Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #9

[LogicalMinds]

Let's look at the theory that she was on the bridge hitchhiking and was picked up by a stranger who did her harm.

Really, how likely is it?

Yeah, there are pervs and killers out there. But what are the odds that during the what - half hour at most? - that she was on the bridge with her thumb stuck out, that someone warped enough to not only assault her but to either lock her away or dispose of her was in that particular spot? And that they were brazen enough to take her from a readily visible location?

If there was this kind of perp lurking in the area, there would be a long trail of bodies/disappearances in the area.

IMHO, it's much more likely that she called someone she knew (perhaps using a borrowed phone) and stuck her thumb out when she saw them coming. At which point she either disappeared because she wanted to, or because something went terribly wrong between her and her "ride".

The odds?? well...the same way the odds were against the young women that Ted Bundy killed...or so many others....

There are creeps out there....I can see some creep giving her a ride and "expecting" more...and getting angry if Morgan turned him down...and...

I think that is more likely than some huge conspiracy thing...

I also think it is very likely that she met a "cute" guy...who turned out to be a creep

Let's look at this "logically">> and using Occam's Razor type of deduction

when we hear of a baby/child "missing"....look to the family/neighbors/stepparent etc first

when we hear of a "young wife/mom/bride/fiancee" missing...look to the hubby/groom/fiancee/boyfriend

BUT...when we hear of a young woman missing..especially from a bar/concert/party...think about a "stranger" ...or a "friendly stranger"...or a "new friend"....someone they were attracted to

THINK back on years worth of Nancy Grace, etc....it often works out that way

I am going with the "simplest" idea....a new friend/pickup/cuteguy stranger....friendly...maybe goes to the same school (a lot of young people would feel that made them almost someone they "know")

I just don't believe Morgan is "hiding"....I don't think her brother/friends all conspired (I do think they have been laying low to keep their own privacy/lifestyles out of the picture)

JMO of course

 

[carbuff]

<snip>
Not sure what to make about what the searchers were told or not.
Heard different stories..
Maybe if Morgan had a small purse inside the pocketbook/backpack purse and they found the wallet small purse, yet not the pocketbook/backpack like one, then that would fit i suppose.
I remember hearing that searchers were told to look for items that would be in a purse and a camera, however not sure about the pocketbook/backpack thing.
<snip>

Hm, that makes me wonder whether they think Morgan herself threw the purse, and maybe suspect/hope that she threw other items to try to leave a "bread crumb trail"? In that case throwing the wallet first would make sense, because it's the only item that would really attract attention when it was found. Anybody can drop a hairbrush, for instance.

 

[Cardinal47]

I think we are at the point, two months, where unless LE gives the public more information we are just chasing our tails..round and round we go.

It would be helpful, if not hurting the case, to just clear up some of the misinformation.

I truly wonder how hard they are working this case? No news releases and the troubling part is that the reporters right in town are not even writing about this case.

Quite a "wall of silence".

 

[newshound6]

I've read on 2 other sites, and I guess confirmed by a news source that VSP are conducting a foot search of Rte.64 between mile markers 112-114 this is approx. 4 miles west of Charlottesville related to the MH case. Allegedly this is a routine search NOT based on any new leads.

 

[patriciah]

I agree about the wall of silence. Maybe it's understandable if there is a POI but if there is not, it doesn't make sense to me. I don't understand the apparent lockdown on photos either. I know the photos posted the other night cause a controversy, but what stood out most to me was that she looked different than in the photos posted by the media. I think in a missing persons case, the more photos released the better. Maybe the person who posted acquired them by illegal means, but I am surprised more photos haven't surfaced, given her age, technology and the prevalence of social networking websites in today's society.

I think we are at the point, two months, where unless LE gives the public more information we are just chasing our tails..round and round we go.

It would be helpful, if not hurting the case, to just clear up some of the misinformation.

I truly wonder how hard they are working this case? No news releases and the troubling part is that the reporters right in town are not even writing about this case.

Quite a "wall of silence".

 

[hoppyfrog]

I've read on 2 other sites, and I guess confirmed by a news source that VSP are conducting a foot search of Rte.64 between mile markers 112-114 this is approx. 4 miles west of Charlottesville related to the MH case. Allegedly this is a routine search NOT based on any new leads.

Please post a link.

Thanks,

Hoppy
mod

 

[redmeli]

Link to WDBJ7 re: I-64 search today

http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=11686077#

 

[winterrose]

Well,that makes me wonder if someone found something of hers in that area between those mile markers.You don't just search a stretch like that out of the blue,that is not routine.It's like saying,"Oh,we just decided to search between these two mile markers on 95."No way,something was found or someone saw something or her,like a reported sighting,her walking or something specific.

We know it's not her purse or cell.

 

[redmeli]

Well,that makes me wonder if someone found something of hers in that area between those mile markers.You don't just search a stretch like that out of the blue,that is not routine.It's like saying,"Oh,we just decided to search between these two mile markers on 95."No way,something was found or someone saw something or her,like a reported sighting,her walking or something specific

I agree. And, IIRC, a blogger on another site specifically mentioned MM 112-113 in one of her blogs about Morgan weeks ago. Think I'll go back and read it again.

 

[winterrose]

I agree. And, IIRC, a blogger on another site specifically mentioned MM 112-113 in one of her blogs about Morgan weeks ago. Think I'll go back and read it again.

Hm,they could just be following up on that tip then,if that's the case and the tip was weeks ago,geesh.

 

[redmeli]

Arggh! Can't find the reference to it now. Maybe I dreamed it. Am hoping someone else will remember reading it and confirm.

 

[newshound6]

Thank goodness somebody else posted the link I don't know how to do it, also at Newsplex.com there is more about this and a short video of the search.

 

[Ghostmaster]

Here is a link to a follow up article on the I-64 search today. The search was over very quickly lasting less than two hours. An interesting fact given that a dozen LEO were participating. I would take that to mean that they found out very early on that whatever they were looking for was not there or they did find something. The article says they found nothing new but one never knows. Please pay attention to the last two paragraphs of the article. They are VERY interesting as they relate to the route Morgan would have taken if she got a ride back to JMU or Roanoke. Note the part about the wooded area.

Tomorrow marks the second full month Morgan has been unaccounted for. Please remember the family and Morgan in your thoughts and prayers.

http://www.newsplex.com/news/headlines/79411157.html

 

[Wes]

Arggh! Can't find the reference to it now. Maybe I dreamed it. Am hoping someone else will remember reading it and confirm.

I remember some mention of a mile marker on Skyline drive, like 105 or something. I don't recall if it was on the FB site or Blinks.

 

[zwartekat]

I don't think it was premeditated, either. But I don't think it was a random abduction.

Yeah, I know, been thinking about it... it'd have to be someone she knew, or at least someone she trusted. I don't think the FB events had anything to do with it, because it'd be really hard for an average stranger to spot a certain girl in that huge crowd :banghead:

 

[Walker]

I agree about the wall of silence. Maybe it's understandable if there is a POI but if there is not, it doesn't make sense to me. I don't understand the apparent lockdown on photos either. I know the photos posted the other night cause a controversy, but what stood out most to me was that she looked different than in the photos posted by the media. I think in a missing persons case, the more photos released the better. Maybe the person who posted acquired them by illegal means, but I am surprised more photos haven't surfaced, given her age, technology and the prevalence of social networking websites in today's society.

I agree. The more photos, the better. In the removed set of photos, she comes across as a typical college girl.

To a certain extent, the photos also seem to indicate that she liked to get attention: we can consider the possibility that she may have been overstressed and staged this disappearance deliberately to be our best-case scenario. Let's be optimistic: the explanation that she just simply ran away cannot be ruled out yet.

Something about this case is "politically incorrect." Maybe just the fact that so many of our college campuses are crime-ridden and unsafe; not to mention the level of violent crime in rural Virginia being so apparently high. Therefore, national attention is being stifled; which is most unfortunate, since likely if she were hiding out somewhere, she would choose a large city in which she had a few close ties.

Also, the lone & unknown predator picking her up in his vehicle on the bridge is a likely explanation, but certain questions arise:

1. Why did the predator immediately decide to throw her bag & cell out the window on UVa property?

2. How did he accomplish this act, if he were alone? He could hardly have pulled the bag & cell away with one hand, while presumably still driving. Or did he pull over, and in this case, would there have been some type of struggle at the conclusion of which he threw her bag etc. out of the vehicle & drove off with her still in the vehicle? Why did she not then manage to gain the attention of witnesses with an expression of extreme distress or attempt to remove herself from the vehicle?

3. Even if MH were hitchhiking, the probability that she was picked up immediately by a calculating murderer remains low. Two male predators in the car could easily have overpowered her; but the likelihood of being attacked by a team of two random & calculating murderers is even lower.

Throwing away the bag & cell seems personal; possibly the gesture of an angry BF? Or the gesture of MH herself, if she had decided to vanish dramatically?

 

[winterrose]

Arggh! Can't find the reference to it now. Maybe I dreamed it. Am hoping someone else will remember reading it and confirm.

I do that all the time,if I don't copy and paste link or info to notepad to a case,I forget where I read it.But,also LE could be asking some things to be taken down if it's imporant to the case and they want it kept quiet.

 

[carbuff]

re: the odds of being picked up by a serial killer while walking to 7-11 to get some cash? Probably a million to one. But if you look at it from the other direction -- purely fictional example here -- a serial killer out looking for a victim, driving around this campus because pretty college girls are easy prey. Suddenly, in his headlights, a blonde on a dark bridge, walking alone.

All of a sudden the odds are one hundred percent.

 

[Walker]

Please pay attention to the last two paragraphs of the article. They are VERY interesting as they relate to the route Morgan would have taken if she got a ride back to JMU or Roanoke. Note the part about the wooded area.

She would have been headed westward on the bridge to get back to JMU/Roanoke; but her bag etc. were found farther eastward. Therefore, if she were attacked by a predator, he would have had to double back to plant them on UVa property.

 

[part time prof]

Please pay attention to the last two paragraphs of the article. They are VERY interesting as they relate to the route Morgan would have taken if she got a ride back to JMU or Roanoke. Note the part about the wooded area.

She would have been headed westward on the bridge to get back to JMU/Roanoke; but her bag etc. were found farther eastward. Therefore, if she were attacked by a predator, he would have had to double back to plant them on UVa property.

And actually, since there is only a sidewalk on one side of the bridge (the one closer to town...east?...), and cars pulling over to pick up someone from the sidewalk would be pointing away from the Ivy Road/Copeley Road intersection (but toward Lannigan Field), it's even more confusing to me. To get to I-64 going west out of town would then require a U-turn, or going around the block, or something (but would be consistent with tossing the purse into the lot immediately before speeding away). I've always wondered if she caught a ride not on the bridge, but at the Ivy/Copeley intersection itself, in which case 250 heads straight out of town and meets up with 64 fairly soon.