it reminds me of Maura Murray's case. Because Morgan Harrington is of legal age, according to law (and I am not agreeing with the sentiment of this, just simply stating), she is allowed to voluntarily go missing. Police get thousands of MP cases every day and only a handful a year might be a person taken against their will. If she left of her own volition, then it ceases to become a priority. that's what happened in Maura's case, which was so frustrating - police said that it appeared that she had left her car voluntarily after having
an accident, and since she had also left school mysteriously for reasons no one who knew her could figure out, they stubbornly stuck to the creed that "adults have a right to go missing". And when people disappear off the face of the earth without any sign of a struggle, it's even harder - the cops have nothing to work with, and other cases take higher priority. (In the case of Brooke Wilberger, for example, because the cops had found one of her flip-flops in the parking lot, IMO they took it as a sign of a struggle and could investigate it at a higher priority, because who goes voluntarily missing with just one shoe?) I would also factor in that most state budgets are either frozen or experiencing drastic cuts right now and have been for the past year or two - I know that in Massachusetts, our governor had to drastically cut back certain squads in the police department - detectives and cops on horseback were laid off. Other states are losing their cold case departments and gang squads. State crime labs are backed up too. I don't know what Virginia's current financial standing is, but this could be playing a part in it. (just my opinion, of course)
