Morgan Harrington is Missing: Search Continues for Virginia Tech Student

Morgan Dana Harrington is missing. The 20-year-old Virginia Tech student has been missing a week and, even though they do not actually have reason to believe a crime was committed, the Charlottesville Daily Progress reports that police are now pursuing the case as a criminal investigation. Virginia State Police handed out flyers around the John Paul Jones Arena Saturday. Morgan Harrington's picture and information about her disappearance was included on the flyer. Authorities stated that they hoped to interact with the public and generate new leads in the investigation.

Morgan Harrington hasn't been seen or heard from since about 9:30 p.m. last Saturday night when she left her girlfriends at a Metallica concert and somehow ended up outside the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia, which has a no re-entry policy. Morgan Harington called her girlfriends and told them she would either wait for them or find another way home.

She wasn't waiting outside the arena when the Metallica concert ended. The Virginia Tech student never made it back to Blacksburg, either. A passerby found Morgan Harrington's purse and cell phone the next day near the arena. The cell phone's battery was missing. Her parents reported her missing the same day.

University of Virginia Police announced that ground searches had been halted after Thursday. They reported that the investigation would now center around Morgan Harrington's state and circumstances when she went missing.

Although the case has garnered some national publicity, the case has been somewhat stonewalled by a lack of evidence. Speculation is rampant about the 20-year-old disappearing with someone she met at the concert, purposely absenting herself from her former life, and/or perhaps being abducted (some point to the missing battery in her cell phone as evidence of foul play). But they are scenarios without actual proof.

However, as Crimesider reported, Morgan Harrington's parents maintain that her disappearance is far out of character for their daughter. She talked to her parents every day but they have had no contact since she vanished at the Metallica concert.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Morgan's father, Dan Harrington, said, "Morgan is a pretty transparent kid, who's had a really close relationship with us. I don't think there are lots of secrets, so this kind of behavior of (her) missing is not something I think we would expect."

Her father said she had wanted his help studying for a test Sunday and when he didn't hear from her, he called her friends. After they admitted to not seeing Morgan since before 8:40 and had only talked with her on the phone afterward, Harrington notified the police.

Although police still have no indication that a crime was committed, the fact that Morgan Harrington's absence has become prolonged and is not within her normal behavior patterns, police have begun to treat the matter as a criminal investigation. Unlike the Kristi Cornwell abduction in Georgia, where police have a witness (via phone) that foul play likely occurred, the Morgan Harrington investigation has a purse and cell phone and statements from Harrington's friends that she notified them on her cell phone that she would either wait for them outside the Metallica concert or find herself a ride home.

In the ongoing Kristi Cornwell case, investigators say they are making progress in the missing person case. According to True Crime Report, 17 agencies are involved in the search for the Blairsville, Georgia, woman who went missing on August 11 while taking a walk near her home. She was on the phone with her boyfriend at the time. The last thing he heard were the sounds of a struggle and a yelled, "Don't take me!" Kristi Cornwell's phone was found a few days later three miles from where investigators believe she may have been abducted.

Anyone having any information regarding the whereabouts of Kristi Cornwell are asked to call the Union County Sheriff's Department at 706-439-6066.

There is a $100,000 reward being offered for any information regarding Morgan's disappearance or her whereabouts. Anyone with information are urged to call the tip-line at (434) 352-3467.

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Sources:

DailyProgress.com
WDBJ7.com
TrueCrimeReport.com
WSLS.com