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

[Heroine]

Just thought I'd check in and see if there's any news. Now there are reports that someone witnessed her falling and busting her nose/face inside the arena? Oh, no, this really isn't looking good. Morgan, where are you??? : (

Yeah that was reported way back in the beginning a couple times, but I don't know what to believe information keeps changing so much. I don't think I have ever seen a story change so many times. You would think that LE would want us to have accurate info to aid in finding her, but in this case it even seems LE has something to hide or, I mean I'm serious, I have never seen info so misleading before. I mean it is or it isn't which one is it? They could at least stick to one story, it's way too confusing.

 

[Waddles]

Just thought I'd check in and see if there's any news. Now there are reports that someone witnessed her falling and busting her nose/face inside the arena? Oh, no, this really isn't looking good. Morgan, where are you??? : (

Yes, this was first mentioned a day or two ago -unless it was another different witness to her falling-and people thought maybe it ties in to the girl who saw her looking like she had been hit. You'd think if there was trouble she would have told her friends in the phone texts or calls.

I heard, not sur eif it's true, that the witness says she was alone but I believe they saw her fall up where she was seated before she went down to bathroom/smoking area/outside so I don't get how her friends were not there to see her injured?

 

[MBLover]

Well, the issue of the car is still all over the place. We are back to what we originally thought at the very start now-it was her friends' car after all -hers parked half way in the other town. As per Jessica's link above
http://crimesearchersonline.com/ind...s-missing&catid=27:missing-persons&Itemid=130

Morgan Dana Harrington was reported missing by her father after not returning home from a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia. Police found her purse, with her ID and cell phone, in the parking lot of the University of Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena. Her car was still in the lot but there was no trace of Morgan. (UPDATE: Previous news reports of her car being in the parking lot are false. Police corrected the record stating that she road (sic) with firends)

This appears to be something that was written as a "blog" - not a news article from any newspaper and there is nothing stating where the info came from regarding her car. There is nothing to back up the bracketed info.

 

[Soulmagent]

From the news report:

(my bolding)
Am I reading this correctly?!?!? :waitasec:
The woman is/was ready and willing to give a description of the 3 men and the cops didn't/wouldn't take the info!?!? But then the cops say there was not any significant lead?!?! Please, please tell me I'm reading this wrong!! :help:

If this is true and this woman saw this maybe the police have footage of this and are looking into it without drawing the attention of the possible suspects, I do not think they would just blow off a witness seeing Morgan after she was last known to be seen. So if they have a woman who said she saw her ,and it was somewhere that had video her description is unnessary. I do not know this to be the case but it make much more sence this way.

 

[Waddles]

This appears to be something that was written as a "blog" - not a news article from any newspaper and there is nothing stating where the info came from regarding her car. There is nothing to back up the bracketed info.

True MBLover!
And this article has some extra bits of info as well as saying "Her pocketbook and cell phone were found near the concert area in a parking lot. Her car was still in the parking lot after she disappeared.
"
a pocket book then, not a purse...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/ar..._morgan_dana_harrington_20yearold.html?cat=17

 

[Waddles]

OK thanks, Waddles.

So we are back where we were initially with the car; Her car was only to go the first leg of the trip from Vtech to harrisonburg/JMU.

But I still say it blows for all the same reasons imo. I mean it's still really really BAD.... RE the car not being hers vs being hers.... is like IDK -- being hit in the head with one hammer instead of two. KWIM? Iow, it still blows.

.

So then it would seem we don't know this after all -all other reports saying it was her car and as MBLover points out we can't really trust this link so we'll wait and see I guess!

 

[future criminologist]

True MBLover!
And this article has some extra bits of info as well as saying "Her pocketbook and cell phone were found near the concert area in a parking lot. Her car was still in the parking lot after she disappeared.
"
a pocket book then, not a purse...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/ar..._morgan_dana_harrington_20yearold.html?cat=17

pocketbook is just another word for purse.

 

[future criminologist]

Morgan is pretty but blonde girls dressed in black at metal concert is not really going to stand out as memorable.

agreed - wearing a Pantera shirt is not memorable either. at a Metallica show you will definitely find a lot of Slayer, Pantera, Black Sabbath, Zeppelin and AC/DC shirts. and a lot of black, LOL. FYI.

 

[Hoosll]

A couple of things I noticed:

1. Nora O'Donnell said Morgan couldn't re-enter because she didn't have her ticket stub - wrong there is a no-rentry policy.

2. Morgan phoned friends at 8:40 - last call from her phone according to LE

3. Harringtons reported her missing after 12:30 Sunday when she had not arrived in Roanoke, called her friends who didn't know where she was ...

Anybody else ...

 

[Hoosll]

Also, local news is reporting that NONE of the clothes found near JPJ belonged to Morgan.

 

[future criminologist]

Problem is how can we know for sure.
Here are the sightings we have:

Initial sighting arriving in car excited to be at concert
1. We have a sighting of her inside taking pictures with her phone
2. of her falling and injuring her nose
3. of looking upset as if she had been hit in the smoking area
4. alone outside arena frustrated at being locked out by 2 or 3 sets of people
5. a sighting in an altercation with one guy
6. a sighting of her dropping her purse multiple times in the car park
7. a sighting with 4 guys in black t-shirts
8. a sighting on a bridge, by the railroad tracks
9. beside a black vehicle on side of road
10. and now one with 3 guys much later in night.

We just don't know which is true and which isn't or which was another girl. I imagine LE know who is credible. It's sad no one is able to give a proper description of the guys.
I know a couple of witnesses are absoluteley positive it was her as they had a conversation about her t-shirt. But then maybe it didn't help LE much since they saw her and then went in and that was it

I remember one time in college being told by a friend that I had a "doppelganger" on campus - a girl that looked EXACTLY like me. This friend was like, I had to get up close to see that it wasn't you. This was from a friend, someone who knew me. I never did get to see the doppelganger/long-lost twin they were talking about, but it kinda freaked me out. Moral of the story: not only could it be a girl that looks a hell of a lot like her, but these people saw this girl at night wearing all black. And we know from research and studies that eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable. People are being exonerated now because a faulty eyewitness account put them behind bars for a crime they didn't commit.

All I'm saying is, I'm taking all these sightings with a grain of salt. I would want to make absolutely SURE that they saw HER and not a very close lookalike.

 

[future criminologist]

A couple of things I noticed:

1. Nora O'Donnell said Morgan couldn't re-enter because she didn't have her ticket stub - wrong there is a no-rentry policy..

the whole "no re-entry even w/ a ticket stub" is weird to me though - you'd think that, knowing that a lot of their fans might be smokers, there would be some kind of "smoking area" or accomodation for people who want to go outside, have a quick cigarette right outside the doors and go back in.

 

[MBLover]

Respectfully snipped

All I'm saying is, I'm taking all these sightings with a grain of salt. I would want to make absolutely SURE that they saw HER and not a very close lookalike.

I couldn't agree more. This IS a University campus with thousands of students. A lot of students the same age, a lot of students who dress in a similar fashion - who have similar or the same hair style...height...color of hair...etc. Not to mention a lot of visitors for this concert, some of who may have met the same criteria as far as resembling Morgan.

It was dark - it was rainy and it was downright cold. Most people would not have been leisurely walking along. With it being the weather it was - first thing in my mind would have been for Morgan to seek shelter - whether that was getting back in the arena or finding someone who could provide that shelter - whether thru a vehicle, RV, dorm/apartment, restaurant.

If she was out in the rain for any length of time - it would be reasonable to assume that her hair would have been soaked and make-up possible running. She wouldn't look like the same fresh faced Morgan we've seen in photos.

According to her parents this morning on the Today Show interview - last "known" contact was 9:30 - after that they know nothing.

We can only speculate.

I still think that it would be prudent, if it hasn't already been done, to check the inside of the JPJ - especially the back entrances and to where these back entrances lead. We have recently had the 2 cases - Annie Le and the cleaning lady in NY who was found in the vent system of the building where she was employed. Because we just don't know if the purported sightings of Morgan were really her.

 

[MBLover]

the whole "no re-entry even w/ a ticket stub" is weird to me though - you'd think that, knowing that a lot of their fans might be smokers, there would be some kind of "smoking area" or accomodation for people who want to go outside, have a quick cigarette right outside the doors and go back in.

There are clearly marked smoking areas - and usually someone sits at these doors to watch who comes and goes in this area.

 

[Waddles]

the whole "no re-entry even w/ a ticket stub" is weird to me though - you'd think that, knowing that a lot of their fans might be smokers, there would be some kind of "smoking area" or accomodation for people who want to go outside, have a quick cigarette right outside the doors and go back in.

Apparently there is an area set aside for this though where you don't need to exit-no one knows why she actually exited the venue.

 

[Le Singe]

Yes I know, this is really frustrating-I guess it's due to rumours and people being told not to release info? The press don't seem to be given very much info so they write what they heard.

Yes it is very frustrating. In this article they also state they did not take her car a it is at least a little more of an office type media outlet http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/26/sad-days-harrington-family-coping-waiting/.

I just don't understand, if I was a reporter (which i'm definatly not) I would never publish a story where I just 'filled in the details' from stuff I read. If there was an issue of who drove I would get to the bottom of it before I printed it one way or the other. If I could not get solid info by my deadline I would say "it is unclear whether they took her car or not". Honestly I would feel like I had a responsiblilty to try to get the information out and to definatly not add to the confusion, but these people seem to not feel that way. :snooty:

EDIT: just wanted to add if I had to decide I would go with believing what is in the above linked article b/c clearly this reporter has actually been in contact with the family and directly interviewed them so I feel he is more likely to have good information.

 

[MBLover]

Yes it is very frustrating. In this article they also state they did not take her car a it is at least a little more of an office type media outlet http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/26/sad-days-harrington-family-coping-waiting/.

I just don't understand, if I was a reporter (which i'm definatly not) I would never publish a story where I just 'filled in the details' from stuff I read. If there was an issue of who drove I would get to the bottom of it before I printed it one way or the other. If I could not get solid info by my deadline I would say "it is unclear whether they took her car or not". Honestly I would feel like I had a responsiblilty to try to get the information out and to definatly not add to the confusion, but these people seem to not feel that way. :snooty:

Sorry - wrong article on my end. Following too many cases...and saw the "blog" in the web-addy and automatically jumped...

Yes, this article that you quoted seems to be legit and I would go with what that reporter has written than over a blog.

Again, I apologize

(What I originally wrote:
The above "article" is nothing more than a blog - blog is even stated in the web-address. It is not a news source.)

 

[Waddles]

Yes it is very frustrating. In this article they also state they did not take her car a it is at least a little more of an office type media outlet http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/26/sad-days-harrington-family-coping-waiting/.

I just don't understand, if I was a reporter (which i'm definatly not) I would never publish a story where I just 'filled in the details' from stuff I read. If there was an issue of who drove I would get to the bottom of it before I printed it one way or the other. If I could not get solid info by my deadline I would say "it is unclear whether they took her car or not". Honestly I would feel like I had a responsiblilty to try to get the information out and to definatly not add to the confusion, but these people seem to not feel that way. :snooty:

So very true! Puzzling indeed -guess a lot of these links are popular local sites that just get info off each other

 

[Waddles]

At the very start we had this info, then the confusion started from mixed news reports

Rader also said that investigators are not searching for Harrington’s car because she rode in a friend’s car when they went to the concert.

Virginia State Police Lt. Joe Rader

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/UVAAGAT19_20091019-144001/300280/

 

[MBLover]

http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/26/sad-days-harrington-family-coping-waiting/

Even though this web-site has 'blog' in its addy, it does appear to be a legit news item (not like the other web-site that was posted earlier).

Also to the right of the page there are other articles regarding Morgan that are also done well.

Hawes Spencer - the reporter - seems to have interviewed the Harrington's in their home. This story also gives a little more of the family background.