Morgan Harrington Disappeared From Metallica Concert 10/17/09~ Her Skeletal Remains Discovered 1/26/10~DNA Links Jesse Matthew Jr. Who Already Faces Charges In The 1st Degree Murder Of Hannah Elizabeth Graham~

A beautiful memorial service for Morgan at the Catholic Church St. Andrews. Quite a few in attendence considering the snow storm outside. There is a video of the service on line. The end was lovely. Gil and Dan Harrington both spoke of the love of their daughter. Quite moving and touching.

They are still trying to find the killer. There is a SO that lives very close to where the body was found. I think the must have some kind of air tight alibi that they have not arrested him yet and the Det. Redar is almost pleading with neighbors to tell what they know.

They have been blogging about him but have shut some of those conversations down. Probably interfering with his rights if they arrest him.

In an e-mail sent Wednesday afternoon, Virginia Tech officials asked students to take precautions for their personal safety after last month's discovery of 20-year-old Morgan Harrington's remains on a farm outside Charlottesville.

Harrington, a Tech student from Roanoke County, disappeared Oct. 17 after leaving her friends at a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones arena at the University of Virginia.

Harrington was last seen trying to hitch a ride on the Copeley Road bridge in Charlottesville. Her skeletal remains were found 10 miles away in an isolated field in Albemarle County.

According to police, she had been drinking the night she went missing.

Police continue to investigate her death, which has been ruled a homicide.

The safety notification was sent from Tech Vice President for Student Affairs Ed Spencer on Wednesday and gave a long list of general safety tips.

Among them, the e-mail suggested students avoid walking alone at night and use the campus SafeRide program or the Blacksburg Transit bus system. It also emphasized that students who choose to drink at parties should make safety plans with friends to avoid dangerous situations.

"Remember that alcohol use can dull judgment and lead to a false sense of security," the e-mail stated.

Harrington's parents, Dan and Gil Harrington, suggested the notifications be sent out to students at both Tech and UVa, Spencer said.

Harrington's brother, Alex, is an alumnus of UVa.

"We didn't want Morgan to go out by herself alone," Dan Harrington is quoted in the e-mail as saying. "There are so many things that if we could change, we would have a different outcome."

UVa officials sent out a similar campus notice last week.

"We felt it would appropriate to do something parallel here at Virginia Tech," Spencer said.

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How sad, esp. the comment about drinking impairing your judgment. I know good and well if she had not been drinking she would not have hitchhiked that night. She was her families little princess and had lead a sheltered life.
I still for the life of me do not understand why her friend inside the arena that had her ticket did not hand it to a guard to give to her. If I had a friend locked out, that is what I would have done.

Friends?
I asked 3 of my friends just to see what they would say, "If we went to a concert together and I somehow got separated from you and locked out of the building, what would you do?"
*1st one said,  I'd try and sneak you back in.
*2nd one said, Well if there was no way you could get back in I guess I'd go out too. Especially if we were in your car.
*3rd one asked one question, What bands were playen? Yeah I'm going no where with this person!!!

Basically what this told me was two of my three friends would come looking to help me and the other would stay for the concert and not care much what happened to me one way or the other.

I threw a different spin on it when I asked, What if we had been passing around a bottle of booze in the car before we got there? They were worded differently but the answers all boiled down to the same thing Sorry bud, but you're on your own.

Morgan may have been drinking that night, but IMO so were her friends. The better judgement of everyone involved was impaired by alcohol.

How can LE say with such certainty that Morgan was murdered?
Was this conclusion made because of the location or condition of her body?

Why Harrington didn’t have to die
By BRYAN MCKENZIE

Hidden by tall grass in a lonely field, afflicted by animals and insects, through rain and sleet and beneath 2 feet of snow, Morgan Harrington lay for as long as three months.
It’s a kick to the gut to think that she wound up dead and dumped in the woods. It’s frightening and angering to believe that someone from this community — and it most likely is someone from this community considering the remote nature of where Ms. Harrington’s body was found — would kill her.
But the hardest thought, and the one we avoid discussing, is that it didn’t have to happen.
A cruel chain of events
OK, let’s get it straight: The person to blame for Ms. Harrington’s death is the low-life, slime-sickened, green-horned chicken hopper that killed her and put her in a pasture. What led to her death, however, was a chain of events in which any broken link could have changed the outcome.
The first link was Ms. Harrington’s condition the night of her Oct. 17 disappearance from a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena. Police have described her as intoxicated.
Unfortunately, alcohol use affects judgment and, had she not been intoxicated or less so, her judgments and actions may well have been very different. That may have precluded the second link.
The second link is Ms. Harrington walking out of the arena while intoxicated and, in keeping with arena policy, not being allowed back inside.
Had she not walked out, she would not have been in a position to be taken. Had the arena not had such a stringent policy, she would not have been taken. If she was visibly intoxicated, as some witnesses have suggested, arena staff or onlookers in the parking lot could have called police to report a student in “an altered state” leaving the building in clothes ill-suited for cool temperatures.
Had police picked her up on charges of public intoxication and safely held her in supervised custody, the outcome would have been different.
The third link is her message to three friends inside the concert. Ms. Harrington told them she was stuck outside and that she would find another way home, being as her friends had her car keys and her car.
Had one of the three friends left the concert to babysit the intoxicated friend, perhaps going to the nearby Italian Villa for breakfast and killing time until the concert ended, she would have had a ride home. She would have had company.
That would have precluded the fourth link, which is Ms. Harrington’s decision to hitchhike on the Copeley Road railroad bridge. There she became an easy target of opportunity for a killer.
Behavioral problems
That brings us to the fifth and final link, which is the killer himself. Had the killer sought psychiatric help for what should have stood out even to him as a mental problem, or had someone forced the issue and found him help, Ms. Harrington would be alive.
At the risk of preaching, let’s recap the lessons we should learn from what happened.
Do not go to parties or public events intoxicated so that you may keep your wits about you.
Change policies to protect rather than punish patrons, even it means calling police. Better a night in safety and a misdemeanor charge than being left to the wild pigs in the street.
Take care of your friends, even if they make you extremely angry and inconvenienced.
Avoid strangers when stranded and seek help from people in authority.
Control your urges. If you can’t, seek professional help.
Ms. Harrington’s death is a tragedy, but if it helps us change our behaviors, it need not be in vain.

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Morgans Mother sometimes writes on a blog on Find Morgan. Her writings are so very personal. This is her latest one since her daughters memorial service. I feel her pain. Twenty years of love and gone in a moment.

Gil Harrington’s thoughts from February 15, 2010On February - 15 - 20102 COMMENTS


From Me To You

Then From You To Me

Jewelry

They gave me your bracelet back

Tarnished now, rusty and black

It’s the one I had as a girl

The one you wore as you left this world

The one that witnessed mortal harm

I’m wearing now on my arm

And I do so with sorrow and with pride

Having seen your dessicated flesh inside

Knowing you wore it as you died

I have scrubbed it out repeatedly

Since it was returned to me

But still I can tell

It harbors a smell

Of old flesh and of rot

But it’s all I have got

And as long as it smells you can’t be forgot.

241

241 was a family love sonnet to one another as they came and went.

I love you too much

Forever

and One More time.

That was the last Gil saw of Morgan as she left for the concert and signed that to her mother going down the driveway.

OHH  geezeee  
reading that chilled my soul.

For Gil's sake I hope that she can one day soon see past the grotesque images of her daughter in death and remember only the beautiful sparkling person that Morgan was in LIFE!!!
I wish this peace for her.

BJ in OR wrote:Why Harrington didn’t have to die
By BRYAN MCKENZIE

Hidden by tall grass in a lonely field, afflicted by animals and insects, through rain and sleet and beneath 2 feet of snow, Morgan Harrington lay for as long as three months.
It’s a kick to the gut to think that she wound up dead and dumped in the woods. It’s frightening and angering to believe that someone from this community — and it most likely is someone from this community considering the remote nature of where Ms. Harrington’s body was found — would kill her.
But the hardest thought, and the one we avoid discussing, is that it didn’t have to happen.
A cruel chain of events
OK, let’s get it straight: The person to blame for Ms. Harrington’s death is the low-life, slime-sickened, green-horned chicken hopper that killed her and put her in a pasture. What led to her death, however, was a chain of events in which any broken link could have changed the outcome.
The first link was Ms. Harrington’s condition the night of her Oct. 17 disappearance from a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena. Police have described her as intoxicated.
Unfortunately, alcohol use affects judgment and, had she not been intoxicated or less so, her judgments and actions may well have been very different. That may have precluded the second link.
The second link is Ms. Harrington walking out of the arena while intoxicated and, in keeping with arena policy, not being allowed back inside.
Had she not walked out, she would not have been in a position to be taken. Had the arena not had such a stringent policy, she would not have been taken. If she was visibly intoxicated, as some witnesses have suggested, arena staff or onlookers in the parking lot could have called police to report a student in “an altered state” leaving the building in clothes ill-suited for cool temperatures.
Had police picked her up on charges of public intoxication and safely held her in supervised custody, the outcome would have been different.
The third link is her message to three friends inside the concert. Ms. Harrington told them she was stuck outside and that she would find another way home, being as her friends had her car keys and her car.
Had one of the three friends left the concert to babysit the intoxicated friend, perhaps going to the nearby Italian Villa for breakfast and killing time until the concert ended, she would have had a ride home. She would have had company.
That would have precluded the fourth link, which is Ms. Harrington’s decision to hitchhike on the Copeley Road railroad bridge. There she became an easy target of opportunity for a killer.
Behavioral problems
That brings us to the fifth and final link, which is the killer himself. Had the killer sought psychiatric help for what should have stood out even to him as a mental problem, or had someone forced the issue and found him help, Ms. Harrington would be alive.
At the risk of preaching, let’s recap the lessons we should learn from what happened.
Do not go to parties or public events intoxicated so that you may keep your wits about you.
Change policies to protect rather than punish patrons, even it means calling police. Better a night in safety and a misdemeanor charge than being left to the wild pigs in the street.
Take care of your friends, even if they make you extremely angry and inconvenienced.
Avoid strangers when stranded and seek help from people in authority.
Control your urges. If you can’t, seek professional help.
Ms. Harrington’s death is a tragedy, but if it helps us change our behaviors, it need not be in vain.

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BJ, thanks for sharing this! It is very true that Morgan's death was a "tragedy of errors" which could have been avoided. Hopefully, we will all learn from this and be more aware of those around us who might be in danger. I hope that young people, especially, will be more careful as a result.

Morgans parents insisted on going to the place they found Morgan. On a farm of about 700 acres. They saw their daughter's remains laying there and said "Morgan had such lovely bones".

They had the memorial service while Morgan was still with the MI. Then they were called to retrieve her remains and they both hugged the bones one more time.

When Gils sister died she lay with her for quite a while after her passing.

I know it all seems morbid. It did to me too. But after a while and getting to know the Harringtons..it kind of seems right.

Dan Harrington is a phychiatrist and Gil a nurse. Gil belongs to a group that travels to AFrica each year to bring medical help and supplies to the people.

This has been quite a journey for me at my age. You just never know what you will learn and accept each passing day and each new experience.

Gil and Dan have taught me to not be afraid of death but to embrace your deceased loved one. I thank them for that.

Unusual she has posted again today. Thought you might like to read it. I have been remiss in not bringing articles over since I have followed this case so closely. I will try harder.

Poem by Gil Harrington on February 16, 2010On February - 16 - 2010ADD COMMENTS


Just Say No

Won’t participate

In a storm of hate

With such negativity

I become the same as he

Who caused this atrocity

Instead, I’ll focus on love and not stop

Coz in the end I know love’ll come out on the top

241

Her poem of Feb. 15th is just awful, awful, awful! She should delete it from wherever it was posted. This is grief and shock horror talking. Someday she won't be able to believe she wrote that. JMO.

TerryRose wrote:Her poem of Feb. 15th is just awful, awful, awful! She should delete it from wherever it was posted. This is grief and shock horror talking. Someday she won't be able to believe she wrote that. JMO.

It must be helping her get thru this time but it is so raw. I agree, later she may regret such things....when she can remember the happy times. The part about the smell of the bracelet is so sad.

If you ever have time to go over and read Gils writings and get to know her...she is a very spiritual person. Her writings are good enough to be published. I love hearing from her.

At first I was a bit squemish and thought "what!" But I am used to her now and look forward to what she has to say.

You can read everything from the time Morgan went missing at findmorgan.com.

Sorry Terry Rose it was never my intention to upset you.

I am so glad she is spiritual, maybe it will help her right now. that poor family.

My impression from TV interviews and from the above poem is that this Mom needs to find a darn good grief counselor to help her supplant the vision of her daughter as a rotting, stinking corpse with that of the beauty and value of the living daughter. This may take more than a social worker, but more of a psychiatrist to help her get by this. It is unfortunate that she had to view her daughter's remains that way because it is now emblazoned in her mind. The bracelet will have the stench of death always to her no matter how she has scrubbed it because of the picture in her mind when she looks at it, the last time she saw it on the rotting corpse of her daughter---even if nobody else can detect a trace of odor, she will still smell it. Thus, understandably she is still dwelling on the image of the last time she saw her daughter's remains and cannot get free of the horror. She needs help to get past this. There are some people here at VH who have experienced a similar tragic horror and they do not keep dwelling in their writings about the rotting, stinking corpse, but rather they celebrate the life of that daughter/sister in all they write and seek justice for her. I am concerned for this Mom that she is not getting the help she needs right now to cope mentally. Nobody here may agree with me on this, but this is my honest opinion, and if I knew her personally, I would tell her this myself. She should try now to remember the smell of her infant when she first held her in her arms, or her daughter's favorite perfume, the beauty of her physically, the talents she expressed in her life. I would tell her to concentrate on those things to try to overcome the horrific vision of her daughter the last time she saw her.

I do understand what you are saying Terryrose.
What this woman had to view, no parent should have to view. Maybe her writing her thoughts will help her to bury them, someday, somehow.
It makes me realize just how fragile and precious life is.

TerryRose wrote:My impression from TV interviews and from the above poem is that this Mom needs to find a darn good grief counselor to help her supplant the vision of her daughter as a rotting, stinking corpse with that of the beauty and value of the living daughter. This may take more than a social worker, but more of a psychiatrist to help her get by this. It is unfortunate that she had to view her daughter's remains that way because it is now emblazoned in her mind. The bracelet will have the stench of death always to her no matter how she has scrubbed it because of the picture in her mind when she looks at it, the last time she saw it on the rotting corpse of her daughter---even if nobody else can detect a trace of odor, she will still smell it. Thus, understandably she is still dwelling on the image of the last time she saw her daughter's remains and cannot get free of the horror. She needs help to get past this. There are some people here at VH who have experienced a similar tragic horror and they do not keep dwelling in their writings about the rotting, stinking corpse, but rather they celebrate the life of that daughter/sister in all they write and seek justice for her. I am concerned for this Mom that she is not getting the help she needs right now to cope mentally. Nobody here may agree with me on this, but this is my honest opinion, and if I knew her personally, I would tell her this myself. She should try now to remember the smell of her infant when she first held her in her arms, or her daughter's favorite perfume, the beauty of her physically, the talents she expressed in her life. I would tell her to concentrate on those things to try to overcome the horrific vision of her daughter the last time she saw her.

TerryRose, I think you hit the nail on the head. I was first disturbed to learn that the mother had to see her daughter in that deteriorated condition. That alone I don't understand. No parent should be subjected to that. I've seen a lot of death in my career and nearly as many responses in mourning the death and celebrating the life once lived as well as the afterlife. Everyone responds in their own way, but this response we are seeing does not seem healthy. IMO, this is crossing over into an obsession with or about the horror of her death. If this helps provide her with the closure she needs in order to move on and celebrate the all too short life of the beautiful young woman she raised, then so be it. But I really do fear for her. I pray this mother gets the help she needs. I would not want my parents to see me or remember me that way.

It is so sad that she is remembering her precious child this way, as disturbed bones, strewn about by animals. Hopefully the day will come sooner than later that like TR said, she can remember the beauty and joy of Morgan's life. The smiling girl with her little Yorkie, her first step, her first day of kindergarten, first dance, the wonderful memories of such a close and loving family.
Now she probably closes her eyes and only sees horror.

This is another article you might like to read. Kind of shows you the kind of people the Harringtons are.

Issue #22.07 :: 02/16/2010 - 02/22/2010
Morgan Harrington's parents won't hold John Paul Jones, friends accountable


After memorial, family life is "shot through with Morgan"

BY BRENDAN FITZGERALD


One week after roughly 500 people gathered to mourn the death of 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington at a memorial service in Roanoke, Gil Harrington says that her family is more focused on the artifacts of her daughter’s life rather than factors that many say contributed to Morgan’s disappearance.

“I think the only blame to be drawn, the finger to be pointed, is at the man who murdered my daughter,” said Harrington, reached yesterday at her family’s home. “These others are sidebars that detract away from where attention needs to be focused, and where energy needs to be spent.” Asked whether the Harrington family held John Paul Jones Arena accountable or planned to seek legal action against the venue that denied Morgan re-entry on the night of the Metallica concert, she said no.

“We all can play a better game and, in retrospect, change procedures and actions,” said Harrington. “But it’s just like with Morgan’s friends, it’s just like with officials—everyone was doing the best they could at the time.”

A gathering that followed Harrington’s memorial service featured tokens from Morgan’s life, from the pink knit hat placed on her head after she was born to the red dress she wore to her high school prom. But plenty more fill the family’s home, and Gil Harrington describes the family’s time since the discovery of her daughter’s remains as “shot through with Morgan.”

“I cook broccoli for dinner and it pulls me up short because I know Morgan likes margarine on it, not butter, like the rest of the family does,” said Harrington.



“Although there’s more sadness to this, I tell myself it’s not different than many ceremonies, high school graduations or college graduations or marriages,” Gil Harrington told C-VILLE after her daughter’s recent memorial service. “All of them involve a letting go of something, and they are always underpinned with some sadness.”


The family also has plans for an object particularly special to Gil Harrington and her daughter: a teak cigar box, one of several collected by Gil’s father during his work as a diplomatic courier.

“Morgan and I use them to put our jewelry in,” said Harrington, who shared the same information with a funeral director and family friend. “And I said, ‘I think we want to put Morgan’s ashes in the cigar box.’"

Harrington says that her son, Alex, recently looked through family photos and found a snapshot of Morgan as “a tiny baby,” playing with the cigar box.

“I never thought she’d be in it,” said Harrington. “But she was playing with my jewelry that was in the cigar box.”

Yet for each item the Harringtons confront and reevaluate in light of Morgan’s death, Gil Harrington says that there is no consensus on what justice means to the family at this point.

“My husband feels differently about this than I do. He wants justice and punishment [for the person responsible],” said Harrington. “I feel that punishment will be delivered, whether it’s done here or not. But I definitely want this person off the street for safety.”

“I think that’s typical father’s protective thing,” added Harrington. “If someone hurt your baby, you want them taken out. I don’t have that same visceral response.”

During a recent press conference, Virginia State Police unveiled a new phone line for sharing tips specifically addressing the areas of North Garden or Anchorage Farm. State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said via e-mail that, at press time, the tip line had received roughly 60 calls.

“Several have been helpful in the course of our investigation, which is still very active—even despite all the snow,” wrote Geller.

C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

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I have to agree that the 2/15 poem is pretty graphic. I personally cannot understand that giving her mother any peace of mind, but we all grieve in different ways.

Wrap there are more but I think if anybody has any interest I will suggest they go over to the Findmorgan.com and go to the Family Blog.

They are all there. Written by Gil. One after the other.
I think they are wonderful and will be published.

Perhaps they don't bother me because I have become used to the woman Gil is. This journey has taken me four months. The first time I too gasped and went for water. Now it is what it is.

She has made me a better person.

I am trying to find a video of the memorial service. If I find it I will give the link here for those that wish to watch it. Most of it is a mass. The part I would like you to see is when Gil and Dan Harrington, Morgans parents, speak of her with such love in their hearts. It is at the end.

Dan and Gil Harrington, the parents of murdered Metallica fan Morgan Harrington, held a brief press conference on Feb. 18 at Charlottesville, Va.'s Copeley Bridge, where Morgan was last seen after disappearing from a Metallica concert at nearby John Paul Jones Arena, to warn the perpetrators that they will be caught. Its just a matter of time, they said.

The Harringtons, according to reports, met with police this week to get an update on their daughter's case and told reporters that DNA tests conducted on her remains will likely take five to six months before they provide information about her death. The Harringtons say they will not give up until their daughter's killers are behind bars.

During the press conference, Gil Harrington distributed cards from her daughter's memorial service along with copies of a poem called 'Morgan, Music Fan.' Lines from the poem include: "He was checking the scene, planning a murder" and "Now I have felt the heft of her skull in my palm."

Police, the Harringtons said, are convinced the killer or killers live close to where Morgan's body was found, just 10 miles south of where she disappeared, and they're convinced justice will be meted out. "There is a bad guy here in Charlottesville," Dan Harrington said. "Students and citizens need to be aware of their surroundings and not make themselves unsafe."

Richmond's medical examiner has ruled Morgan's death a homicide, and now, the Harringtons know more specifically how their daughter died. Asked if police had shared her cause of death, the Harringtons paused and looked at each other before replying. "That," said Dan, "you'd need to get from the police." State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller declined comment, citing toxicology tests results which have not been returned.

During the press conference, Dan Harrington reflected on the senselessness of the crime, noting how his daughter wasn't even robbed. "He didn't even want her jewelry," he said, adding his belief that Morgan's death was a sexual assault that "ended up in her murder." Gil Harrington now wears the silver bracelet her daughter Morgan was wearing when she died, which was recovered from the scene where her remains were discovered, in a desolate hay field.

"Her killer is to blame," the Harringtons said. "This ain't going to end until Morgan finds justice."

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This was a new post by Gil Harrington. It was posted and then..boom the whole blog went down. Now the topics are up but the family blog with this post is gone. Many believe that Gil tries to tell us some of the facts in Morgans death by her blogs. I have highlighted two of the most discussed and why many think the blog was..gone.

Gil refers to the deaths of three that were shot..was Morgan shot?

Gil implies that she was not killed there but moved to that location.

You decide.

New Poem by Gil HarringtonOn February - 19 - 2010ADD COMMENTS


Morgan, Music Fan
Our girl wanted to go out and dance

Didn’t know she took such a chance

Just wanted to be part of the scene

Didn’t know people could be so damn mean

That anyone would want to hurt her

He was checking the scene planning a murder

EVIL lurking, around the periphery

To kill and vanquish her beauty

EVIL like killed Lennon, King, JFK

Decided to take out a girl on that day

And threw her like refuse in a field of hay

Now I have felt the heft of her skull in my palm

An abomination for any mom

Your crime and your EVIL fill me with rage

Will not rest till you’re locked in a cage

We will catch you, I know that we can

We’re after you – me and Dan

So other girls will be safe on the street

To follow the music

To follow the beat

241

Hi. I am new here and this is my first post. I found you all through a web search on Morgan Harrington. I have followed her story since she went missing. It was heart breaking when her remains were found by Farmer Bass on his farm. I just found a link today--and found it quite interesting.

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Dr. William Bass is the founder of the University of Tennessee's Body farm. They study decomposition of bodies for law enforcement. I wonder if he is related to Farmer David Bass? It was on his farm--Anchorage Farm--that he discovered Morgan Harrington's remains on January 26th.

I just find it quite odd.~Moonchime

moonchime I have wondered the same thing myself. I have been to the link that you posted because of the Casey Anthony story. It is all very interesting.

Welcome Moonchime! It may seem like too much of a coincidence. I checked both names on Ancestry.com and pulled up millions of like-named individuals in the last 100 years or so. It must be a rather common name and must date back in certain areas of the country to some founding pioneer families who purchased large tracts of land and settled their families on them. I would imagine that there are many alive today in those same areas who have the name of their ancestors. It is still, however, quite a coincidence when you think about it.

Moonchime that is one of the 64,000 questions everybody is asking. Along with a thousand more questions about Morgans disappearance. I have followed Morgans case since the beginning and can't understand the way VSP are playing this case out with their not revealing any details and their riddles.

They have five beautiful individuals dead and not a clue who killed them. The odds in VA aren't good.

I too find Gil's writing graphic, and a bit forced in trying to rhyme, not exactly poetic, language wise at all...the kind of writing first time poets do, but I can completely understand her need to express the deep horror she experienced through some medium, in this case, writing.

As a writer, I have written some very disturbing things about death and the experience of my mom dying, even about her body decomposing in her grave...and I have written some very enlightening things on the same subject; I think Gil just needs time.

She may not be a poet, but she is a mother grieving on a level most of us will never know. I do not find her thoughts unhealthy, considering this burden, and I do not know that such a depth of grief can be minimized by counseling in any short term, but it could be an outlet.

What this family has endured is impossible to absorb fully...the thought of seeing my daughter's skeleton in a field after three long months of horror and fear...cannot even imagine, other than to know that I would not be functioning on any normal level.

Bless this family and sweet Morgan xoxo

Love,
Heike

PS...miss you all, have been so busy!!!!!

Heiki yes they have really been tested. Gil is going through a mourning process. Dan Harrington is a phychiatrist so I am sure he and Gil a nurse have coping skills.

First of all, I would like to Welcome Moonchime to VH!! And by the way, I Love your user name.

Heiki, it is good to see you! I've thought of you and wondered how you're doing in your travels. You brought up some very good points as usual. Most of us have no clue how we would react if our child was found dead. I know of two VH members that have had to endure the loss of their perspective daughters. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain and sorrow.

I have to wonder if it's possible LE has already told the Harrington's the cause of death and they are not leaking it to the media due to the killer(s) still being out there.

It'll take several months for DNA tests to come back in the case of Morgan Harrington, the Virginia Tech student who was killed after she left a rock concert.

Meanwhile, Harrington's parents have made another trip to Charlottesville.

Her mom, Gil was wearing her daugher's bracelet.

"This bracelet has witnessed some unspeakable things. It conjures Morgan to me when I wear it," said Gil Harrington.

The bracelet one of the many reminders of their daughter.

Gil Harrington wore the bracelet as the Harrington's visited the bridge this week, where their daughter was last seen alive.

"I took out some of the old flowers, planted some new ones," said Dan Harrington.

"I've started cleaning out her apartment this week, and we're cleaning out the bridge for her," said Gil.

Gil said they are still looking for justice and she's confident her daughters killer or killers will be found.

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The Morgan Harrington missing person case became a homicide on January 26, 2010, when Harrington’s remains were found on a farm outside of Charlottesville, VA. As you recall Harrington was the Virginia Tech student who went missing during a Metallica Concert, which launched a worldwide effort to find her. Ever since that dreaded day in January, when Morgan’s body was found, the need for answers has been a mission for law enforcement, Morgan’s family, and the community. The Find Morgan website is still going strong, posting information and soliciting leads in the hopes of identifying some clues to the perpetrator of this horrible crime.

Recently I was contacted by Bobby Weaver aka “Baad Bobby” who is an active participant in the Find Morgan forum. Weaver reported to me new information that has surfaced pertaining to the possibility of a serial killer in the Charlottesville area. The “threads” pertaining to this angle of the investigation are informative and appear to have some merit. Read what Bill Thomas wrote:

Folks, you have to do more research. My name is Bill Thomas; I am the older brother of Cathleen Thomas, one the first two victims, together with Rebecca Dowski, in the Colonial Parkway Murders which claimed 8 young people in the Williamsburg area from 1986-1989. There are a lot of unsolved murders within two hours of where Morgan Harrington was killed-- the Colonial Parkway Murders, the Route 29 Stalker case including Alicia Showalter-Reynolds (note where Morgan's body was found-- off Route 29), the Williams/Winans killings in the Shenandoah National Forest in 1996, the murder of the young Virginia Tech couple in August 2009 (very similar to Colonial Parkway) and now Morgan Harrington in October 2009. I am not even naming them all. Many of the Route 29 cases happened quite close to where Morgan was found.

It is time for the Governor Bob McDonnell and the Virginia State Police BCI, together with the FBI, to form a Task Force to solve all of these unsolved murders.

Bill Thomas
Brother of Cathleen Thomas

On January 7, 2010 the FBI/Norfolk issued a statement regarding the Colonial Parkway murders that Thomas spoke of and their efforts in re-examining all investigative reports and forensic evidence, from these crimes. The FBI press release can be found at:
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If you have any information relevant to the Colonial Parkway murders that occurred during the 1980s, please e-mail the FBI at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
Another poster on the Find Morgan forum, known as “DebbieM” gives detailed information on some recent unsolved murders and missing persons in Virginia:

DebbieM /Senior Member

Added all I know to Va Missing Adult List

-Update of Missing Person cases that I am aware of in our general vicinity. I started with the murders of Heidi and David. I will be researching more into the Colonial/Parkway murders and Route 29 Stalker -(who truthfully COULD be one and the same??? It is a possibility)


August 28 2009 Body of Heidi Childs and David Metzler found murdered in Montgomery County
VA. Heidi was 18 and a VT student. Both Heidi and David were from Lynchburg and both were VT students

Oct 10, 2009 Cassandra Morton of Lynchburg VA is missing. 23 years old. 5'6" and 125lb
Her remains were discovered on Candlers Mtn / Liberty University Property on
11/29 Her death ruled a homicide

Oct 17, 2009 Morgan Dana Harrington went missing from Charlottesville VA 20 years old
5' 6" 120lbs VT college student. Her remains were discovered on Anchorage Farm, Albemarle County on 1/26/10 Her death ruled a homicide

Dec 9 2009 Laticia "Tish" Faust of Patrick County VA 5'4 155lbs missing from Floyd Co VA
(she lived in Patrick County) 50 years old
Car found in Franklin County Va - on the Blue Ridge Parkway. LE has searched a nearby pond and wooded areas. One of her sandals was found by a cadaver dog.

Dec 15 2009 Brenda Eades, age 57

-Last seen in Pittsylvania County
-Last seen December 15, driving near a marina/Leesville Lake
-Car was recovered on December 17th near Leesville Lake, all belongings present. No sign of a struggle.
-Married, no children, suffered from chronic pain. Was a paralegal.
-Body recovered on December 28th

Dec 19 2009 Michael Green 27 of Petersburg. He "vanished" during the night. He Left behind his identification, cell phone and keys -- which friends say is highly unusual.

Dec 30 2009 Kristan Fox Louisa County VA 26 years old. College Student. Suspicious death
Taken to a hospital in Charlottesville the night she died.

Jan 15 2010 Kelly Catalano of Chesterfield Co VA Missing 40 yrs old 5'9 145lbs
active on companys softball team

Jan 24 2010 Joan Renee Cook of Roanoke Co VA Missing 45 yrs old 5'6 120lbs
no info yet of her activities - has a seven year old daughter.

Jan 25 2010 Jill Edmonds 40 disappeared from Richmond. Her vehicle was found abandoned on the shoulder of the northbound lanes of the Powhite Parkway as it crosses the James River. described as a black female, 40 years old, 5’4" tall, 1 57 pounds with straight, shoulder-length black hair.

Feb 8 2010 Barry Keys 33 years old of Danville. He was driving a gold-colored 1999 Mazda Protégé, which Ingram found on Feb. 12 at Hardee’s restaurant in Tightsqueeze

Feb 11 2010 Eleanor Salotta of Campbell Co (Lynchburg) VA Missing 47 yrs old
5'7" 130 lbs Professor at Sweet Briar College located off rt 29 between Lynchburg and Charlottesville.

Feb 14 2010 Ronald Lee Riggs 41 of Ridgeway -- Henry County. He left from Bassett, VA at approx. 2pm on Sunday, February 14, 2010. He was enroute to Gaffney, SC for his construction job there. His supervisor from his job in Gaffney, S.C. called the family to see why Mr. Riggs never showed up for work on Monday. Ronald Lee Riggs was last seen driving a white, 1991, Mercury Topaz, 4 door sedan with VA License plate KBZ-1404. He was last seen wearing a ball cap, denim button-up work shirt, blue jeans and brown work boots. Ronald Lee Riggs does still wear glasses

Feb 19 2010 Dennis Nevitt of Moneta VA (Bedford County)
He left a note stating he was going to visit family in VA Beach but has not been seen or heard from. This is out of his character.
age 50 y.o., approx. 5' 9" tall. Bedford County Police have been notified. He is driving a 1994 White F350 Ford PU, VA Plate # XMH-1416

__________________

"Faith makes life possible. Hope makes life workable. Love makes life beautiful."

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them."

Virginia does have its share of unsolved murders and missing persons however the Virginia State Police appear vigilant in their efforts to solve these crimes. On March 2, 2010, the Virginia State Police issued a statement regarding the launch of their official Department Facebook page. The VSP Facebook page was established with the hopes that fans can help in solving crimes, locate missing persons and track down fugitives. The VSP has specifically called on fans to aid in the 14-year-old unsolved murder of Alicia Showalter Reynolds. Reynolds was a 25 year-old graduate student who was abducted in Culpeper County and her body was found in 1996, in the Lignum community of Culpeper County.

Anyone with information pertaining to this abduction and murder of Ms. Reynolds is encouraged to contact VSP toll-free in Virginia at 1-800-572-2260 or 1-888-300-0156 or by e-mail at:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. More details about this case are available on the VSP Facebook page.


Is there a serial killer in Virginia? Or was Morgan’s death caused by a random act of violence or at the hands of someone she knew?
The place where Morgan Harrington’s body was found holds the key to finding her murderer; which is why the FBI recently reached out to the cycling community of Charlottesville, for answers. The hope is that one of these cyclists, who may have been in the area of Red Hill Road and Route 29, saw something that could be vital to this investigation. Lt. Joe Rader of the VSP, recently stated in a news conference that "location, location, location" is the most significant clue to solving this crime. The Virginia State Police have established a tip line just to receive information specifically related to the Anchorage Farm property: (434) 709-1685.

If you have any information about the murder of Morgan Harrington, you can contact the lead investigator with The Virginia State Police, Lt. Joe Rader, by calling the tip line at 434-352-3467 or you can email information to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. You can also send tips through the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] website, or by contacting our agency, The R.D.D.Detective Agency, at mailto:ratdogdetective@aol.com You can remain anonymous.

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Incredible - I hope they get on this. I dont think all the murders are connected but its quite possible there is a serial killer out there - scary stuff

Wow, too much of a coincidence, there must be a link between some of them.

Hard to believe this many people have vanished or died in the same vicinity as Morgan. Too unreal, some of them must be connected. IMHO.

Is this statistically (area size/population) an unusually large number of unsolved murders? Has LE made a connection, noted enough similarities to suspect a single murderer?

It sure seems that way doesn't it? I have a question about LE looking for cyclists to question. I have never seen cyclists in a big group at night, in the dark. Does not make much sense to me.

Gils Blog from this morning;

Gil Harrington’s thoughts from March 3, 2010On March - 3 - 20103 COMMENTS


March 3, 2010

Several of us from the OMNI team have started packing the 3,500 pounds of medical supplies we will take to Zambia, Africa on our April medical trip. Anticipating the trip has me both excited and anxious. The separation from Dan is always painful, even more so this year because Morgan’s death has left both of us vulnerable and raw. Despite the challenges that being apart will bring, I am more resolute than ever to make my journey to Africa. I was not able to save my precious child, but know that I will be able save other children’s lives in Africa. Every bobble headed baby with malaria we rehydrate and every burn we clean and dress negates some of the EVIL that is afloat in our world.

My pain will be les sharp knowing I have made a practical and direct difference in our patient’s and our students’ chances for survival. This brings me much comfort. I keep trying to do my best to tip the scale in the direction of love. I do believe love is greater than hate and love will win in the end if we do our part to help it along.

Gil is on her way to Africa to aid and offer assistance. She is a nurse.

Do you believe that after all this time 4 1/2 months there are still no pictures from that night and still nothing from the friends that were with Morgan that night. People are still posting and asking what kind of boots Morgan had on that night. Still asking if her beautiful necklace has been found. VSP tell nothing.

I think if I went missing in VA I would not want VSP to handle my case or try to find me.

What a beautiful person Gil must be, doing whatever good she can for humanity instead of wallowing in grief. May God bless her.

On St. Paddys day Morgan will have been missing since October 17, five months. I can't believe that much time has gone by and no arrests. Time marches on and bloggers move to other stories in the news.

How can a beautiful 20 year old woman go missing from a concert grounds were thousands were in attendance that night.

So much has happened. Police patrolling the area have been suspended for boinking on the side of the road..close to where Morgan was found. Two for boinking and one for knowing and not reporting..all during working hours.

The farmer that found Morgan, Mr. Bass has had his life laid out on a platter along with his family and neighbors.

Everybody searching for Who Killed Morgan Harrington.

What did you think of the Oscars? Personally I found it a bit "dry". Can't put my finger on it but it wasn't exciting like the Oscars usually are. I Tivo'd it and am glad I did. It seemed to drag on.

Well gals it's been 5 long months and still the killer of Morgan Harrington walks the streets a free man (men).
We know nothing more than what we knew Oct. 17, 2009. Morgan disappeared. Her purse was found in the Cage Lot. Morgan was found in January. Homocide.
This has been a tough one for me to follow over on the Find Morgan website. But then again aren't they all tough?
This today from Gil, Morgans mother.
Gil Harrington’s thoughts from March 17th, 2010On March - 17 - 20101 COMMENT


The nights can be difficult. When you are between sleep and wake your defenses dip and then unwanted thoughts and images come roaring in. I try not to think of how scared you were, the terror you felt. I try not to think of how much pain you were in as you were slaughtered.

Were you still alive when they brought you to Anchorage Farm? To be hunted like a deer running frantically over the hay stubble in the field desperate to escape, trying to survive, crying, screaming, I see it. I hear it. Or, were you brought there already dead, like a slab of meat, carrion to be discarded and dumped in the field to rot – just another carcass in the hunting preserve.

These images haunt me at night. During the day I can usually shake them off and focus on our job, trying to find your murderer. Other girls are in danger while this sadistic monster walks free. We will never rest until he is put away. Morgan will you help us, in what ever way you can to remove his evil from the world?

Jeanne said:

So much has happened. Police patrolling the area have been suspended for boinking on the side of the road..close to where Morgan was found. Two for boinking and one for knowing and not reporting..all during working hours.

WTF?? Are you saying that police officers patrolling the area were actually having sex on the side of the road? In uniform? On duty? :bounce: :LE:

Jeanne. Do you think the killer(s) will ever be found??

jeanne1807 wrote:What did you think of the Oscars? Personally I found it a bit "dry". Can't put my finger on it but it wasn't exciting like the Oscars usually are. I Tivo'd it and am glad I did. It seemed to drag on.

Off topic here, but parts were fabulous - others..not so much.

Loved the James Taylor serenade to our departed stars.

Gil Harrington is on JVM right now. Says her bones were fractured.

Sorry Wrap I try to bring those things over. Here is the link to the article. It's brutal.

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Wrapitup wrote:

jeanne1807 wrote:What did you think of the Oscars? Personally I found it a bit "dry". Can't put my finger on it but it wasn't exciting like the Oscars usually are. I Tivo'd it and am glad I did. It seemed to drag on.

Off topic here, but parts were fabulous - others..not so much.

Why in the heck did I ever put this ... here? I must have had a senior moment. Move it gals..move it. lol

Wrapitup wrote:Jeanne said:

So much has happened. Police patrolling the area have been suspended for boinking on the side of the road..close to where Morgan was found. Two for boinking and one for knowing and not reporting..all during working hours.

WTF?? Are you saying that police officers patrolling the area were actually having sex on the side of the road? In uniform? On duty? :bounce: :LE:

Jeanne. Do you think the killer(s) will ever be found??

I don't know Wrap. I really don't know. I think of our own gal on here that has been waiting so long to find who killed Leah?

Virginia has some kind of wacky thing where they don't release information. It's all a secret. So Gil hints in her blogs and everybody goes nuts trying to find out what she means. It is frustrating and crazy the way they do things. They have Heidi and David and now Morgan all VTech students.

Yes three officers were put on probation. Two for "doing the nasty" and one for knowing and not reporting them. One officer has committed suicide, Willie Morris. One house has burned that housed four college students..burned a couple of hours before Morgan was found.

I could write a book.

When Morgan D. Harrington’s bones were found in an Albemarle County pasture, they had been shattered and broken into jagged pieces, her parents said Wednesday.
“When you view … not just a skeleton, but brutal damage to a skeleton, you can imagine what [her mother] must have gone through,” the victim’s father, Dan Harrington, said.
He and Gil Harrington, Morgan’s mother, addressed the media Wednesday, marking five months since their daughter disappeared. They came from their home in Roanoke to the University of Virginia for the event.
Harrington, 20 and a Virginia Tech student, was killed after leaving an Oct. 17 Metallica concert at the UVa’s John Paul Jones Arena. Harrington was last seen hitchhiking on a railroad bridge on Copeley Road. A farmer found her remains about three months later, on his farm near U.S. 29, in southern Albemarle County.
Gil Harrington said she believes the person who killed her daughter caused the damage to her bones.
“I cannot get the image of Morgan’s shattered bones out of my mind,” Harrington said.
The medical examiner’s office has said only that the case is a homicide and has not released a cause of death.
State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller declined to comment Wednesday on the state of the remains.
Police are continuing to investigate the case, and leads are still coming in, Geller said. Police don’t have suspects yet, she said.
“The man who did this — and I am confident that it is a man — is being protected by his environment, by people in his environment, and that needs to stop,” Gil Harrington said.
Officials continue to wait on the results of DNA testing, Dan Harrington said.
“One thing that we have clearly learned ... is that things do not work as they do on ‘CSI,’” he said, referring to the television program that focuses on solving crimes.
The Harringtons also highlighted other Virginia murders and disappearances that have happened since August.
“We have no evidence at this time to link Morgan’s death with … any other murder,” Geller said.

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