to tell them she'd be ok and they could stay in the show. I would have done the same thing. I wouldn't have felt it was fair for me to also make my friends not see the show because I couldn't so I can understand Morgan's reasoning.

Secondly, her friends may have agreed with that reasoning or figuring it would have been hard to get out of the crowd and find her. I know that if this happened to a friend of mine I would have been tempted to leave the show and go home with said friend BUT I would also believe she'd be ok, being abducted is honestly not something that happens every single day.

In that case her friends would also have been unable to give her the car keys without also being denied reentry, again, I can understand why she would text them to tell them to stay in the venue and why they wouldn't have gone out. I think they could have given her the key through security at the door but I also don't know how the entry point was set up. The article I linked above also says she made sure there was always a designated driver so perhaps it wasn't her turn to be the dd that day.

All of this is :twocents:.

 

[shanmosphere]

Has any information been released as to which bones were broken? Has LE released any info on whether Morgan was kept for a time and tortured? I am curious if Morgan was picked up by someone like Robert Rhodes...

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[annmarie62]

Such an odd story! I feel strongly that Morgan was under the influence of some type of drug, perhaps 'roofies' or a prescription drug that causes unsteady coordination and out-of-character behaviors (Somas?). Whether it was slipped to her w/out her knowledge or if the friends were all doing more than drinking that night and just wouldn't admit it, the observations reported of her just don't fit with having a drink or three. I am NOT bashing her friends- they may have been 'mature' college students but in reality they were just out of their teens and had, as is natural, a certain amount of naivety and immaturity. When I was in college, I once went to a concert with a friend (who was pretty high as I recall) who fell off the top tier of this little grandstand thing- she fell at least 10 ft. and hit her head on a concrete floor! She just laughed and shook it off but later that night she had a severe headache and ended up in the ER- turned out she had cracked her skull, Jesus! When she first fell, even though she said she was OK, I KNEW in my heart of hearts that the right thing to do would be to leave immediately and have her checked out at a hospital. But I didn't want to miss REM's last set so I pushed my feelings of guilt to the back of my mind- the doctor later said she could have died! There is NO WAY I would have been so selfish 10, even 5 years later, but at 21 or so I naturally felt that things would always have happy endings. For Morgan to say she would find her own ride home (!!) of course I wondered why in hell her friends didn't immediately intervene and either leave with her or tell her to either call her parents or get a cab. And WHO still hitchhikes in 2013?! Her friends, imo, did drop the ball in looking after her but their lack of action doesn't surprise me given their ages- also, I'm sure they weren't completely sober by any means. They were young and rocking out at a Metallica concert- this was a time to let loose. I think Morgan was really messed up somehow even before she left the venue and got 'locked out.' Her parents said she got the tickets the day they went on sale and had them on the refrigerator for months before the concert. This was no spur-of-the-moment event, this concert was major to her. So why in hell would she walk out the door when all venues make it crystal clear that there is no reentry. Of course this wasn't news to her. What an odd and tragic evening. I did so many careless, stupid things when I was her age, something like this could have happened to me more than once. Poor Morgan's odds of survival that night were, for whatever reason(s), completely stacked against her. She rolled the dice and lost her whole life. So friggin' sad...

 

[Hatfield]

I need to go back + read previous posts to catch up. After following this case when Morgan first went missing have only checked in sporadically. So I apologize up front for my lack of detailed knowledge. :blushing:

Its fast approaching the 4 yr. mark since the night Morgan met her horrible fate. Heartbreaking to still find no answers. Has there been any progress on the forensic link to the previous sexual assault? Any progress at all? At first glance it looks like there is no more known now than there was shortly after her remains were located.

How is it known that Morgan was hitchhiking near the bridge? Is this a fact or commonly accepted assumption?
My muddled memory = JMO I'd thought she probably went off with at least 1 person she was familiar with (maybe didn't know well but had met before) + onto a party/gathering of some sort that likely her parents + maybe friends at concert wouldn't approve of. Older bunch? Drugs? Some not so acceptable something they were into? Something went horribly wrong at this gathering which led to Morgan being left out on the land near AF. The way LE worded things to the public, looking for person/s to come forward that were 'nauseated' always stuck with me + made me think there was a "group" possibly small, but more than 3 (MH, perp, 2 or more others). I wondered if the "others" were unaware of the evil amongst them prior to that night. Then terrified of repercussions from the same after.
OTOH I can see the theory of it being a lone predator as well.

So before I read 14 threads would someone give me a recap of where the investigation is at now if its changed at all?


This is unbelievable. Thank you for posting. :stormingmad:

JMO
I followed this case at the very beginning when it happened and read a lot about it. What has always stuck with me is whoever was responsible knew that area where she was found. Based on the area, I just think the person(s) would have had to know that spot.

Regarding the Bolded items, that was one of my earlier theories too, and I think it is very possible. I was thinking along the lines of her being invited out to that area for an outdoor party for a small group of people that did not have tickets to the concert and were only in the concert area to get "supplies" if they could find them.

She may have met this group and they invited her along. Perhaps once at the land, maybe a simple argument turned into a brutal fight between Morgan and another girl, and the girl went overboard and killed her with like a rock or something. We do know Morgan was witnessed to be somewhat confrontational with the ticket takers at the concert, so I could see where maybe she could have gotten into some sort of fight with someone in her state of being upset already with how the evening was turning out.

If something like this happened, I could see where others in that small group may have been able to keep quiet all this time. Especially if it was a very small group and they all felt they could be charged. Like, lets say just a male driver and 2 other girls, and maybe 2 other girls fought with her. The driver would think he would go to jail too since he drove them all there.

From what I remember, that area near where she was found, did have some outdoor parties near there at times.

And the way the T-shirt seemed to be "planted" in town, I have always felt that was planted there to make it appear the crime was something different than what it really was, and to throw the trail back into making it look like someone in town in that area may have been involved.
Anyway, just not outruling something like this happening.

If it was a single male perp that picked her up, then I am convinced he had to at least be somewhat local because he had to have known that area.
There was much early speculation that perhaps a security type person that was evil picked her up. This type of scenerio would be my other possiblitity.

One other thing. I dont put too much into them saying her bones were all broken or something to that effect because I think its possible the people who worked that field with large tractors could have easily ran over her prior to her being found. The person who finally found her was even on his tractor when he spotted her as he was checking fences. So, we know tractors would be in that field, and they may have run her over on another prior day.

This case is really sad and I hope someday the perp(s) are brought to justice.

 

[otto]

Such an odd story! I feel strongly that Morgan was under the influence of some type of drug, perhaps 'roofies' or a prescription drug that causes unsteady coordination and out-of-character behaviors (Somas?). Whether it was slipped to her w/out her knowledge or if the friends were all doing more than drinking that night and just wouldn't admit it, the observations reported of her just don't fit with having a drink or three. I am NOT bashing her friends- they may have been 'mature' college students but in reality they were just out of their teens and had, as is natural, a certain amount of naivety and immaturity. When I was in college, I once went to a concert with a friend (who was pretty high as I recall) who fell off the top tier of this little grandstand thing- she fell at least 10 ft. and hit her head on a concrete floor! She just laughed and shook it off but later that night she had a severe headache and ended up in the ER- turned out she had cracked her skull, Jesus! When she first fell, even though she said she was OK, I KNEW in my heart of hearts that the right thing to do would be to leave immediately and have her checked out at a hospital. But I didn't want to miss REM's last set so I pushed my feelings of guilt to the back of my mind- the doctor later said she could have died! There is NO WAY I would have been so selfish 10, even 5 years later, but at 21 or so I naturally felt that things would always have happy endings. For Morgan to say she would find her own ride home (!!) of course I wondered why in hell her friends didn't immediately intervene and either leave with her or tell her to either call her parents or get a cab. And WHO still hitchhikes in 2013?! Her friends, imo, did drop the ball in looking after her but their lack of action doesn't surprise me given their ages- also, I'm sure they weren't completely sober by any means. They were young and rocking out at a Metallica concert- this was a time to let loose. I think Morgan was really messed up somehow even before she left the venue and got 'locked out.' Her parents said she got the tickets the day they went on sale and had them on the refrigerator for months before the concert. This was no spur-of-the-moment event, this concert was major to her. So why in hell would she walk out the door when all venues make it crystal clear that there is no reentry. Of course this wasn't news to her. What an odd and tragic evening. I did so many careless, stupid things when I was her age, something like this could have happened to me more than once. Poor Morgan's odds of survival that night were, for whatever reason(s), completely stacked against her. She rolled the dice and lost her whole life. So friggin' sad...

She had to be out of her head stoned to have left the concert, knowing that she could not re-enter. After she walked out the doors, she apparently accosted a couple of men. This may have been a plea to people that looked friendly to help her. There has been no explanation from her friends; who drove to the concert with Morgan, got stoned with her,, drank alcohol with her, and apparently were not concerned that she wandered off by herself. Did she walk to the sport complex parking lot alone? ... did she talk with the soccer players in the parking lot, and then start hitchhiking on the bridge? Why were her cell phone and personal belongings strewn around the parking lot?

The theory is that she was so stoned that she dropped them. Did she then wander across the bridge and stick out her thumb to go home ... miles away? Perhaps her belongings are in the parking lot because that's where she was attacked and abducted. All the sports players saw nothing, so maybe it happened after they left, but perhaps the attacker was in the parking lot at the same time?

I agree that after she was abandoned by friends and strangers, she wandered into dangerous territory from which there was no return. Can the party house, near where her body was found on the property, be connected with the sports players in the parking lot that night? That party house is at the very least connected with someone that was parked in that lot at the same time - why else was her cell phone tossed into the parking lot? Morgan disappeared near the bridge and her personal belongings were found strewn in a nearby parking lot. If the murderer had no knowledge of the party house, why was her body found in a secluded are in a large field near new construction projects and on the same property as the party house? Was she taken there, thinking she was going to a party, dozing off during the long drive, beaten, marched into the field and murdered?

I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone that routinely parked near the University bridge to watch the female students.