Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #8

[kikid]

If we were to completely rule out Morgan leaving of her own free will or being drunk and passing out somewhere and freezing to death, then ... If I were a profiler, which I am not, I would say that based upon the following:

a) no body yet found/discovered
b) no abduction seen by eyewitnesses (although plenty of other sightings)
c) no evidence found on her purse/belongings

that this is a local, someone known by Morgan (either family friend/relative/acquaintance), and that the body has been "Hidden".

I don't buy the random abduction, nothing is really "Random". If it was a "stranger" abduction, then he would have had to have been stalking her.

Both LE and Morgan's family initially said that Morgan didn't know anyone in Charlottesville - yet on the most recent video of her family on the bridge at Thanksgiving it stated they always spent Thanksgiving at a friends house in Charlottesville? so she must have known at least these people - friends of her families. If she knew these people, she probably knew their relatives/children/neighbors???? see.... you start there and branch out.

I think that is why LE is trying to find someone who let Morgan use their phone to make a call.... because it is most likely she met up with someone she knew, even vaguely - to pass the time that evening.

 

[21merc7]

IMO, the way Morgan's brother dresses is not bizarre, neither is his sexual orientation or anything else about him. It's also irrelevant to the case.
Maybe he realizes that others may not be so openminded so he chooses to keep a low profile to keep the focus off him and staying on Morgan.

Quite true. Just trying to find himself, and it is best to leave family out. I do feel this was either a happen chance taking, or a chosen route for Morgan. I would like to think chosen, but knowing the area and what little is known about her and the situation, I still wonder. I do think that LE has something. That something and the way the information is given tells me LE knows what the situation is good or bad.

 

[Walker]

I thought from the beginning Dad said Morgan had no boyfriend? Or are you referrring to the mysterious b/f of one of the friends?

Surely mom & dad don't know everything. Morgan had her own place after all.

MOO the young black man standing behind Morgan looks more like a friend. I think Morgan would have gone for a big athlete or a bad boy.

Can't really tell in that picture. The tall blond guy has his hand on the leftmost blond girl's shoulder & looks like a BB player (long arms, large hand, very short hair, tee shirt). The young Black man may be the same man she was sitting with in the classroom photo.

Classroom photo:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...d=162224546575&id=505480153&fbid=289009060153

Enlarge & zoom the attached group photo: JMO their facial hair is similar.

 

[Walker]

If we were to completely rule out Morgan leaving of her own free will or being drunk and passing out somewhere and freezing to death, then ... If I were a profiler, which I am not, I would say that based upon the following:

a) no body yet found/discovered
b) no abduction seen by eyewitnesses (although plenty of other sightings)
c) no evidence found on her purse/belongings

that this is a local, someone known by Morgan (either family friend/relative/acquaintance), and that the body has been "Hidden".

I don't buy the random abduction, nothing is really "Random". If it was a "stranger" abduction, then he would have had to have been stalking her.

Both LE and Morgan's family initially said that Morgan didn't know anyone in Charlottesville - yet on the most recent video of her family on the bridge at Thanksgiving it stated they always spent Thanksgiving at a friends house in Charlottesville? so she must have known at least these people - friends of her families. If she knew these people, she probably knew their relatives/children/neighbors???? see.... you start there and branch out.

I think that is why LE is trying to find someone who let Morgan use their phone to make a call.... because it is most likely she met up with someone she knew, even vaguely - to pass the time that evening.

Her brother had just graduated from UVa; since they are close, seems likely she would have met some of his friends & visited the UVa campus.

 

[Cardinal47]

Strange how Morgan is just being forgotten. Except for the few really good people on Facebook that are trying so hard to find her by passing out flyers and keeping hope alive and us bloggers most people have moved on. I wonder if that is a sign of our times. Everybody moving so fast they don't have time for a missing woman.

I am really suprised that the college communities aren't really getting active in organizing searches and inquirys. Young people usually have lots of energy to do that. But maybe with the holidays they too have moved on.

Poor Morgan. Where can you be?

 

[lilacwine]

I think her brothers friends had graduated for the most part... I also think they originally said the people she knew in Charlottesville hadn't heard from her that night.

I think it is VERY suspect that the 9 ... who are now 8 are acting like nothing happened. I carry this poor broken family in my heart... I cannot imagine the grief I would feel, if she were a part of my extended family.

I truly think the missing piece is held by her friends. They either KNOW something first hand or know some piece of information that Morgan told them before.

I too suspect her body has been hidden.

 

[arielilane]

haven’t posted for several days as I was traveling over the holiday. I returned to Roanoke, VA where I grew up. I was expecting to see overwhelming support for the Harrington family. I was sure there would be yellow ribbons, signs and flyers posted everywhere as this was Morgan’s home. Sadly, this was not the case.

I hesitated as to whether to post this at all given Morgan’s family probably reads these forums but given that they seem to be practical folks, I suspect they already know all this. Roanoke, Salem and the surrounding cities are busy during the holiday due to many of the kids who are in college returning home to see their families. The local restaurants and bars are crowded all the time. I was in several restaurants in Roanoke that are well known gathering places for college kids with my nephew who goes to VA TECH and each one was packed. However, there were no indications anywhere that a girl was missing. No flyers on the doors or windows at all. I asked several of the managers about putting a flyer up or if they had done so in the past. Most all of them said they had not had any flyer posted at all. They all said that with the holidays coming they weren’t interested in putting one up. Didn’t want to depress people. I would like to think that there are a lot of places that do have them up and I just didn’t hit those places; but I know that’s not the case. I did find a couple of business who had put up a “missing” flyer but had taken it down because it happened, “a long time ago”. To their credit the only one I saw was at “Mac and Bob’s” in Salem, VA They had a flyer right by the door when you walked out. What is worse is that the city of Roanoke had a “Drumstick Dash” run/walk on Thanksgiving Day to raise money for the homeless. It was quite a success with over 7000 people participating. In a city the size of Roanoke, that is a HUGE crowd. You would think that people would have been out passing out flyers and that business would have had them in the windows that line the route; but there was nothing at all. I could not believe it. The local news had only a ninety second clip Thanksgiving Day about the case and showed the family in C’ville. Nothing else on TV the entire time I was there. A friend of mine that works for the Roanoke Times said that Morgan was yesterday’s news. I travelled by car to Roanoke and did not see any flyers at the local rest stops near Roanoke. There aren’t many open as lots have been closed, but nothing anywhere.

My nephew goes to VA TECH and has a roommate that used to date one of the “9”. He told me that the group was not saying a thing and that most everyone wasn’t asking them questions because they knew they couldn’t talk. That is to be expected. What was a surprise though is when I asked him what people on campus thought happened to Morgan. He just kind of shrugged and said that people didn’t know what to think. He said there was never a sense of urgency about the entire thing. A lot of kids don’t think she was taken by anyone. They don’t know quite what to think but many feel there was not a crime involved. He went on to say that although the group of her so called friends weren’t talking, they weren’t exactly acting like concerned friends either. Each has pretty much gone on with their life. Studying, going to parties, dating, which is to be expected but he said that it’s their overall attitude that is strange. Kind of like, “yea, we were there and she’s missing now, so what? What are we supposed to do about it?” A lot of students think this a strange way to act for friends that supposedly cared so much.

I have several friends there that are in LE and they were almost no help at all. Not because they didn’t want to tell me what was going on but because they didn’t know. The case is being handled by the VSP and local LE in C’ville and they just aren’t hearing anything in Roanoke. I did hear however that while some were questioning whether Morgan was at the JPJ arena that night, saying there wasn’t video of it anywhere, the authorities know she was. And the person that told me this raised a good point; If she wasn’t there, UVA and JPJ arena would have been all over the media saying that reports the Morgan was at the JPJ are false, don’t blame us, etc. and that has not been done. There is some type of evidence, more than just the word of her friends, that she was there.

Keep this family in your thoughts and prayers as we go into the holiday season. I’m afraid that fewer and fewer people are these days after what I saw this week. Let’s not let Morgan become "yesterday's news".

How horrifying to hear this. It just shows how “if it doesn’t affect me; who cares.”
This does not surprise me at all. Actually, it does as it is still so recent that Morgan went missing. However, the same thing seemed to happen when Brian Shaffer went missing from OSU. You can go to the OSU campus and never know that he is still missing. This is unfortunate. There should be a law passed that a poster/flyer has to be displayed at an establishment where a person has gone missing. I know that would be hard to put into action; but you get my point. Grocery stores, department stores, gas stations; people need to demand that these flyers be posted. These businesses are in our neighborhoods… they depend on our business!

 

[lilacwine]

How horrifying to hear this. It just shows how “if it doesn’t affect me; who cares.”
This does not surprise me at all. Actually, it does as it is still so recent that Morgan went missing. However, the same thing seemed to happen when Brian Shaffer went missing from OSU. You can go to the OSU campus and never know that he is still missing. This is unfortunate. There should be a law passed that a poster/flyer has to be displayed at an establishment where a person has gone missing. I know that would be hard to put into action; but you get my point. Grocery stores, department stores, gas stations; people need to demand that these flyers be posted. These businesses are in our neighborhoods… they depend on our business!

I thought of Brian's case too.. especially because of the behavior of those he was last seen with in comparsion to the reported attitude of the 8

 

[kikid]

I think her brothers friends had graduated for the most part... I also think they originally said the people she knew in Charlottesville hadn't heard from her that night.

I think it is VERY suspect that the 9 ... who are now 8 are acting like nothing happened. I carry this poor broken family in my heart... I cannot imagine the grief I would feel, if she were a part of my extended family.

I truly think the missing piece is held by her friends. They either KNOW something first hand or know some piece of information that Morgan told them before.

I too suspect her body has been hidden.

Her friends would be at the top of my list. The story just doesn't make sense to me.

Some of the things I'd most like to know about this case -

• are there any connections between the person who stated they saw her on the bridge "hitching a ride" and the guys from the parking lot that she was speaking to and where her purse was found
• why would friends wait around after the concert if they believed she was going to find a ride home?
• Why would friends concerned enough to wait around not call the police or her parents sometime that night or the next morning?
• the guy Morgan supposedly kicked who called his wife to report the incident ..... just sounds too odd to me - I would definately check into that guy.

 

[lilacwine]

Agreed!

The 44 year old guy really makes me suspicious too.... It is just not plausible in my opinion that his g/f said, call the police! Come on... worst case scenario assuming he was being attacked by a really belligerent person who was a physical threat... call security but not police. And, it sounds like a convenient alibi. (Or a publcity hound)

I would REALLY like to know EXACTLY what the 9 did prior to the concert and who they saw. I think there is A LOT of information that is pertinent in that.

 

[wanttohelp]

Agreed!

The 44 year old guy really makes me suspicious too.... It is just not plausible in my opinion that his g/f said, call the police! Come on... worst case scenario assuming he was being attacked by a really belligerent person who was a physical threat... call security but not police. And, it sounds like a convenient alibi. (Or a publcity hound)

I would REALLY like to know EXACTLY what the 9 did prior to the concert and who they saw. I think there is A LOT of information that is pertinent in that.

im confused what your referring to.

 

[quiqui]

Something just dawned on me that I don't think has been brought up. The week preceding/weekend of October 17th was JMU's Homecoming. The football game was on the 17th at 3:30pm. This weekend brings lots and lots of extra traffic and people to Harrisonburg...it is also a weekend filled with parties in various forms.

I know there is speculation by some that Morgan never made it to Charlottesville. If it was true she stayed in Harrisonburg who knows who she may have come in contact with.

For what it's worth they played Villanova.

 

[wadahoot]

Strange how Morgan is just being forgotten. Except for the few really good people on Facebook that are trying so hard to find her by passing out flyers and keeping hope alive and us bloggers most people have moved on. I wonder if that is a sign of our times. Everybody moving so fast they don't have time for a missing woman.

I was also thinking that it could be bad-news-overload. It seems lately that virtually every day a young woman or child is lost or murdered. I watch and read news more than most, and yet just today I saw an article saying a child that had been missing was found dead ... and I didn't even know about the child being missing. I think it's a sign of the times, yes, but not all people shut out the bad news on purpose ... it just gets to be too much, the stories run together, or people just have to back out for a bit when bad news gets overwhelming.

 

[JLMcKenna83]

I was also thinking that it could be bad-news-overload. It seems lately that virtually every day a young woman or child is lost or murdered. I watch and read news more than most, and yet just today I saw an article saying a child that had been missing was found dead ... and I didn't even know about the child being missing. I think it's a sign of the times, yes, but not all people shut out the bad news on purpose ... it just gets to be too much, the stories run together, or people just have to back out for a bit when bad news gets overwhelming.

My husband actually will not watch the news now because it depresses him. He gets rather angry everytime we turn on the news or NG and there's a story about another child having been found dead, or another woman killed by her boyfriend, or a serial killer... it sickens him. To the point where he is afraid to even let me go out alone after dark. ITA that everyone needs a break from the bad news once in awhile, that's why when I see a new FOUND SAFE or FOUND ALIVE title on a thread, I get a smile on my face and a warm little feeling in my heart. OTH, found deceased make me cry like a baby.

 

[lilacwine]

im confused what your referring to.

I think it was a hook article that is linked back on the thread(s) that interviewed a 44 year old man who said a woman he believes to be Morgan kicked him . ( I won't post more because it's back in the thread and I don't remember the particulars of the account accurately enough to be specific.. but it is already linked here)

He said that he called his gf and told her and she said he should call the police.

 

[Lindsaym]

Strange how Morgan is just being forgotten. Except for the few really good people on Facebook that are trying so hard to find her by passing out flyers and keeping hope alive and us bloggers most people have moved on. I wonder if that is a sign of our times. Everybody moving so fast they don't have time for a missing woman.

I'm not sure people have moved on so much as they don't know what to say or do anymore. All the theories that were floating around have stalled out because there is no new information. It is heartbreaking that no progress seems to have been made of late. I simply cannot comprehend how nightmarish it must be for her family. If the number of posts on this thread have diminished, maybe it's because, like me, others don't know what to say other than to express their distress and compassion and pity for her family.

 

[LogicalMinds]

Interesting thoughts about the "bad news overload"

I personally feel in a lot of these cases there is a turning point where they just fade into the background...the odd part is that "point" came so quickly it seems for poor Morgan?

I can't help but feel that it is partly due to the fact her OWN so called friends have had so little exposure...no rallies, no leading searches...no empassioned pleas on tv...

no wonder other college kids/people are not so concerned..it seems Morgan's own friends have forgotten her
and that leads others to think "oh she may have just wanted to get away"..or whatever

 

[theforgotten]

I have been following this case for weeks and weeks and I'm saddened. It seems to me that we're in the same place we were a couple days after Morgan went missing. I guess, I feel like we are going in circles. No real answers and what scares me more is that we may never know what really happened to her. I agree that her fellow students haven't really moved on. They are more confused and really don't know what to think. I know I would be if this happened to someone that went to my school.:twocents:

 

[MeoW333]

Her friends would be at the top of my list. The story just doesn't make sense to me.


Some of the things I'd most like to know about this case -

• are there any connections between the person who stated they saw her on the bridge "hitching a ride" and the guys from the parking lot that she was speaking to and where her purse was found
• why would friends wait around after the concert if they believed she was going to find a ride home?
• Why would friends concerned enough to wait around not call the police or her parents sometime that night or the next morning?
• the guy Morgan supposedly kicked who called his wife to report the incident ..... just sounds too odd to me - I would definately check into that guy.

Also, the friends were supposed to attend a party with other friends and they told the other friends they couldn't since they were "missing someone" or something to that extent. Odd choice of words given everything taken into consideration.
She told the friends she would either meet up with them after the concert or find her own way home. What i can't understand either, is that if her friends waited around, they supposedly bothered doing that to no avail, they admit to another friend whom they were later supposed to party with that one of their party is missing, why wouldn't the at least call Morgan's parents right then and there? That her friends even waited a couple hours or however long it was supposed to be if it is indeed true, show their uncertainty that Morgan would find a way home other than them. I don't get it..

The friends who attended the concert with her have continued on with their lives as if Morgan never existed it seems. If they actually helped keep this case in the media, it would bring it more attention. For some reason we don't see the friends wanting to help keep the case in the media, they don't want attention brought to it or them.
How can they just go on with their lives when their best friend who is like a sister is missing? The one friend has a father who is LE; these girls are at least upper middle class if not richer, most likely they are acting under guidance of family lawyers.
They need to speak. Their silence makes them suspect.

I would like to know if the witness who claims to have seem Morgan hitchhiking on the bridge saw whether or not she had her pocketbook at that point still.

As for the man who claims a drunk Morgan kicked him, i think it is hogwash. Morgan doesn't look like a threat and i couldn't imagine her looking like a threat if she was drunk. If a drunk person (especially a female) kicks a guy, then the normal thing to do would be to distance himself from the situation. She's a female, she's small, not a threat and supposedly drunk. That's not even worthy calling the police about, IMO.


I hope that LE has her friends under tight surveillance. I hope that they are outside their bedroom windows with the Whisper 1000 listening. Most likely they already have their phones tapped. Given that the girls don't say anything as it is, i'm sure they don't over their phones either. Something is extremely hinky about how they are acting. It stinks to high heavens.

They need to go public for help in finding Morgan, after all isn't that what friends do? They don't put it on the backburner and forget about it.
LE told them to keep it in their prospective and that LE won't forget about the case, so they shouldn't. (Not sure the exact words, towards the end of the press conference video with Rader). We see the friends not following LE's advice. Why is there no media publicity about this? Is it since one of the friends has a dad in LE and their family lawyers are hushing things?

 

[JLMcKenna83]

She told the friends she would either meet up with them after the concert or find her own way home. What i can't understand either, is that if her friends waited around, they supposedly bothered doing that to no avail, they admit to another friend whom they were later supposed to party with that one of their party is missing, why wouldn't the at least call Morgan's parents right then and there? That her friends even waited a couple hours or however long it was supposed to be if it is indeed true, show their uncertainty that Morgan would find a way home other than them. I don't get it..

RSBM..
If it were me and my friends, and one of us was missing.. we would have taken a walk around the parking lot.. (in groups of course..) Just to make sure that she wasn't there talking to some randoms and just not realizing that we could possibly be waiting for her. And quite honestly, we would never let one of us get separated. We operate with almost a pack mentality. And as far as her friends waiting a "couple hours"... you mean to tell me that they sat in the parking lot waiting.. When you're young and p'od that someone's making you wait.. 15 minutes in a parked car can seem like an eternity.

MOO...