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

[Mountain Mama]

According to the articles about today's search, LE were looking in the median. That seems odd.

According to posters on another site, there is video footage of the search. Evidently, LE were not acting like they were looking for something small.

The question that Walker raises about why didn't she get out of the car is a good question. Perhaps the passenger door doesn't have an inside handle, etc. OR....

Again, what if he was a cute perp. The Ted Bundy type. Charming at first. Could he have gotten her to go back to his house with him. Could something have gone on there, and then at some point late in the night he drove back to the parking area and dropped off the purse. Seems like a possibilty. I think its a local, who knows the area well. That is how they have been able to pull off such a crime as this.

 

[Walker]

According to the articles about today's search, LE were looking in the median. That seems odd.

According to posters on another site, there is video footage of the search. Evidently, LE were not acting like they were looking for something small.

The question that Walker raises about why didn't she get out of the car is a good question. Perhaps the passenger door doesn't have an inside handle, etc. OR....

Again, what if he was a cute perp. The Ted Bundy type. Charming at first. Could he have gotten her to go back to his house with him. Could something have gone on there, and then at some point late in the night he drove back to the parking area and dropped off the purse. Seems like a possibilty. I think its a local, who knows the area well. That is how they have been able to pull off such a crime as this.

How would it help him, though? He would be risking that his DNA or fingerprint was on the bag etc. & raising the suggestion of foul play.

 

[Walker]

Also, the perp would be risking that a witness might see him leaving the bag etc. there that night. Of course, the RV lot was described a "tree-shrouded," which might mean that the perp felt that he would likely not be observed in the early morning hours.

http://www.readthehook.com/blog/ind...fore-hitching-morgan-harrington-caused-worry/

Quote from the above link:

By 9:20pm— about 10 minutes before she was last seen on the bridge— according to the police timeline, Morgan was spotted in the RV Lot, directly across Copeley Road from the U-Hall lot and adjacent to the UVA track. ... According to several sources, members of UVA’s men’s basketball team were among the last to see Harrington in the grassy, tree-shrouded parking area before she was seen with her thumb out, hitching a ride on the bridge.

Could be that he was retaliating against the university itself? Say he had something personal against UVa. Killing a college girl might harm enrollment or the image of the school. Only the bag etc. links her disappearance to the university.

 

[Walker]

Might suggest someone in a more professional position. An ordinary worker (say in a cafeteria or grounds keeping position) who was (for example) fired might not be much aware of how highly colleges value their image or how important enrollment can be to funding. Could possibly point to an educated person with a major grudge against UVa & perhaps a history of mental problems.

 

[Walker]

That might be the type of person MH would trust, too. A well-spoken & possibly familiar person. Maybe she knew him as a distant acquaintance, and was unaware of any problems at UVa or mental instability. She saw him as a "friend of friends" or as a professional type.

 

[debirlfan]

The location of the purse still doesn't make a lot of sense to me - nor does the battery being out of the phone. I would be tempted to say that the battery had fallen out and become lost when she fell/tripped and injured herself - but that doesn't fit, because she used the phone after she was outside to communicate with her friend inside.

We know that according to witnesses, she was acting upset, yelling and kicking at things/people. Could she have been angry enough (either at the situation or at someone) to have thrown the purse? Possibly dislodging the battery in the process?

Alternately - I wonder how much stuff she had in the purse, and how heavy it was? Some girls carry a ton of stuff in their purse. If she intended to walk to the 7-11 for cigarettes or a cup of coffee, might she have just taken a few dollars with her and left the purse in the care of someone (the basketball players?) in the parking lot, with the intention of returning to pick it up in 10 or 15 minutes - and when she didn't come back, they just left it there and took off?

 

[Walker]

The location of the purse still doesn't make a lot of sense to me - nor does the battery being out of the phone. I would be tempted to say that the battery had fallen out and become lost when she fell/tripped and injured herself - but that doesn't fit, because she used the phone after she was outside to communicate with her friend inside.

We know that according to witnesses, she was acting upset, yelling and kicking at things/people. Could she have been angry enough (either at the situation or at someone) to have thrown the purse? Possibly dislodging the battery in the process?

Maybe she took her money out of the bag, and the rest of the things were easily replaceable. But one wonders about the camera (which may have been expensive) and the difficulty of replacing IDs. She would have to be severely impaired to throw her things away, and then not go back and pick them up again.

Alternately - I wonder how much stuff she had in the purse, and how heavy it was? Some girls carry a ton of stuff in their purse. If she intended to walk to the 7-11 for cigarettes or a cup of coffee, might she have just taken a few dollars with her and left the purse in the care of someone (the basketball players?) in the parking lot, with the intention of returning to pick it up in 10 or 15 minutes - and when she didn't come back, they just left it there and took off?

The 7-11 & back would only be a 15 minute trip?

The BB players (or some other person) would have told LE that she had given them the pocketbook etc., and they had left it in some particular spot for her (thinking her things would be safe enough for a short time period). Therefore, items that may have been contained in the bag would not be of particular interest to the case; since the bag would have been effectively abandoned property before MH's possible abduction.

 

[Walker]

Could she have been angry enough (either at the situation or at someone) to have thrown the purse? Possibly dislodging the battery in the process?

The battery would not have been far from where the pocketbook was located. Surely the immediate area was searched with a fine tooth comb?

 

[baadbobby]

Perhaps she was so UI of whatever, either by her own doing, or having been slipped something, or a combination, that she simply lost her stuff before wandering off into the night with her thumb out. She could have been "in and out of it." Perhaps she sat, fell, or passed out in Lannigan Field for a few minutes, got up and started walking, got away from her stuff before whatever else happened, happened. Perhaps she was seen hitchhiking, then made her way back to Lannigan field where something happened and she was removed from the area.

 

[Walker]

Maybe she sensed someone was following her a while after she left the BB players. Running, she threw away her pocketbook, and cell, hoping that they only wanted her valuables. She made it to the bridge, and she was so terrified, she decided to hitch a ride just to get away from the area asap. In this case, she would have been victimized 2x in rapid succession: 1st, by the potential mugger or harasser coming from the RV lot (who would have also taken the camera & the cell battery); 2nd by the driver of the car, who likely abducted her. This scenario is not impossible, but it seems unlikely.

Also, a woman in the situation of running away from a threat would be more likely to try to wave a car down & ask for help than to calmly hitch.

 

[Walker]

Perhaps she was so UI of whatever, either by her own doing, or having been slipped something, or a combination, that she simply lost her stuff before wandering off into the night with her thumb out. She could have been "in and out of it." Perhaps she sat, fell, or passed out in Lannigan Field for a few minutes, got up and started walking, got away from her stuff before whatever else happened, happened. Perhaps she was seen hitchhiking, then made her way back to Lannigan field where something happened and she was removed from the area.

That's a good explanation for how she and her things got separated; but what about the cell battery and the camera?

 

[baadbobby]

That's a good explanation for how she and her things got separated; but what about the cell battery and the camera?

It was not uncommon for her battery to come out of the phone, and with the reports of her dropping her purse in the lots, it's possible those two items were lost prior to the purse itself being lost. It is also possible that the place where the purse and cell phone were found, were not where Morgan lost them, she may have lost them elsewhere, and someone found them, pilfered them, and tossed them. The camera and battery may have been found, and we just aren't privy, or they went into a nearby storm drain, etc.

 

[MBLover]

If she was running from a threat...

Why run in the direction of darkness, towards the unknown, and not back towards the JPJ arena?

Could it also be possible that her purse was "dropped" elsewhere...someone walking later came across it...rumaged thru it while walking and when they didn't find anything they just simply dropped it where it was eventually found the next morning?

If MH trusted someone other than who she knew I could see it being anyone wearing a UVA identification badge...or some type of band ID...

Just throwin' it out there...

 

[Mountain Mama]

If she was running from a threat...Why run in the direction of darkness, towards the unknown, and not back towards the JPJ arena?...

After all those attempts to get back inside the JPJ, perhaps she did not believe that to be a viable avenue to safety. Maybe in her mind, being stuck outside of there was the cause of her problems; and she needed to find another solution...i.e hitch-hiking.

The hitching does seems illogical, but unless LE are trying to throw off the perp, I can't see why LE would be asking for witnesses to it. I agree, if one were being followed - it would be quicker to flag down cars.

On a separate topic. Something about the look in her eyes in the photos gives me the impression that she has experienced something quite disturbing in her life prior to this investigation. She looks sad.

 

[newshound6]

I totally agree with MB lover about the location of the purse MAYBE not meaning SO much because it easily could have been picked up by anyone the night of the 17th or the next morning.Picture somebody seeing a purse on the ground,picking it up checking it for valuables as they walk along then throwing it down. quite a ways from where it was picked up.There were lots of folks there walking.Somebody could have even "stolen" the phone battery out of that purse!

 

[evelyn24]

I keep reading things like "reports she was dropping her purse a lot" or "she was kicking people and things".
Is this confirmed by LE or just old rumors?

 

[Janeumayer]

I keep reading things like "reports she was dropping her purse a lot" or "she was kicking people and things".
Is this confirmed by LE or just old rumors?

It was the Hook that wrote something about it.

http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/15/concerned-witnesses-before-hitching-morgan-harrington-caused-worry/

 

[part time prof]

The location of the purse still doesn't make a lot of sense to me - nor does the battery being out of the phone. I would be tempted to say that the battery had fallen out and become lost when she fell/tripped and injured herself - but that doesn't fit, because she used the phone after she was outside to communicate with her friend inside.

We know that according to witnesses, she was acting upset, yelling and kicking at things/people. Could she have been angry enough (either at the situation or at someone) to have thrown the purse? Possibly dislodging the battery in the process?

Alternately - I wonder how much stuff she had in the purse, and how heavy it was? Some girls carry a ton of stuff in their purse. If she intended to walk to the 7-11 for cigarettes or a cup of coffee, might she have just taken a few dollars with her and left the purse in the care of someone (the basketball players?) in the parking lot, with the intention of returning to pick it up in 10 or 15 minutes - and when she didn't come back, they just left it there and took off?

I like this theory, but I think it then calls into question whether she was actually hitchhiking on the bridge (without her purse, if she left it with someone).

 

[nervous_nellie]

hi all, there is another missing girl in va, chesapeek va i dont know how far this is from morgan...this is a 19yr old girl i will leave the link...dont know if it could have anything to do with this??? so many missing around here...



http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/Chesapeake-teen-missing


eta

looks like 3hrs away - prolly nothing related...

 

[LLLindsayy]

hi all, there is another missing girl in va, chesapeek va i dont know how far this is from morgan...this is a 19yr old girl i will leave the link...dont know if it could have anything to do with this??? so many missing around here...



http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/Chesapeake-teen-missing


eta

looks like 3hrs away - prolly nothing related...

Pretty familiar with the 2 cities. Lived in VA 18 years... first in Chesapeake, then in Richmond. Charlottesville about 1 1/2 - 2 hours west of Richmond and Chesapeake 1 1/2 - 2 hrs east, so the 2 cities are roughly 3 1/2 - 4 hours apart. The cities are also very different -- something I think is worth taking into consideration.

Ones a mountainous area and the other is by the beach.