Morgan Harrington's parents start fund
The parents of Morgan Harrington, who disappeared on October 17 after leaving a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena, have started a fund to assist in the search for their daughter. (At left, a small memorial created by her parents on Copeley Bridge, where Morgan was last seen on October 17 sometime around 9:30pm.)
In other news, UVA spokesperson Carol Wood–- responding to a Hook question–- says that a mobile lighting unit, of the type found around Charlottesville on fall football weekends, was in place in the RV Lot, the site where Harrington's purse was found. (Such a light is pictured near the bottom of this recent story.)
Read more on: Morgan Dana Harrington
14 comments
M- As I recall Dr. Harrington said in an early interview he moved from Charlottesville to Roanoke in 2000 to help UVA start or continue something at Carilion in Roanoke. will try to find the link.
Here is his page from "carilionclinic"site -
http://www.carilionclinic.org/cs/Satellite?actionjsp=PhysicianDetails&c=...
Here is a link that mentions the hospital where Dr. Harrington works is affiliated with UVA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carilion_Roanoke_Memorial_Hospital
I understand it is wiki so it might be out of date or just plain wrong.
However, I also found this:
http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/psych-clerkship/Roanoke.cfm
And there are many other references to a UVA connection between where Dr. Harrington works and where Morgan was last seen.
By the way, I have sent my check off to help with the search, I am very familiar with both Ed Smart and the Laura Recovery Center! I hope to be able to make it to Charlottesville this weekend for the search. Ed Smart was a force when his daughter disappeared. He qualifies for HERO status in my book! He has a very analytical and compassionate way about him. I am sure Dr. Harrington and Mrs. Harrington will each benefit from his involvement. I hope with all my heart JMU, Va Tech, and UVA all have many many who turn out to help this weekend, that is, if Morgan has not been found. TIME IS SO CRITICAL!
If I am wrong and Dr. Harrington is not attached in any way to UVA I apologize. However, if there is a connection, I think it would complicate things for him.
I can't understand why these young women think that its okay to go out alone. SAFETY IS IN NUMBERS, STUPIDITY IS ALONE!!
I do believe she was abducted and drugged up and now is probably going to be on some porno web site if not found murdered. Face it~!
It does happen. And her physical appearance, she is beautiful...she would take in lots of money for them perverts and tthey keep her drugged up, and confined inside their basement or
what ever they set up their "video studio" in.
I would search all the homes WITHIN A 25 MILE RADIUS OF THAT CONCERT, with basements or cellars that are owned by single white men between 35-60, who is seldom seen at all by their neighbors...and who drives a CARGO VAN...OR SUV WITH DARK WWINDOWS. THAT IS PROBABLY WHERE THEY WILL FIND HER...I ALSO bet that this is not the first time this perp has done this. Britanee Drexel is still missing from Myrtle Beach SC and she was pretty 5'0 tall blonde also...may be a connection somehow. I can only hope she is still alive...maybe she will get a chance to escape soon!! God Bless All!
I read the statement by the Harringtons and was first struck by the 202 area code on it. Why is someone in NYC involved in this case and how? (at first I thought well her brother works in NYC so maybe he is trying to take an active role). There was a "media" contact source on the document,Leslie Valenza, with the firm Levick Strategic Communications. Certainly not her brother. Anyone know if this is the firm where her brother works? If not,I guess the Harringtons hired a PR firm? I can fully understand the odd place the Harringtons find themselves. Their only daughter goes to a concert in a facility owned (correct me if I am wrong that UVA owns John Paul Jones Arena) by his own EMPLOYER! (maybe this is why Dr. Harrington got the tickets for the show?) I can't imagine the place they find themselves. What I can't understand is why a PR firm and start a fund? Does this firm have experience with MISSING PERSONS? There are a number of organizations which specialize in missing persons; I for one have never heard of this particular firm associated with any other missing person case. And I have to tell you whatever firm or organization was hired wasn't the first order of business to fix what UVA CAMPUS POLICE and State POLICE Lt. Rader had created? Around the same time the Harringtons were enlisting the help of a PR firm, did a new person step into the limelight - the VA State Police's PR Person Corrine Geller? I haven't followed many missing person cases where PR arms of the LE are front and center. What message does that send? The irony assounds me. This case has been remarkable to me and NOT in a GOOD WAY. I can't fathom WHY there remains so many contradictions and gaping holes in what the police released so far. The first order of business should have been to get the word out to her movements that day leading up to her disappearance and fully disclose her description and time line and CLEARLY cast as wide a media net as to demonstrate the URGENCY of finding this (or any missing person). Obviously the urgency needs to be visible and felt (as well as the power and reach of Law Enforcement)from JMU to Roanoke to Charlottesville. Considering this was a National tour, the media ripple needed to go out to touch where these bands layed before and where these bands next gig was, didn't it? I couldn't find where that was even attempted.
I get so weary of reading posts from folks who want to TRUST the police and think the police are holding back info because they are working a case. The general rule is police HATE and DOWNGRADE missing person cases. Maybe some departments are exceptions. The glare of the media and the internet has helped to raise the bar. I beg folks to use their heads. Think of the successful missing person cases and if you really want to understand the reality, take some time to look at the mistakes which have caused so many people to remain missing. I understand police can't be all places at all times. That is why we have to work together and approach each case as if it was one of our own missing. TIME IS THE ENEMY! In order to do this, I would argue releasing A FULL AND COMPLETE DESCRIPTION NEVER was/is going to compromise their case - so the fact they KNEW she was injuried and didn't disclose claiming her injury did not rise to the level of "abduction" defies logic. The fact we still have no surveillance footage of her that night at the Center defies logic. The fact we don't know the specifics or description of her (short sleeved t shirt or long sleeved, heels or flats, hair in pony tail or pulled up in a knot or ...), her car AND/or the car in which she travelled to the concert; where they parked, where her seat was, did she stay in her seat, what type of phone was discovered (without its battery!). The local newscasts (and subsequent regional pick-up) initially reported she traveled from Va Tech to the concert at UVA. This was wrong. The first press conference did not address the JUM connection correctly did they? There was no mention of where or if the group ate or planned to eat. The first news conference Lt. Rader asked convenience stores to contact them if they recognized Morgan. WHY DIDN'T CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE ask for the TAPES from the convenience/big box/banks etc and CHECK to see what THEY FOUND? This case has been so illogical and difficult to watch unfold from the first press release. I expected better from UVA. I have to wonder if it is time to REQUIRE CAMERAS at all public venues for public safety purposes. Families shouldn't have to hire attorneys or PR firms! We can do better. Security systems may be our safety net. They already have solved various murders and helped to find various missing people, the most recognized probably was Carlie Brucia, the little one snatched at a car wash. I think it is time for CONGRESS to first pass HR 3695, it is in the Bobby Scott's sub committee right now! Come on VA, call him! Anyone notice the way the VB missing are missing from the VA STATE Police Site. Rememer the Washington teen who turned up in NYC recently but the Washington State police had made ASSUMPTIONS AND done a super sloppy job of including her on their state missing person site. It took NYC police askin the media for help solve who a LIVE person was! If we can build a dedicated national sex offender database (a terrific first step) then can't we fix the gaping holes regarding missing persons? ID the thousands of unidentified missing persons who have been found throughout our Country and help families find closure and hopefully help LE find the EVIL responsible and put them behind bars? Isn't it time for Congress and State houses to consider incentives that help cities and individuals be safer? Maybe Congress could consider tax credits to help get cameras up and operational? Public safety needs to be front and center. It is part and parcel to our homeland security, isn' it? Camera funding has been doled out through grants to police for decades. Maybe it is time for Congress and various State Legislative bodies to move to help communities. Or maybe the Bill Gates or Rupert Murdock or Oprah Winfreys and others whom have deep pockets can allign with the National Center for Missing Persons and Children (which almost disappeared, did you even know?) and make some common sense solutions viable and make us safer and help positively drive our economy.
I hope Morgan is found. Every day I google and hope to find good news. I pray for her family and their friends and the Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Roanoke areas, as well as our Country. We can do better. I just wonder WHO has to vanish to make this tide turn. Sadly, after twenty years of following these cases, I don't think it is a question of how many...
This is such a mystery! Where can she be? I know the parents don't ever wanna think about it, but it's foul play, obviously. She vanished like Natalee Holloway did. They looked alike, too. I hope to God that they find her alive and safe, and soon. It's the not knowing, the uncertainty, which i can imagine is very hard to bare. Let's hope that the reward money, along with this newly setup fund, is incentive enough to get someone's attention, where they will come forward and give some information that will crack the case wide open, and will get the lady back to her parents, friends, family, and her home.
To the parents, i hope for a speedy, safe return of your daughter! We're all praying and hoping that she will be soon found alive and safe! God bless!!
Seems odd that a forensic pathologist was unable to rule out being hit by a car , Being struck by a moving object hard enough to cause these fatal injuries would leave dimensional markings at wound sites somewhere on the body.
Dakota
Veracity, 202 is DC's area code--not New York City's.
quote: "...I would search all the homes WITHIN A 25 MILE RADIUS OF THAT CONCERT...."
KATRENAVANTASSLE, how in the Wide World of Justice would you have such a search warrant issued? A 25 mile radius would include ALL of Charlottesville and a large chunk of Albemarle County. Do you subscribe to the belief that everybody is a suspect until proven innocent?
quote: "I expected better from UVA."
The same UVA that sweeps rapes under the rug because they don't want the bad publicity? :)
Thanks Just FYI- you are SO right! As you may be able to tell from my grammically challenged post (sorry all) Morgan's disappearance has hit a nerve! Thanks for the correction. It IS a DC PR FIRM - Levick Strategic Communications - 1900 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 P 202.973.1300 F 202.973.1301
KATRENAVANTASSLE - I read your post. WOW. I can understand the logic of your post. I wonder how old you are? The thing is, I remember a DIFFERENT USA, a different VA even! I am not a SR. I was raised in VA, in VB. I recall so many hours on my bike or at the beach, and yes I even went to concerts and movies alone... I never felt afraid. But while I busy growing up, our Court system shifted and our country changed. The Supreme Court decided the Death Penalty had to go (for awhile at least) and they announced that RAPE was not evil enough for a death sentence(remember all on our highest court at that time were men!). And courts across our Nation began to shift to protect the RIGHTS of the ACCUSED instead of mealing out JUSTICE based on criminal conduct. Common sense left the building! Courts first allowed vilifying the victims to try and deflect away criminal conduct and we have had decades of defense attorney using psycho or socio conditions to limit or excuse REAL criminal conduct. (right now I think the most popular is Bi-Polar). We have reached a point where victims rights is an ongoing debate. It is shameful in my opinion.
Courts decided to standardize sentencing and restructured or abandoned parole and probation at a time when more evil was being returned to our streets. The balance tipped. And at the same time the Courts began to limit Law Enforcement's ability to investigate. Suddenly the right of privacy trumped public safety. And it directly affected and continues to affect missing person cases- especially people from their mid-to-late teens to adult.
And here we are! Morgan Dana Harrington (and others) are missing! I can see nothing though that she did where Morgan was at fault. I can see a rule like the no re-entry rule at JPJ to be inappropriate for the times we live especially considering your post!
We have to use our common sense. Are you really prepared to be a prisoner and relinquish your freedoms? Wouldn't it make more sense to work to correct the balance and make our streets safe?
KATRENAVANTASSLE -has left the reservation
Veracity,
The parents held a press conference today, so my guess is that their goal in hiring the PR firm was to get advice on how to get the word out as much as possible and target groups that might not be paying much attention to newspapers and TV news (ie college students). The police aren't going to hold press conferences unless there's something new to announce.
It's possible that the parents have gotten frustrated with the police, but it also might just be that they want to supplement their efforts. The State Police DO have other cases to investigate, and it might be that they are giving Morgan's case all they've got but are simply overloaded. Or maybe the parents are frustrated. But you often hear about families starting their own funds and hiring private investigators for a missing persons case. If you've got the money or can raise it, why not? I'm sure they are willing to do anything that might lead to an answer.
Also, I'm pretty sure I've read that Mr. Harrington USED to practice at UVA but left years ago. So there shouldn't be any conflict for him. And I would think the family wouldn't let that stop them from saying what they wanted regardless. But their message seems to be more "let's find Morgan" instead of pointing fingers.
Also, the PR firm would provide equipment and technical support for the press conferences.
what does the brother know? i think he knows more about morgan than his parents think. he may have no idea where she is, but he knows more about her life than they do. i bet he could piece together what may have driven her outside based on their personal conversations.