Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #7

[part time prof]

Excellent point on the two Sheetz's in Orange. I was fixated on the wrong one for awhile, as it shows up first in a google maps search, and the other one is buried below some other towns, iirc.

Okay I've gone back and looked and the official Sheetz website only gives one location in Orange that I can find...closest to there is 23 miles away, toward Fredericksburg. Is there a new one that isn't yet on the web listing? Did LE check the wrong surveillance tapes? I recall seeing somewhere the address of the Sheetz the woman was at, and it's not the one that shows up first on google maps, iirc.

The proximity of the Sheetz that does show up in Orange (where the unverified sighting was) to the Orange train station is causing some activity over at FB.

No Amtrak trains actually stop in Orange anymore, though, so she either would have had to walk the tracks to there or jumped (or been escorted) off at a non-standard stop, or hitched a ride to the Orange train station thinking that it's the next closest active station to Charlottesville, from which all trains had departed Saturday night. But if she walked the tracks then the dog presumably would have still had her trail.

 

[Janeumayer]

I am interested to know if the three basketball players that she was talking too include the two that were suspended. Also if the suspended basketball players have returned home or are still at classes and just not playing???

Maybe SecretAgentMom would know?

 

[part time prof]

This case is so troubling!

Here's what I can't get past:
1) If MY Dad bought tickets for ME and MY NINE friends to a SOLD OUT, much anticipated concert ... and I drove MY car... the odds of me leaving the concert and my car behind are ZIP - NADA.
2) The only one who could possibly know what Morgan said on that phone call would be one of the friends who stayed inside the concert.
3) No one can even be certain that Morgan actually made that call. The call came from that phone but we don't know that Morgan dialed that number.
4)Morgan was seen outside crying.
5)If Morgan had her phone, her mom and dad said it was very surprising that she would not have called them for a ride...
6) Why would she have called them for a ride when she had her own car?

Now the easy questions:
When I was 20, would I have worried about my safety on a cold, dark October evening in a large city I did not live in? Yes.
If I had my own car, would I have just gotten in it and locked the door? Yes.
Would I have left my purse and phone anywhere willingly? NO.
Would I have handed the keys of my own vehicle over to a gf when I had my purse with me? NO.
Do women that age ever get catty and turn on one another? Yes.

If I went to a concert with a friend that was locked outside, would I have assumed she would have just met up with someone none of us had ever heard of and hitched a ride in a different car when HER CAR WAS THERE and would I just GET IN HER CAR and LEAVE not knowing where she was? NOT IN A MILLION YEARS.

Something doesn't smell right.

Thanks for the post and nice list. I appreciated your input.

It's established that MH didn't drive from Harrisonburg, though it was her car. Many have speculated designated driver. Some have said if they themselves are the DD for their friends they keep the keys. Maybe not so unusual. It's been stated MH did not have her keys, though she did have her purse outside the arena.

Could they have given her keys to her to wait it out? Lots of people are speculating about that and blaming friends for not. Doesn't matter, really, imho. She didn't have them for whatever reason.

As for purse and phone left willingly, only two scenarios come to mind - leaving a clue to signal abduction or leaving no clue to facilitate running away. I don't know MH, but my read of the consensus is that she didn't simply up and go, if she was of her right mind. Amnesia, though, or some reduced mental acuity from the blow to her head (minor as the scratch/cut may have seemed), ingesting substances (planned or unplanned), or simply having low blood sugar or being severely dehydrated or hypothermic takes all rational thinking and throws it out, even to the point of literally hitchhiking, I fear.

Small point, but the show wasn't sold out, and we don't know if friends reimbursed MH or DH for the tickets or exactly how many of the nine were used (and what happened to the ones that weren't).

Parents probably said she could have called for a ride when they still believed the friends' initial story (I'm presuming) that they left MH's car in Harrisonburg.

What is the source of MH being seen crying outside the arena? I've not seen that. TIA.

 

[LLLindsayy]

RICHMOND, Va. (Nov. 13) -- Virginia State Police say they believe a Virginia Tech student missing for nearly a month was hitchhiking after she left a Metallica concert.
Police said Friday that witnesses saw a woman fitting the description of 20-year-old Morgan Dana Harrington on a bridge that crosses railroad tracks trying to get a ride.

http://news.aol.com/article/morgan-...organ-dana-harrington-seen-hitchhiking/730447



Sorry if this has been posted.

 

[Lindsaym]

One other reason why she might have thrown down her purse. I've always heard that if someone tries to mug you, you should throw your purse in one direction and run in the other. Maybe Morgan did this, not realizing that it wasn't her purse the assailant was after.

 

[Eclipse33]

There has been some question as to the timeline of the day after the concert, specifically when the purse was found and when the missing person report was received by police. Info on this can be found under "Crime Reports" on the UVA police website. The following entries presumably correspond to Harrington's purse and missing person report (8:19a and 1:40p, respectively). I'm posting this here because I haven't seen anyone else mention this resource.




http://www.virginia.edu/uvapolice/reports.html

Edit: I just checked a map for the location of "Cage Parking Lot" and it is actually on the other side of the bridge from where the purse was said to have been found. Another inconsistency, I guess...

http://www.virginia.edu/parking/documents/maps/BasketballParkingMap.pdf

2 Things...

I was looking at the UVA police reports page... and I found this:

"LARCENY FROM VEHICLE – The Park 200901369/22
Reported purse and contents stolen from vehicle
RPT: 2130 10-17-09 OCC: 1738 10-17-09 to 1755 10-17-09
CASE STATUS: Suspended"


Maybe there was a purse snatcher on campus that night?

Oh and not even a week later... an ID, visa and other cards were found in the JPJA parking lot. Hmmmm? This was probably about the time that MH's disappearance was making BIG news... headlines everywhere. Could these be her belongings?


"FOUND PROPERTY – 1800 JPA 200901402/56
Reported ID, Visa and other cards found in parking lot
RPT: 1030 10-23-09 OCC: 0745 10-23-09 to 0835 10-23-09
CASE STATUS: Active"

 

[Janeumayer]

2 Things...

I was looking at the UVA police reports page... and I found this:

"LARCENY FROM VEHICLE – The Park 200901369/22
Reported purse and contents stolen from vehicle
RPT: 2130 10-17-09 OCC: 1738 10-17-09 to 1755 10-17-09
CASE STATUS: Suspended"


Maybe there was a purse snatcher on campus that night?

Oh and not even a week later... an ID, visa and other cards were found in the JPJA parking lot. Hmmmm? This was probably about the time that MH's disappearance was making BIG news... headlines everywhere. Could these be her belongings?


"FOUND PROPERTY – 1800 JPA 200901402/56
Reported ID, Visa and other cards found in parking lot
RPT: 1030 10-23-09 OCC: 0745 10-23-09 to 0835 10-23-09
CASE STATUS: Active"

Good point. If you also check all the activity for October you can see a lot of Larceny and missing and/or stolen personal properties in the campus.

I also read somewhere that there are gangs in the area mugging people. It was a Charlottesville website with pictures of assailants and all the separate cases. There were a lot of them. Oh I found it on my history, here's the link: http://www.crimeincharlotte.com/

Mugging could have something to do with the left behind purse and the jewelry she was wearing.

 

[Eclipse33]

http://www.virginia.edu/uvapolice/saferide.html

Mission Statement: SafeRide’s purpose is to provide a safe passage for current students with vaild student IDs who would otherwise have to walk alone at night. The service began as a cooperative venture of Student Council and the University of Virginia Police Department in the late 1980s.

Hours of Operation
* Safe Rides Hours of Operation for the Summer Term are Midnight to 6 a.m everyday.


Service Area: See Saferide Map.

Map Information

Bus Routes

Contact Info: (Contact SafeRide after midnight only) 434-242-1122



Odd- UVA cares enough to provide a "safe ride" for their students...but not enough to provide it for visiting students. AND they don't seem to care enough about MH's disappearance on their campus and their possible BB stars involvement. Sad, truly sad.

 

[newshound6]

I also read somewhere that there are gangs in the area mugging people. It was a Charlottesville website with pictures of assailants and all the separate cases. There were a lot of them. Oh I found it on my history, here's the link: http://www.crimeincharlotte.com/


This site appears to be about Charlotte North Carolina

 

[Janeumayer]

Soooo sorry. What the heck! Like I said it was late last nite! OMG I can't believe I made such A big mistake. OK disregard my post.

 

[mark00]

2 Things...


Oh and not even a week later... an ID, visa and other cards were found in the JPJA parking lot. Hmmmm? This was probably about the time that MH's disappearance was making BIG news... headlines everywhere. Could these be her belongings?


"FOUND PROPERTY – 1800 JPA 200901402/56
Reported ID, Visa and other cards found in parking lot
RPT: 1030 10-23-09 OCC: 0745 10-23-09 to 0835 10-23-09
CASE STATUS: Active"

That's 1800 Jefferson Park Avenue. About a mile from the arena.

 

[newshound6]

About the ID, etc..found a week later, wasn't it stated from the VERY start that MH was without phone or ID? I took that to mean these items of hers were found in the purse.

 

[Janeumayer]

I wonder if there was any cash found in her purse? WHen mine was stolen and later found, everything was there except the cash.

 

[Janeumayer]

Does anyone know if there are any traffic light cams in the area? If LE thinks she hitched a ride then she should show up in one. We have these back home.

 

[part time prof]

One other reason why she might have thrown down her purse. I've always heard that if someone tries to mug you, you should throw your purse in one direction and run in the other. Maybe Morgan did this, not realizing that it wasn't her purse the assailant was after.

Excellent point! In fact, when in Philly I carry a separate "mugger's wallet" for precisely that purpose. Very plausible scenario, I think.

 

[part time prof]

Does anyone know if there are any traffic light cams in the area? If LE thinks she hitched a ride then she should show up in one. We have these back home.

Remember reading that there are, but that they don't operate continuously. They are turned on from a central location if there is a suspected problem at an intersection/locale that has one.

 

[part time prof]

I wonder if there was any cash found in her purse? WHen mine was stolen and later found, everything was there except the cash.

Yes, if the cash was still in the purse when it was found that would lend credence to the throwing the purse and running in the other direction theory. I don't recall reading anything one way or the other about this, though.

 

[Lindsaym]

Yes, if the cash was still in the purse when it was found that would lend credence to the throwing the purse and running in the other direction theory. I don't recall reading anything one way or the other about this, though.

Although if the cash were gone, it could have been taken out later, by somebody wandering by, or even the person who turned it in. I once left my wallet at a store and a couple hours later there was a big THUMP on my front porch. Somebody had done a drive-by wallet return. I was totally amazed and touched, and opened the wallet: everything was there (debit cards, credit cards, etc.) BUT my cash, which was gone. I admit, I was a little disgruntled at finding my good samaritan had taken $100! In reply, my friend said, "Hey, it's a finder's fee - you got all the other stuff back, so be grateful!" I suspect that's a pretty common attitude, unfortunately.

 

[Chili Fries]

I wonder if there was any cash found in her purse? WHen mine was stolen and later found, everything was there except the cash.

Yeah I've wondered if a third party walking over the bridge toward the arean found her purse on the bridge and stepped off into the secluded area of the RV lot to check it's contents. Then they discarded the purse after they took the cash or found none. Maybe the phone fell out of the purse then. That would require the coincidence of the purse winding up at a place Morgan was last seen of course. She could have put the purse on top of a car she entered on the bridge and not realized it when the car drove away, especially if she were intoxicated.

 

[lilacwine]

If she was seen getting in a car then wouldn't they have some type of description of the car? (per facebook report)

I still think the hitching thing is to smoke someone out