VA - Hannah Elizabeth Graham, 18, Charlottesville, 13 Sept 2014 - #4

[Heroine]

You guys are acting like he followed her for blocks and blocks!!! As far as we know, he followed her a few steps and then stopped when BG came around. His story is that he stopped following her when BG walked up and put his arm around Hannah. The police have the videos and would know if his story was false or not. They haven't stated that he is anything other than a witness, and the POI doesn't match his description, so why harp on him?

Why isn't BG gross for walking up to a strange girl and putting his arm around her? THAT is far more weird IMO. BG doesn't look like a college student; I wonder how much older he is than Hannah... and HE put his hands on Hannah, not WG.

Because we don't know that he was a stranger to her do we? IMO she didn't seemed too distressed by the BG. It is weird if she didn't know him. But even so I don't know which I would run from first especially if I knew the other guy was already following me.

 

[Fireweed]

I have no idea what part this older man plays in this case.
If I listen to what LE is saying, he seems to be nothing more than a witness.
I agree, it seems odd for a man to be following a young girl late at night.
But seriously, we do not know any of the details.

I keep seeing the group of young men behind her and i strongly feel they could have made her nervous
And I can understand that this man may have overheard things and just put himself between her and the group

I do not think that the old guy has anything to do with her disappearance; I just want to make it clear to all the men on this board: following a woman or girl is not a "white knight" activity. I have had this happen to me and it was the most terrifying thing that I have ever experienced. If you think a woman genuinely needs help, then following her is about the least helpful thing you can do. Call the police or ask her if she needs help, but do not just follow her. If a woman is drunk, disoriented and distressed, then her realizing some man is following her is going to make her whole situation about 1000 times worse. Do not follow a woman. Call the cops or offer to help but do not follow her. Again, this happened to me once and it left me distressed for days. I thought for sure the man was going to attack me and rape me and possibly kill me. I have never been so scared in my life.

Guys, following a woman who is alone at 1 am is NOT a helpful thing.

 

[cluciano63]

He may have meant well (white man) but felt he could not approach the man who came up to Hannah for various reasons. I.e not to look racist, etc and maybe she seemed to respond to him.

 

[SheltieMom1]

actually a 14 yo would be pedophilia.

Doesn't it depend on whether the child is pubescent? 14 years old would almost certainly be considered well into puberty, or at least entering it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia

Veering into OT category, I'm afraid...

 

[Fireweed]

Completely agree. Imagine you see a driver in distress and you respond by tailgating them. It makes a potentially dangerous situation much more dangerous. Such behavior can cause people to panic and make unwise choices. Personally, I find it suspicious, but even if it was innocent, it was unwise, IMHO. If he was truly concerned, he could've asked her if she was okay or continued walking a little ahead of her with an ear open. At the very least, he could have walked significantly behind her, rather than popping out of a doorway and silently trailing her at an intimidatingly close distance.

All of the above is just my opinion.

Yes that is the point. I like your driver analogy. I think that some men just do not get this one simple thing: you may know that you are not dangerous, but we women do not know that about you.

If Hannah thought she were being followed, then I could very easily see her happily taking the assistance of another man who just "appeared" not threatening.

Never, ever follow a woman who is in this situation. You will just set her into panic mode.

 

[bellesnwhistles]

http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/apa/4615326826.html

So, this is interesting, no?

That is interesting..

 

[Skigirl]

Sorry but I think that a man just following a girl around is very, very weird. It is one thing to look, and it is one thing to approach her and ask her if she needs some help, but just following her? If I noticed a man was following me I would be terrified. It is not normal, "protective" behavior, period. It is a best a very, very misguided notion of "helping" a vulnerable girl.

If I caught a man doing to me what WG was doing to Hannah in the footage then I would call the cops and get the eff out of there. I sure as sheet would not take a chance that he was "just trying to help".

I'm a petite woman and even I've followed women who seem to be vulnerable, at least for a few steps while debating if she's really in trouble or if I'm being paranoid and deciding whether or not I should intervene or if that would just be weird. I've even circled a block in my car after passing a dressed-up, drunk, crying college-age woman who was walking alone in the rain to offer her a ride (she accepted). I mean, it isn't always creepy to try to help and not quite know what to do.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/apa/4615326826.html

So, this is interesting, no?

Kinda....
What it instantly said to me was that maybe some of the units in 164 were empty.
An empty unit may have been used for something not good.
All units in 164 were searched.

 

[Ashley114]

Current thoughts: They are searching ALL 4 units in the building. They very well may have checked out and released residents of units in the building that were not their suspect, or specifically owners of the car. Now we see the CL ad that a unit is for rent there. It could be completely empty. This is frightening. Maybe the car belongs to the owner of one of the units, or a handyman working on the unit before it is rented.

 

[bellesnwhistles]

I think we should lay off the WG because it seems like LE wouldn't be where they are if it weren't for his help

 

[Detective40oz]

http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/apa/4615326826.html

So, this is interesting, no?

OT: I find it interesting that a 2 bedroom goes for only $800, we pay about $1,800 up here in Northern VA :tantrum:

 

[klily444]

It is effing disgusting what that man was doing. It is not normal and was obviously being done in a leering fashion. I understand that men like to check women out and ogle them, but actually following a woman is totally creepy to me and I do not care what people here are saying in his defense. Surreptitiously following a teenage girl around is very disturbing to me.

Perhaps he will join Websleuth's. He already has a built in user name. Just trying to bring some humor around.

 

[wendle83]

Thread is flying and emotions are high.

People have lost a little focus, but I guess it shows that we are passionate about these types of things. Personally, I need to step away from this a bit.

 

[wendle83]

OT: I find it interesting that a 2 bedroom goes for only $800, we pay about $1,800 up here in Northern VA :tantrum:

Trust me. There is a reason IMO that the rent is so low. I'm picky about where I live and I wouldn't live over there. JMO.

 

[Skigirl]

Am I the only one who finds it strange that 3 people were found in the apartment and we have 3 possible perps (CWG, Dreadhead, Bald Guy)? Is it possible they followed one guy back to this location where the three were meeting to get their alibi's together? Just a thought, I still think all 3 could be involved

It would certainly tie everything up in a neat bow and make most of us correct about a lot of things we've posted... this just doesn't seem very likely to me. I mean, anything is possible, but my guess is that there aren't three people.

 

[Justice101]

An older man APPROACHING a casually walking young woman would have alarmed HER and would be CREEPY. He kept his distance just to keep an eye on her as a buffer to the group that got his attention.

Until you are a father of a 20 year old young woman like me.. you have no earthly idea how powerful the instinct of protecting someone her age would be.. unless you were a man. I would not have made the move to close the distance to intervene unless I saw someone get too close or touch her in a manner that she was unwilling.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth. You've got to trust at face value that if the cops said WG was not involved and was concerned about her safety, that this is correct.

 

[Thumbelina]

I could barely sleep last night for thinking of this case, and I realize it's because I know I, or one of my closest friends, could have easily been Hannah. We made decisions to leave parties or walk places alone at night when we first got to college that seem so dangerous in hindsight. I am just so sad for Hannah, for her family and for her friends. Women shouldn't run the risk of never being able to return home when they venture outside at night. It just shouldn't be that way.

Hopefully there are answers soon. It seems, thankfully, like the police are at least heading in that direction.

 

[Zinn]

Yes that is the point. I like your driver analogy. I think that some men just do not get this one simple thing: you may know that you are not dangerous, but we women do not know that about you.

If Hannah thought she were being followed, then I could very easily see her happily taking the assistance of another man who just "appeared" not threatening.

Never, ever follow a woman who is in this situation. You will just set her into panic mode.

BBM. Yep, I have done this very thing. Took a chance on a stranger to flee from another stranger. I also once knocked on a stranger's door to escape someone following me in a car. Both times I was young and panicked and anything seemed safer than allowing the person following me to gain control.

 

[MOMDET]

Sorry but I think that a man just following a girl around is very, very weird. It is one thing to look, and it is one thing to approach her and ask her if she needs some help, but just following her? If I noticed a man was following me I would be terrified. It is not normal, "protective" behavior, period. It is a best a very, very misguided notion of "helping" a vulnerable girl.

If I caught a man doing to me what WG was doing to Hannah in the footage then I would call the cops and get the eff out of there. I sure as sheet would not take a chance that he was "just trying to help".

I agree 100% a man following around a young girl at that time of night! Creepy! If he were concerned for her instead of hiding in the store front wouldn't he have slowed up and just asked her if she were ok? That story doesn't fly with me. I've seen people I believed to be in distress and have asked them the same?

 

[SheRuns]

http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/apa/4615326826.html

So, this is interesting, no?

note it states available on oct 4