Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #2

[belimom]

Regarding contacting the RMC guy, I also think it's an invasion of privacy. I'm sure he has been interviewed by LE, maybe multiple times. And this is obviously weighing heavily on him. If it were me and I was an innocent bystander who happened to cross paths with a victim and had been interviewed by LE and rehashed in my mind what I could have done differently and what details I remember, I believe I would be pushed over the edge if random people started e-mailing me and asking me questions. I think that's just too much.

 

[Stoshie]

snipped

The friends could also tell us if she had imbibed, is she a newb drinker, or if she had had a recreational Rx that night. THEY KNOW. (OK there is a tiny chance that they dont know) but ... imo they know.)

moo
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My best friend was an addict. She was pretty open until she hit a certain point. At that point, she became a master of hiding things. It was years before I knew the truth. I knew that something was very wrong at times, but she hid what was going on so well. It wasn't until she started to overdose regularly, that I realized that she was using heavy stuff.
Looking back, I can piece things together, but at the time, her behavior was just odd to me sometimes.

 

[LorinMarie]

I have been checking in every day hoping that Morgan has been found or some sort of new information has been released. I have been reading all of your posts and I agree with the other posters who think that she may have taken something like a pill or ecstasy and after a time felt that she needed to get outside for some air. When I myself was that age my parents would say that I was the perfect daughter close relationship and all that but of course there were things that I did that I would never let my parents know about. I never had an addiction to drugs and I don't feel that Morgan does either but at that age there were things I sampled and did from time to time. I grew up and out of that phase but when I was 20 I was having fun and loved to party I call those the days I would never want to re live but wouldn't take back for the world.

Sorry I do tend to ramble on, I do have a point promise! Anyway years ago in another life I tried ecstasy and other pills such a opiates and there were was time where I had a bad reaction. I just remember that I just felt "not right" and had a dire need to be away from everyone immediately. I myself acted in an unsafe manor by walking off, not telling anyone where I was going to be alone. I can personally say that I have told my friends a quick lie to get away when my real intention was to just get away by myself. I think it is very possible that Morgan could have done something similar and that she may have run across trouble in the form of another person who saw what a vulnerable state she was in. I am very lucky that this did not happen to me but at that age I thought I was invincible, thank goodness I grew up!

Sorry for the long post but this scenario is the only thing that makes sense to me as an answer to why the friends may have thought she was just headed to the rest room at the time. Also her having a secret plan to meet someone that her parents may not approve of doesn't sit right with me either seeing she had those tickets for 6 months and was so excited I think she would not have picked that night for a secret meeting.

 

[faeriegraves]

sorry if this has been asked before, but has LE checked out the security guards/people working the venue that night? anyone patrolling the parking lots could have easily taken her.

 

[tarheellvr]

Regarding contacting the RMC guy, I also think it's an invasion of privacy. I'm sure he has been interviewed by LE, maybe multiple times. And this is obviously weighing heavily on him. If it were me and I was an innocent bystander who happened to cross paths with a victim and had been interviewed by LE and rehashed in my mind what I could have done differently and what details I remember, I believe I would be pushed over the edge if random people started e-mailing me and asking me questions. I think that's just too much.

:clap: well said!

 

[Hoosll]

www.readthehook.com

Dr Harrington says he thinks it was someone local to Charlottesville area...
"Dr. Harrington also confirms that he’s been told that his daughter’s purse and phone were found in the RV lot, a small gated parking area alongside Copeley/Alderman Road, the CSX/Buckingham Branch train tracks, and the UVA athletic fields."

 

[Mellen]

www.readthehook.com

Dr Harrington says he thinks it was someone local to Charlottesville area...
"Dr. Harrington also confirms that he’s been told that his daughter’s purse and phone were found in the RV lot, a small gated parking area alongside Copeley/Alderman Road, the CSX/Buckingham Branch train tracks, and the UVA athletic fields."

Nice to see the lot pinpointed on Google Maps. It really is quite small, off by itself, with lots of trees and bushes around it. Because it is not paved, I hadn't thought it was a parking area when I was looking at the map before.

 

[krazykidz]

thought it odd that morgan's mom only referred to her in the past tense during her interview with geraldo. maybe just mentally preparing for the worst scenario...

 

[kant]

I'm all for LE withholding info from the public to benefit the investation, but some bits that seem innocuous (to me) are missing from the puzzle too. Maybe Im wrong in thinking that certain things are such that there's no harm in revealing them. For example, we dont even know for sure if she had a coat with her, for cryin out loud.

We dont know if the "I'll get a ride or meet you at the car" was spoken or texted. The friends phone would have that wouldn't it? I assume they're checking the friends phones? If the friend says the call was a spoken message vs a text, well frankly we dont know what was said. They can probably deduce thru phone records that a call was placed, or received or whatever, but unless it was a text - who knows what was actually said. And why would someone try to speak with a person inside a concert hall in lieu of texting? Even if music weren't playing, it's still loud in there. If you have a text option, most would opt for that wouldn't they?

I really wish we not only knew more from the friends, but I wish I could see and hear the friends talk. Reading their words is one thing. WATCHING THEM discuss things tells you a lot more.

Also, if you're the perp who has her, why leave the purse where it will likely be seen soon? Seeing a girl's purse, ID, and phone is a huge red flag pointing to foul play. Why not drop it in a harder to spot place? Unless he did that and someone else found it, went thru it, and put it where it was found by yet another person. OR maybe it's so simple in that he just didn't have time or a free hand to worry with the purse... and the phone... and the battery.. and just dropped it where it fell or tossed it willy nilly. I tried to look at that map, but Im still confused as to where the car was parked vs the purse vs the JPJ arena. (Maybe I'm looking right them on the map and I just dont see it.)

Also, does it depend on the phone type regarding the info being recoverable on the phone as far as the battery being gone? I mean, if all you have to do is get another battery and then you have access to the phone info and if there's somethng on there you dont want LE to know, why not put the phone in a harder to find place? IDK..

We're not even sure how many girls were in the group at the concert together do we? I considered maybe if there were one person who provided a drug (even if Morgan asked for it) that that girl could feel afraid of repercussions -- if Morgan had a bad reaction or overdose; but in that situation, I'd think one of the others in a group of, let's say 6 - one would likely talk. But in a group of three, in which two are sisters, the spilling of the beans is much less likely imo. IDK

Im still stuck on
(1) Why the friends didn't take her the car keys after she was locked out.

They couldn't take her the car keys when she was forbidden re-entry?.. in the cold... in the night... to wait out the concert in the car? (and good grief WAS IT HER CAR?)

(2) Why the friends say they waited for her a "significant amount of time" after the concert

That seems sort WTF to me b/c if you didn't wait until she came, you left her. Unless you already knew what was up with her - in which case you wouldn't wait at all - would you?

(3)They didn't have her paged on the arena PA system.

They didn't - that we know of anyway. Why? (b/c they knew she wasn't there?) You'd rather wait "for hours" in the parking lot in the cold darkness- however many girls rather than simply having her paged?

(4) They didn't seem alarmed the next day either.

The dad was the one who started the whole "she's missing" ball rolling, not the friends. Also, imo, the friends have been conspicuously absent from the media, unless I've missed something. Maybe they've been instructed to do so by LE; but in other cases, friends etc are interviewed on various shows. In many cases, the "last person known to see the missing person" is a key person of interest. So what is it here? B/c they are young females they are above suspicion? I hate to rag on the friends, it just doesnt make sense tho.

On a sidenote, I read they had dogs out there. Did the dogs pick up anything? If so where?

Did LE check area dumspters before they got emptied?

The landfill?

*sigh*

 

[Waddles]

So true on all points. I'm particularly bothered about your point 4. It just doesn't add up-I think we definitely do not have all the info and yes they are being very quiet. I know they must be going through hell but why on earth did they never raise the alarm-I just don't get it.

 

[kant]

This makes me sound nuts, but where's a psychic when you need one? We've got close to nothing, so it cant hurt. I hope LE has more and just aren't telling it. (Somehow Im not feeling real great about that likelihood tho. IDK why, I just dont.)

MOO

 

[Stoshie]

This whole thing is weird. The sighting of her being in what appeared to be an altered state is very concerning.

When I was young, it would have been no big thing for someone to split from the group and do their own thing. We had a large circle of friends. But I think that I would have been concerned if this were to happen so far from home, unless they were leaving with someone who was known. That is a very different senario.

I think about how reckless we were at that age and I am glad that my life took the path it did. Unfortunately, some of my friends didn't make it to 30.

 

[wvagirl]

I have been looking around the immediate area of the arena, and there are NO posters of Morgan. I put some up around the area today that I printed off of the FB link. There were none in the bus stop directly across the street from the arena for crying out loud!

 

[kant]

So true on all points. I'm particularly bothered about your point 4. It just doesn't add up-I think we definitely do not have all the info and yes they are being very quiet. I know they must be going through hell but why on earth did they never raise the alarm-I just don't get it.

This is really distrubing - not that all missing cases aren't disturbing b/c they are; but this one feels different. I guess... IDK. I guess the way we feel OK about loved ones going out and having a normal life and doing things, the way we feel OK about it is to say, "Go with close friends who care about you and stay together." So now if THAT doesn't even work, ...IDK... it's just devastating. Someone knows something.

Also, I'm sure there were many hot chicks at the cancert, but imo she stands out. Why didnt' someone SEE SOMTHING? I know we have reports (and frankly the way they were reported seem sort of iffy) we have reports of her tripping, dropping her purse, having an altercation, but we do not have anyone seeing or hearing WHAT HAPPENED TO MAKE HER DISAPPEAR>.

The reason I said some of the sightings sound iffy is.. well here's an example.

At one point in all the news stories it was her car at the arena and reported that the friends didn't have the keys. That was the reported story for a day or however many days. The guy who said that he parked beside them said that after the concert he saw the friends "standing around the car" (b/c it was reported that they didn't have the keys and that they had waited for her.)

Well, if they drove her car back to JMU (or wherever they went) (or whoever's car they drove in) they DID have keys; so I cannot believe they (all girls with no male escorts/dates) would choose to "stand around" OUTSIDE the car and not wait IN the car ....in the cold dark night of a semi-deserted (or clearing out) parking lot (or frankly -- if they even waited at all) This account sounds to me like he read the news and decided he had a "sighting."

(A) I mean if she were carried out kicking and screaming, imo that is bound to be noticable by SOMEONE.

There's always that straggler who is doing... whatever. Taking a leak somehwere, wandering around trying to score rx.. whatever; but then some segments of the population wont come forward even if they see the whole thing bc they just cant risk it. - or think they cant.

(B) so that makes me think she willingly got in a car

That would explain not being seen dragged off right there. But what about the purse?

(C) Who would she willingly get in a vehicle with?

(D) Were there any RV's there?

LIke what do you call them? Trailers? Recreational vehicles? Did someone see her stranded outside the arena, barred from re-entry... she's cold... it's rainy, maybe she had no coat, maybe he is cute and young-ish, like passing for a student... (this is a campus and maybe she felt safe?)

Did this someone say to her, "Hey, Ive got a warm trailer... some cocktails.... a TV.... a stereo... (some pot?) ... let's chill.... And he got her into the RV, kept her, and tossed her purse with the phone so the ping wouldn't follow his RV? Is there a record of who parks RVs there if any were there?

moo
.

 

[Waddles]

I think, not sure, that it was not just the person who said he saw them but also her friends stated they had waited for her for some time-almost sure I saw it in an article-I'll have a look

 

[kant]

How close are the student apts and dorms?

Did someone invite her to his "home?" ....even if it was just to get her away from the area....

Are there cameras in the dorm entrances, frat houses, other student housing and apts?

IDK

 

[kant]

I think, not sure, that it was not just the person who said he saw them but also her friends stated they had waited for her for some time-almost sure I saw it in an article-I'll have a look

Yeah I see, but I was thinking he could have READ that they said that they waited. The fact that he said that they were "standing AROUND the car" makes me hinky b/c if they had the keys (and apparently they did if theydrove it off) wouldn't they likely be IN the car? on a dark and rainy cold night in a getting-deserted parking lot? IDK

 

[Waddles]

Yeah I see, but I was thinking he could have READ that they said that they waited. The fact that he said that they were "standing AROUND the car" makes me hinky b/c if they had the keys (and apparently they did if theydrove it off) wouldn't they likely be IN the car? on a dark and rainy cold night in a getting-deserted parking lot? IDK

Ah ok, gotcha now
yes we don't know whether any of the tips we've seen are true or not
Reaaally wish we knew what LE and friends know that way we could be of some help - so many questions
I keep thinking every morning there will be some major break-now I'm starting to wonder if she's vanished for good

 

[kant]

About the reported "fight" -- if you dont want to click on it, here it is :

"After seeing the missing Virginia Tech student’s picture on the news in Richmond this week, one woman told a news station there that she called police. The woman says she told them she thinks she saw Morgan in the parking lot of the John Paul Jones Arena fighting with a man.

State Police could not confirm for us the woman actually called, because they don’t want to waste precious time in the investigation sorting through the numerous tips that have already been investigated.

They did tell us they have no reason to believe Morgan was in a fight outside the arena."

http://www2.wsls.com/sls/news/local/article/state_police_getting_calls_in_morgan_harrington_case/57086/#

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[SusieMom]

Hi... first time poster/occasional lurker.... I've been chewing on this case for awhile and I've read on the previous posts/thread. This one is interesting to me b/c I am in Virginia and connected to the VT community. My DH is an alum and B-burg native, we spend lots of time there although we live in the eastern part of the state.

I looked at the case assuming that everything we've been told about Morgan, her character, her friends and their actions on that day is completely true. So if I set aside misgivings and look at it that way, what would be the most probable sequence of events?

First... she was excited about the concert. What would she have done if she'd been feeling sick-ish that day? She would have tried to ignore it and gone anyway... mind over matter... but maybe she would have asked a friend to drive even if they, for some reason, had to take her vehicle. I can go along with that. Taking my car is fine, but I'm not up to driving. So she gave the keys to one of the other girls, a close friend. She's at the concert for the opening acts and starts to feel worse. Its loud maybe she has been fighting a headache. Maybe its warm, maybe she's feverish. She leaves to go to the restroom. This was no regular potty break to go pee before the main concert started. If it had been, one of the others would have gone with her. Girls do not prefer to go to the restroom alone.

Okay.. so she doesn't bother to get the keys from driver b/c she doesn't expect to need them. She goes down to the restroom but still feels bad. I think its not unlikely that she might have wanted to get some air. It was cool, misty... this would have seemed pleasant to a sick person. At this point, as LE said she would have been able to walk around and converse with people. She would not have seemed impaired.

At some point she tried to re-enter and was denied. This upset her... thus the "agitated state"... For unknown reasons, she didn't try to get help from one of her friends. If she had they would have said she made "repeated attempts to reach them.... "... no mention of that, however. I think she assessed the situation and realized that she couldn't go back in (and maybe was feeling so badly she didn't really want to anyway) and she doesn't want to ruin her friends evening. It might not have occurred to her to get someone to bring her the keys without exiting themselves.

So she texts her friends the message about getting a ride home or waiting, b/c that seems to her to be her two options. I think its crazy to think that she phoned them... first, college kids only phone each other if their thumbs are broken and second it would have been too loud to hear her anyway. Also this makes sense b/c the friends wouldn't have had a chance to dialogue with her, they might not have even seen the message until some point significantly after she sent it.

Where's Morgan? Outside... realizing that her waiting by the car option is not a good one given the craptacular weather and her ill health. So she moves on to finding a ride home. Ok... so where exactly is "home"... well.. not JMU.. without her friends that would make no sense.... Roanoke might be nice but how would she go about finding people headed to roanoke? But she has another "home"... Blacksburg and she has a bed there, which she probably would have like to have been in.. and finding people heading there would be easy. Probably it would be easy on ANY Saturday night but this particular night would be even easier b/c of the concert. She starts scanning the crowds around the arena looking for some orange and maroon, not hard to find given the weather and the likelihood of hats, jackets, etc. She knows her friends need the car and she'll go get it later when she's feeling better. This might seem a crazy risk to us, but students have a different sense of community than adults in the "real world."

So who would likely help the damsel in distress? Guys.. and she knows it, too. A pretty girl in need of a ride home on a rainy night.It would not be out of character for her to turn to a male for help. But no just guys, these would be guys in the area of the arena but ones who don't have plans to go in to the concert. Why would college aged guys be hanging around the arena parking lots? Answer: buying pot and possibly other stuff b/c like many of you they might have associated a Metallica concert with drug users.

Okay... she hooks up with one or more of these guys... guys who are in Charlottesville for some probably social reason but are somehow connected to the Blacksburg area and/or VT (not necessarily students.) If they were part of the VT community she would have considered them "safe." Maybe they still have plans in Charlottesville but will be heading back that night so they let her come with them wherever they are going until then, probably not a dorm or frat house... probably an apartment or more likely a house in the area where they have friends.

She goes with them but something bad happens after that. Maybe drug or alcohol related, maybe a sexual assualt... maybe something medical but the boys are too wasted to get her help. They panic... she's just a chick they met in a parking lot.... and this is very very bad for them.

I think LE should be looking between Charlottesville and Blacksburg.. and specifically looking for students or similar aged individuals from the Blacksburg (or maybe even Radford) area who may have been in C-ville, people she would have had a logical reason to be willing leave the arena area with.

As far as the evidence goes.... her purse could have been lost before hand or could have been returned to the area... if she thought she was safe she probably wouldn't have made any other attempts to reach her friends. Or... maybe her phone died and somebody lent her a battery to try b/c it was the only way to access her friends numbers.... so she removed hers, but their battery didn't work on her phone (I've actually done exactly that before when in a jam, stuck at an airport) and then hers got lost (?) but the phone was useless to her anyway without a charger. I suspect the rumored jacket is not hers. If she was going to wear one, it would have been part of her outfit and her mom would have mentioned it. I really don't think in that weather (not freezing cold or pouring rain) she would have worn a jacket otherwise. The details of the fight rumor were so sketchy I don't think its very credible.