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Updated: 7:38 PM Oct 29, 2009
Morgan Harrington's Parents Release Statement About Search
Charlottesville, Va. As Virginia State Police continue to look for more clues in the disappearance of 20-year-old Virginia Tech student, the student's parents released a statement to the public.
Posted: 1:39 PM Oct 29, 2009Reporter: Bianca Spinosa; Carlos Vergera Email Address: bianca.spinosa@newsplex.com, carlos.vergera@newsplex.com |
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As Virginia State Police continue to look for more clues in the disappearance of 20-year-old Virginia Tech student, Morgan Harrington, her parents, Dan and Gil Harrington, released a statement to the public.
On Wednesday, police reported the last known sighting of Morgan was on the Copeley Road Bridge, which leads to Ivy Road and is a heavily trafficked part of Charlottesville.
Police are asking for help from anyone who may have been driving or walking on the Copeley Road Bridge on the night of October 17. They say they have received several leads since releasing a detailed timeline of Morgan's movements outside the arena Wednesday.
Morgan's parents released the following statement Thursday.
"We sincerely thank the Virginia State Police Department, University of Virginia Police Department, members of Metallica and the many people who have shown their support in this difficult time. We are doing everything in our power to bring Morgan home. We appreciate your prayers and ask that you continue to share any information you can with law enforcement so that we can find our daughter.
"Please refer to www.FindMorgan.com as a resource for updates on Morgan’s investigation. Information can also be found on the Virginia State Police Department’s Website at http://www.vsp.state.va.us/News/News_Releases.shtm. We encourage you to share your thoughts and questions with us directly at info@findmorgan.com.
"If you have any helpful information regarding our daughter’s whereabouts, please contact the Virginia State Police’s tip hotline at 434-352-3467 or e-mails bci-appomattox@vsp.virginia.gov.
"We thank you again for your prayers and support."
In the timeline police released Wednesday, Morgan was reportedly last seen at the Copeley Road Bridge about an hour after she was denied re-admittance the the Metallica concert at the John Paul Jones Arena.

State Police Lt. Joe Rader issued the new time line for the Morgan's disappearance at a news conference in Charlottesville.
Morgan’s Critical Hour:
8:30 p.m. - Outside John Paul Jones Arena
8:48 p.m. - Friend called Morgan's cell phone
9:00 p.m. - Seen in University Hall parking lot adjacent to JPJ
9:10 p.m. - Near Davenport Field RV Park and UVA Track
9:20 p.m. - On Copeley Bridge near intersection with Ivy Road
Rader says, "We know we don't have all the information there is in Charlottesville about this case."
He urges anyone who saw anything outside the Metallica concert between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to call police. Police are concentrating on what happened outside the arena.
Around 8:30 p.m., witnesses saw someone matching Morgan description at the ticket counter outside JPJ, trying to get back in the concert after she ended up outside.
At 8:48 p.m., a friend of Morgan's inside the arena called her on her cell phone asking if she was OK. Morgan apparently told her friend not to worry as she was going to get a ride from friends in Charlottesville.
Around 9 p.m., witnesses saw Morgan walking and carrying her black purse with backpack straps in the parking lot outside University Hall.
Ten minutes later, Morgan made her way to the RV parking area near the UVA track. On the night of the concert, that area would have been filled with RVs.
Witnesses saw Morgan there around 9:10 p.m., but they said they left about ten minutes later, leaving her in the parking area alone. The morning after the concert, a passerby found Morgan's purse on the ground.
The last known sighting of Morgan Harrington was on the Copeley Road bridge near Ivy Road at 9:30 p.m.
Police believe people driving or walking along the bridge must have seen Morgan after that time. They believe she may have gotten into a car.
"Perhaps you saw someone stop a vehicle to discuss something with this young lady. That would be important. Perhaps you saw this lady get into a vehicle. That would be important," says Rader.
The new time line explains why police spent so much time in the Copeley Road area looking for clues. Now, they're revealing where she was with the hope that someone will know where she is.
Morgan's parents did not appear the Wednesday news conference, but have said they believe she was taken by a stranger and that foul play was involved.
Police are asking any witnesses to come forward. They say every detail counts, and since the Copeley bridge is well traveled on Saturday nights, they hope to jog people's memories of the night of October 17.
People can submit tips anonymously by calling the Virginia State Police at 434-352-3467.
There is a $150,000 reward being offered for information that leads to finding Morgan.
Latest Comments
If Morgan really wanted to see Mettalica and couldn't re-enter because she didn't have her ticket stub, wouldn't she easily be able to ask one of her friends inside the arena to meet her with the stub at the entrance? It seems she had a different agenda .. maybe meeting up with someone to tailgate at the RV lot and encountered foul play never meeting up with her friend(s). Just seems odd to me that she looked so forward to the concert, didn't put much effort into regaining entry, telling her friends she'd find a ride home with a friend from Charlottesville. What friend was she referring to? Do her girlfriends know? The friends were obviously at ease with wherever Morgan was headed as they didn't report her missing or worry about meeting up with her after the concert to drive home.
I'm curious about the last phone call she received. Did she meet up with someone? Who are her friends and what are their histories?
Near an RV park? Do people have to register to park their RV's there? What if the last sighting on the bridge is an error? Isn't it possible she could have been taken by someone in that RV park? That seems more than logical to me. Don't they have any way of tracing who was parked there that night?
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