Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #13

[SusanB]

First of all welcome kwatmac to Websleuths - I just love new opinions and views! :Welcome-12-june:
Logical, thanks for your posts. I always get great insights from you. I agree about the "woulda-coulda-shoulda", hindsight is always 20/20.
IMO this was a combination of factors - and Morgan was in the wrong place with some bad luck and circumstances. Broken phone, possibly under influence w/ less good judgment, got stuck outside of the arena, keys w/ friends inside, little or no money, among others.
IMO she was picked up by a person with bad intentions, although she did not know it, and accepted a ride.
This person probably started out acting like a good samaritan, was likable and non-threatening, offering to help her out since she was stuck until the concert was over, or else he offered to give her a ride home.
Unfortunately, he probably made the move on her, she totally rejected him and fought back, he got mad, and killed her.
I still believe that he is a local man, and just saw her by chance walking around, maybe on the bridge. A chance encounter -and Morgan became a victim.

 

[nostoneunturned]

Prayers for her family..and friends

 

[olive]

I'm not big on psychics...but I've always considered the possibility that a very few people might have legitimate gifts, it's just the wannabes that ruin it. Anyway, I thought this was an interesting read- some article from Nov. concerning a psychic and Morgan's case. The intriguing part is her comment about a landscaper being involved considering the location that Morgan's remains were found. http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/n..._on_the_missing_from_the_psychic_realm/48351/

 

[Indianagirl]

First of all welcome kwatmac to Websleuths - I just love new opinions and views! :Welcome-12-june:
Logical, thanks for your posts. I always get great insights from you. I agree about the "woulda-coulda-shoulda", hindsight is always 20/20.
IMO this was a combination of factors - and Morgan was in the wrong place with some bad luck and circumstances. Broken phone, possibly under influence w/ less good judgment, got stuck outside of the arena, keys w/ friends inside, little or no money, among others.
IMO she was picked up by a person with bad intentions, although she did not know it, and accepted a ride.
This person probably started out acting like a good samaritan, was likable and non-threatening, offering to help her out since she was stuck until the concert was over, or else he offered to give her a ride home.
Unfortunately, he probably made the move on her, she totally rejected him and fought back, he got mad, and killed her.
I still believe that he is a local man, and just saw her by chance walking around, maybe on the bridge. A chance encounter -and Morgan became a victim.

I completely agree! This is the theory I envision as well!

 

[Walker]

Hello to all...

Walker...good point about COD (however I think it was Gil, Mrs H who said that about ... ultrasound to etc

Emily Friedman of ABC News has done a very poor job of reporting.

This link goes to the actual family blog:
http://findmorgan.com/category/family-blog

Quote from the above link:

Gil’s thoughts from January 31st
January 31, 2009
Clouds were mottled, purple bruises over the Blue Ridge as we drove over Afton Mountain to reclaim the skelontinized remains of our precious daughter, Morgan Dana Harrington.

We had tried to prepare ourselves for this eventuality for three months, but the reality of it is sharp and disorienting. How could someone have erased so much of what Morgan was and reduced her to a jumbled heap of bones? What a waste, what a desecration, a gross injustice.

Who would ever have thought it would be mine to see every image of Morgan’s life – from her first faint shadows on fetal ultrasound to the gaping orbital hollows in her skull? An abomination to witness this ending.

And yet there is growing peace. We realize Morgan has been dead for some time. Perhaps even since the day of the concert, October 17, 2009. Morgan Dana Harrington has been at peace, beyond pain and suffering, knowing that brings us some peace also.

Once her body is restored to us and put to rest, we can finally begin the hard work of grieving and growing strong as a triangulated family. Bless all of you who have held us up on this journey. My Darling Morgan!

2 4 1

Yet the ABC link tells us that her father DH wrote the comment.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/virginia-tech-student-morgan-harringtons-death-ruled-homicide/story?id=9740132

Quote from ABC News reporter Emily Friedman:

In a chilling blog entry on Jan. 31 on a Web site dedicated to Harrington, the girl's father, Dan Harrington, wrote about retrieving his dead daughter's body after months of hoping she'd be found alive.

"How could someone have erased so much of what Morgan was and reduced her to a jumbled heap of bones?" wrote Dan Harrington. "Who would ever have thought it would be mine to see every image of Morgan's life – from her first faint shadows on fetal ultrasound to the gaping orbital hollows in her skull? An abomination to witness this ending."

Mainstream media news reporting has gone severely downhill in the quality and detail of its coverage.

This woman, Emily Friedman, has also been severely criticized for ignorant comments regarding the US income tax structure.

Link to New Republic article, entitled "Wealthy Idiots Meet Idiot Reporter" (might disappear fast):
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache...+meet+idiot+reporter&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

We have a very serious problem in this case and many other cases when our mainstream news reporters are evidently idiots who do not even check quotations cited in their stories. My assumption had been an ABC news link would be reasonably credible, but evidently these people do not even respect the US public enough to do obvious fact-checking.

I certainly apologize for citing ABC News, and I will never even bother to read their site (except for laughs) again.

 

[Dallasdon]

Emily Friedman of ABC News has done a very poor job of reporting.

I put an equal amount of blame on the editor- their job is to prevent this type of reporting (and the tax story is a real good example).

 

[Ghostmaster]

There has been some speculation that Morgan’s death may have been an accident. Be it a drug overdose, a good time gone wrong, dying from exposure or even being struck by an automobile. Morgan Harrington was murdered. We are yet to learn if it was premeditated or otherwise. But make no mistake, she was murdered. This was released today.

Geller said they are treating Morgan's death as a murder. They have ruled out an accidental death. And with every passing day, they say they are getting closer to solving this case

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/84050762.html

 

[Calliope]

Interesting posts. Regarding her alleged comment to her friend that she'd 'find her way home' and being reported hitchhiking, I'm sorry but that just doesn't make sense. It's not as if she lived in the area; we're talking a 2-3 hour drive by interstate, either to Roanoke (parents) or Blacksburg where she lived. You don't stand on a bridge in Charlottesville hitchhiking to get back to Roanoke/Blacksburg. IF that was her on the bridge, she was trying to get to someone she knew in Charlottesville. IF she told her friend that, I believe it's because she met up with someone she knew (even peripherally) from Roanoke or VT.

 

[Walker]

I'm curious about how many of the land owners around Anchorage Farms have dogs. In rural neighborhoods almost everyone has a dog or two. I think it would be interesting to know if Mr. B & his daughter have dogs. A crime occuring in the middle of the night, with a vehicle driving around would not necessarily wake up sleeping people, but dogs would likely bark at an unusual noise. JMO
As has been said before, if the perp is as knowledgable about AF as believed, he would take the dog situation into account. It narrows down the ways he could access the place without getting the dogs in an uproar.

Mr. Bass’ farmhouse is close to half a mile away from the site where MH’s body was found

Link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...ge+Farm,+Charlottesville,+Albemarle,+Virginia.

 

[nostoneunturned]

I wonder if MR Bass or local owners have been contacted about having a Bonnaroo?
They are usually held on large farms the one held in 2008 was on a 700 acre farm?

 

[wadahoot]

In the comments for the story that was linked above http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=11101808092903167&ShowArticle_ID=11800802104209643 the comment at 815pm says,

There were police outside the stadium the ENTIRE time. All she needed to do was ask for help.

Is that accurate? I've followed every post on WS about Morgan, and honestly don't recall much, if anything, being said about a police presence that night. Anyone?

 

[Waddles]

Hi Wadahoot, I too don't ever recall any mention of any police presence... nor even the question being raised. Just security officers.

 

[cianne]

Is that accurate? I've followed every post on WS about Morgan, and honestly don't recall much, if anything, being said about a police presence that night. Anyone?

I'd take that with a grain of salt unless someone who was there can say otherwise. There were probably a handful of cops there for "just in case" situations, like if an arrest were necessary, but i doubt the perimeter of the arena was crawling with LE.

 

[clarabelle]

There has been some speculation that Morgan’s death may have been an accident. Be it a drug overdose, a good time gone wrong, dying from exposure or even being struck by an automobile. Morgan Harrington was murdered. We are yet to learn if it was premeditated or otherwise. But make no mistake, she was murdered. This was released today.

Geller said they are treating Morgan's death as a murder. They have ruled out an accidental death. And with every passing day, they say they are getting closer to solving this case

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/84050762.html

Her death was ruled a homicide not a murder which still leaved alot open to interpretation until more info is released

homicide
n. the killing of a human being due to the act or omission of another. Included among homicides are murder and manslaughter, but not all homicides are a crime, particularly when there is a lack of criminal intent. Non-criminal homicides include killing in self-defense, a misadventure like a hunting accident or automobile wreck without a violation of law like reckless driving, or legal (government) execution. Suicide is a homicide, but in most cases there is no one to prosecute if the suicide is successful. Assisting or attempting suicide can be a crime.
http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=881

 

[clarabelle]

Some thoughts...
Morgan left the concert building by choice (not to smoke or use bathroom). The friends kiss on the cheek says to me that they did not intend to see each other for a while. I think she intended to meet up with someone, they didn't show, and she tried to get back into the concert but couldn't. did she eventually meet her friend and thats why she was hitchhiking because she saw his car? i doubt she went off with a stranger. I'm sure one of her friends could have brought out money to buy a ticket from a scalper. If that was asked or offered. I am sure its known by police who she was meeting and what her plans were. But since her plans may not have worked out where was she intending to go? A local party or a nearby friends house would have been good options since she had to know that no one would drive her back to Harrisonburg (correct place?)

 

[NightFire]

Hello!

Just thought I'd pop in and say hello as I've followed this case on the news from the beginning, I really hope they find out what happened to her soon - for her poor familys sake.

I don't really have anything to add in terms of what may have happened, really I just don't know. There are too many ifs and maybes. I don't live in the US, so I don't know anything about concerts etc there, or the area, and I am only new to the whole sleuthing thing - so I will watch and learn from you guys!

 

[Calliope]

I'd take that with a grain of salt unless someone who was there can say otherwise. There were probably a handful of cops there for "just in case" situations, like if an arrest were necessary, but i doubt the perimeter of the arena was crawling with LE.

That person said there were police outside the stadium. Not one thing about the 'perimeter of the arena crawling' with cops.

 

[Waddles]

Hello!

Just thought I'd pop in and say hello as I've followed this case on the news from the beginning, I really hope they find out what happened to her soon - for her poor familys sake.

I don't really have anything to add in terms of what may have happened, really I just don't know. There are too many ifs and maybes. I don't live in the US, so I don't know anything about concerts etc there, or the area, and I am only new to the whole sleuthing thing - so I will watch and learn from you guys!

Welcome NightFire! Don't hesitate to post your ideas. I live all the way away in Europe too and have been following very closely from Day 1:Welcome-12-june::balloons::newbie:

 

[Ghostmaster]

Hi Wadahoot, I too don't ever recall any mention of any police presence... nor even the question being raised. Just security officers.

As far as a police presence goes, I have read several recaps of the arrests made that evening by the C’ville and UVA police departments at the JPJ that night. There were about 4 arrests made for drunk in public between 9pm and 9:45pm outside that night on the grounds of the JPJ, adding further mystery to why no one saw MH if she was indeed stumbling through the parking lots. If you Google arrest information 17 Oct. JPJ, you can find it or look back on this forum. It was also discussed at length on the family’s forum some time back. The bottom line was that there was a huge police presence that night at the concert, both uniformed and undercover, inside and outside. After all, this was Metallica and they were taking no chances. Below is one of several links out there that call attention to this fact. Look under Oct. 21 for this quote.

Avid heavy metal fan and CBS19 Chief Meteorologist Travis Koshko attended the Metallica concert Saturday night, and he says it was the safest metal concert he's seen.

"The thing that surprised me the most of all about this concert was how calm it was and how safe and in control the security was in the venue. There were policemen inside and outside.

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/64718837.html

 

[Waddles]

As far as a police presence goes, I have read several recaps of the arrests made that evening by the C’ville and UVA police departments at the JPJ that night. There were about 4 arrests made for drunk in public between 9pm and 9:45pm outside that night on the grounds of the JPJ, adding further mystery to why no one saw MH if she was indeed stumbling through the parking lots. If you Google arrest information 17 Oct. JPJ, you can find it or look back on this forum. It was also discussed at length on the family’s forum some time back. The bottom line was that there was a huge police presence that night at the concert, both uniformed and undercover, inside and outside. After all, this was Metallica and they were taking no chances. Below is one of several links out there that call attention to this fact. Look under Oct. 21 for this quote.

Avid heavy metal fan and CBS19 Chief Meteorologist Travis Koshko attended the Metallica concert Saturday night, and he says it was the safest metal concert he's seen.

"The thing that surprised me the most of all about this concert was how calm it was and how safe and in control the security was in the venue. There were policemen inside and outside.

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/64718837.html

Ah Yes of course- Good point, I had forgotten about this completely, I had read the arrests info too back then, thank you for link too