Missing student 'a very responsible young lady'
"She's a very responsible young lady," says Diane Scribner Clevenger, the pastor of the Roanoke church that missing Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington attends.
"It's just a time of shock," says Scribner Clevenger. Best known to the Harringtons as "Reverend Diane," she is serving as a family spokesperson while Morgan Harrington's parents, Dan and Gil, have uprooted their lives in Roanoke to assist with the Charlottesville-based search for their 20-year-old daughter.
Harrington came to Charlottesville with a group of friends to see the Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday night–- but she left the event before it ended, according to UVA Police spokesperson Melissa Fielding.
"We've definitely received some calls that confirm what we have about her travel patterns that night," says Fielding, who notes that police are also following up on calls about possible sightings of Harrington.
UVA Police sent out a release the night following the October 17 concert indicating that Harrington was last seen wearing a black t-shirt with tan letters that spelled 'Pantera' across the front. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman was also clad in a black mini skirt, black tights, and knee-high black boots, according to the release, which noted that she stands 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs approximately 120 pounds.
Virginia Tech spokesperson Mark Owczarski says that Tech has distributed info, including a front-page mention at vt.edu, to assist in the search for the interdisciplinary studies major.
The State Police, which is assisting, revealed that Harrington and a friend had traveled from Tech to James Madison University in Harrisonburg to meet another friend, and after the trio arrived at the concert Harrington "became separated from her friends and was unable to reunite with them."
Recent concerts have certainly tested the ability of friends to connect. At the recent U2 concert, for instance, Verizon cell phone users experienced hour-long delays in the delivery of text messages.
Back at the family home in Roanoke, Reverend Diane says the the young woman she has known for 13 years is a "child of God," who wouldn't leave her family worried. Harrington made an 8:30pm call to a friend on her cell phone, says Reverend Diane, declining to speculate whether foul play was involved.
"There's an odd series of events," says Reverend Diane. "We're all just staying as hopeful as we can."
UVA Police urge anyone with knowledge of Harrington's whereabouts to contact the Department at 434-924-7166
–originally posted 8;06am –last updated 1:17pm October 23 (to correct spelling of mother's name) –original headline: Metal fan from Tech disappears –10:14am headline: Missing Tech student seen outside arena
62 comments
I am so worried about this young girl. I just can't understand why her "friends" that she was with, didn't speak to the security guards and tell them about her being missing. Also, why they didn't immediately contact her parents. Surely they know more than they are telling. They just haven't reacted to this in a way that I would hope friends of my children would. They should be questioned about what is normal for her in this type of situation. Maybe she had gone to meet someone and before she met them she was abducted. The police should check her computer to see if she had been talking with someone that planned to be there that night.
re ââ?¬Å?Are young White girls the only missing people?”
This is a local paper. This is a local story. I don't know who you are or where you live, but this happened in Charlottesville, Virginia where this small paper is also located. I bet most of the people posting comments to this forum are locals.
Also, this just happened this past weekend. It's "news".
Are there any people missing from the various demographic groups you listed from Charlottesville? If so I think the media reports on them WHEN IT HAPPENS. This happened on Saturday at a big rock concert.
A 9 year old boy recently died of swine flu. Again, local story. This is a local paper and reported on it.
Your agenda isn't necessarily incorrect, but I don't see why the hook should cover a story in Atlanta. I don't see why the Hook is responsible for the national media's attention to this story.
go to sleep everyone and stop making up things unless you know all the facts.
If many people keep up with local, state and national news on a daily basis, it will drive them crazy to see what the world we live in has become. There's a 7 year old girl missing for 3 days in Jacksonville, Florida right now. Here's the disturbing part -- 75 known sex offenders in a five-square-mile radius have been interviewed.
75????? In a 5 mile radius???? The numbers were quite alarming at first when I viewed them. But I now see it's not unusual at all. In a 7 square mile city such as Charlottesville, there's 117 offenders listed. And this number doesn't include those that are currently incarcerated.
While I think most of us pray for Morgan's safe return, any and all of this proves what I have said for a long time -- Charlottesville is not a safe place to be after dark.
people are evil. what she was wearing said it all, easy target. tattoos and body piercing are a dead giveaway, did she have them??? please young ladys stay in groups when your out. this liberal area gives the creeps a long leash to do there evil. may god be with her.
It's Natalee Holloway all over again...
Mr/Mrs/Miss This is really sickening, you're playing the racist card when there is nothing racist here. I recall all the local media covering the young black pregnant girl that was missing in Fork Union not long ago. And it remained in the news until she was finally located.
If Morgan was pink, blue, green or orange, you would see the exact same coverage that's currently taking place.
REALLY...another young White girl is missing!! NOOOO WAAAY!! It's a good thing there are no young Latino girls missing, no young Black girls missing, no young Asian girls missing, and HEAVEN FORBID if there are any young boys missing in America...of ANY race!
For the love of God we need to demand better from our ridiculously biased media. Either equally report missing people of both genders and all races, or don't report anything at all. Are any of you the least bit sick and tired with the coverage of young White girls only?
Talk about being offended. How offended do you think the parents are of all the other kids missing in this country with 24-hour news coverage, radio shows, code Adam, all of the highway signs, blogs and internet posts, and they get nothing. No attention at all. With the amount of information sharing that is done on a 24-hour basis with our media, are you really saying young Black, Asian, and Latino boys and girls can’t get any attention?
Look folks, even with all of the sarcastic comments, the truth is that every one of us wishes and prays for a positive outcome. It could have been the sister/girlfriend/friend/daughter/relative of any of us. A couple of weeks ago, my cousin was stabbed 21 times by her boyfriend down in Atlanta Georgia, but that didn't get national coverage. By the grace of God she is ok and he is in custody. The point is that bad things happen all the time. We don’t wish it on anyone, and we don’t want it happening to any of us. In the media, if it bleeds it leads. I’m very confident the media can care less about all the damage they do to our society by reporting so many negative stories. Do whatever it takes to shock viewers and get the ratings so Big Pharma will pay them the BIG BUCKS to put their ads on between stories.
But seriously, ask yourself ââ?¬Å?Are young White girls the only missing people?”
i went to high school with this girl. she's really smart and very nice to everyone. stop being rude. there are people who love her and your rude comments aren't helping this situation.
I think all of you should quit being so rude her parents don't need to read those things
In response to Just a reply....your comment was not only completely false about her selling her body but completely inappropriate...I went to high school with her and currently going to college with her and I am good friends with some of her close friends...this is a serious thing that is scaring the living daylights out of many people and to say things like she needed to sell herself on the streets is totally out of line...this is not a joking matter and instead of saying stupid comments like that you should be praying for her safe return...think before you post some outrageous comment especially if you don't know the person.
Rude? I'm sure her parents realize that one of two things has happened, 1) she is safe and will explain her whereabouts sooner or later, or, 2) something terrible has happened.
I'm sure everybody hopes we can read soon about her, her friends, and her family being reunited.
yall really need to watch yourselves with this. this girl is missing and should be be dragged through this. you all need to look at it as if it was your daughter that was missing. unless you are a heartless fool, then you would be worried as well and be more than willing to help. show some respect people.
Not Your Drama Llama, I doubt if press spokespersons at the various cop shoppes work weekend hours.
Just pray she is OK.
O.K.
J S
GSOE,
What does the water taste like in Neverneverland? I've always wondered.
She probably ran off with the band as a groupie.
That's someone's daughter.
just a reply, if my daughter has a pimp who has beaten her, destroyed her cell phone and caused her to not arrive home safely, that is the time the cop shoppe needs to get involved and start looking for her. Not 24 hours later when they take a missing person report. :)
Furthermore, I am trained at recognizing alcohol and drug use, and/or abuse. The first time this happens she knows her brand new car will be taken away.
"That's someone's daughter."
You're skills of deduction are amazing.
Concerned, I know the concept is pretty much long gone and a thing of the past, but some parents still exercise absolute control over their teenagers.
I know where my daughter is and what she is doing 24 hours a day. And I will continue to know until she's at least 18. At 18, the law says she is responsible for her own safety, health and well being.
GSOE,
"If my 17 year old daughter still living at home and going to school, who doesn’t use drugs or alcohol, hasn’t come home or called by midnight at the very latest, there’s absolutely a 100% chance that foul play is most certainly involved."
According to what you know! Maybe she does drugs and you just don't know about it. Maybe she needed to hit the streets and sell her body to support her secret drug problem and her pimp made her work a little extra. Maybe she didn't call you and let you know that she would be running a little past that midnight curfew because her pimp beat her with her cell phone and it is now broken, in the gutter, just like your suburban American dream.
C'mon, haven't you seen Traffic? This stuff happens.
If she's been missing since Saturday night, why are we just hearing about it TODAY? Doesn't that kind of hinder any attempts to find her?
She probably wasn't considered missing till Sunday- I believe they wait 24 hours unless there is evidence that something serious has occurred. Unless it involves a child of course
This thread contains way too much "unverified information" and way too many"potentially libelous statements". Is the concept of common decency completely obsolete?
Like most people in this community, I hope this young woman is safe and home with her family soon.
I have known Morgan since I moved to Roanoke about 15 years ago. We have been friends ever since. And hearing this type of news is very upsetting. She was with her friends at a concert and things like getting separated are going to happen. And that's what happened in Morgan's case. Morgan is a wonderful person and wherever she is, hopefully she is safe. Her family, friends, and myself are wanting her to come home unharmed. Her family is in my thoughts and prayers at this time and I hope that nothing bad has come to her. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.
The below was posted on the Channel 29 News web site. If it's true, JPJ shares in the blame for whatever happened, IMHO. The policy is stupid!
----------------------------
"Morgan came to the concert with so called friends. During the concert she started feeling sick, so she went outside to get some air. JPJ would not let her back in due to policy. When the concert was over her "Friends" could not find her, so they left and went back to Tech. Security found her pocket book and items in the parking lot and called her parents. The parents in turned called the friends and they told her they could find her and left and came back to Tech. The parents then called the police back. The State Police and FBI and now part of the investagation."
And that in itself is a major problem, St Halsey.
In a worst case scenario such as an abduction, rape and murder, it's a certain time period before the cops will even get involved. In 24 hours a criminal can have the body 3 or 4 states away and buried.
If my 17 year old daughter still living at home and going to school, who doesn't use drugs or alcohol, hasn't come home or called by midnight at the very latest, there's absolutely a 100% chance that foul play is most certainly involved. There's no need to wait 24 hours to file a missing person report. This "protect and serve" thing is very questionable with certain policies the cops have in place.
Virginia Tech sure has taken a beating, with the crazed gun man, and recent park murders, sure hope this doesn't end in another VaTech tragedy. The way these kids stay connected with texting and cell phones, I'd be worried too if I were friends or family.
lbhokie, you didn't pass reading comprehension, did you? I was commenting on Gasbag Self Ordained Expert's comment and making an extreme hypothetical reference to their daughter to prove the point that parents do not always know what their kids are up to. So far, I have not commented at all about the missing woman from the Metallica show.
Now I will. I hope she is safe and that she is found as soon as possible. I wish only the best for all real world humans and animals. I mean that sincerely.
As for hypothetical situations/persons, I do not care, because they are NOT REAL.
so CHO is dangerous since its liberal? what type of f--ked up logic is that?
maybe obama abducted her, is that what you really wanted to say?
re:"3. She was wearing a short mini skirt, black tights and knee high black boots. Why would anyone wear a mini skirt to a heavy metal concert?"
The old, "she was asking for it" meme. The South's "morals" rear their ugly head once more.....
Morgan is a great girl. I went to high school with her my freshman and sophomore year at LBHS. So whoever says she "ran off with the band groupies" is an idiot. She's a very intelligent young woman, and would NEVER do such a thing. So please don't make stupid comments if you don't know what you're talking about. Just keep her in your prayers and hope for her safe return. Also we're having a vigil for her this thursday so please keep praying!
Also, one more thing to clarify. The three girls were going to the concert in Charlottesville and then heading back to JMU, which is only about 45 min away. There are parties there every night Thurs-Sat. And its only about an hour and 15 min back to the part of Roanoke where she lived at most. This is very out of character for her. Hopefully she's okay and will come home very soon
It is not out of the question that if she was abducted that the kidnapper could be reading this blog. These are individuals that are mentally ill, and of course, I hope this is not the case, but if it is, and someone is possibly reading this, there is help for those who cannot control themselves in this way, and there is forgiveness, so best to release Morgan and get the help that is available for these types of illnesses. The agony of a parent going thru this type of situation is beyond my comprehension, and I hope that she will be returned safely to your home.
May we all turn our thoughts in that direction, and if someone was responsible for abducting her, may they also seek help and end this ordeal for the family.
i hope and pray this young woman is found and is safe.
however, to many of those posting, y'all is not a word. they should teach that at va tech.
you guys dont know her. She is a great person. Just as the article says she was really responsible. It was a metallica show. of course its gonna get crazy. and because of this they shouldnt have waited so long to put news out about her. Please just pray for my friend! she has a good heart!
Does JPJ have cameras at the entrances? One would thing with all the cameras in our society and being that JPJ is new they would have been installed. If they aren't they should be! Even a gas station that didnt cost 130 million can afford cameras!
several things just don't make sense to me.
1. Why would her friends live Charlottesville without her? Unless they knew she was a wild girl and hooked up with someone so they weren't concerned because she done this before.
2. She was at a Metallica concert wearing a Pantera t-shirt. BOth are MAJOR heavy metal groups. I doubt she heard that music at Rev. Dianne's church.
3. She was wearing a short mini skirt, black tights and knee high black boots. Why would anyone wear a mini skirt to a heavy metal concert?
4. JPJ shouldn't be at fault for not letting her back in. Once you exit the building you can't go back in everyone knows that. Her friends shouldn't have let her go by herself. Unless they were intoxicated themselves.
I don't believe that she was an "angel" and that may have been the picture she portrayed to her parents and Rev. Dianne. I hope she hasn't been harmed and that she is in the tour bus somewhere.
Maybe UVA should rethink the policy for not allowing those who exit the building to return. Common sense tells me denying re entry to any woman is just plain stupid,especially in the dark of night. I know UVA is aiming to stop people from going to cars (alcohol/drugs). I suggest allowing returns. If they act up or display impaired behavior, then arrest them.
Don't you remember when young black boys began to disappear in Atlanta? That was a top story for months.
This story is hot because the missing person just went to a concert and disappeared with no previous hint of problems. There were plans for the next few days so that there was no reason she should have vanished.
She was with friends who can testify as to her sober and standard mental condition. But witnesses recount someone matching her description fell and could not speak when she got up. She was so effected that the witness thought she was stoned.
Another person said she was seen walking along a highway later.
Until there is a reasonable resolution the story will remain in the news cycle.
i pray she is found. actually, a black mini and boots is what you do wear to a heavy metal concert.
the "friends" are key to this: the leave on a 2 hour trip home without her? never report her missing to police?
girls leaving girls alone at end of parties or trips is unconscionable. simply no excuse.
considering that most of the headbangers were inside the concert, who the hell was outside that she could get mixed up with? cops are all over the place at these shows, particularly heavy metal. i bet they had more police on duty than normal.
I find it absolutely absurd that JPJ Arena has a no re-entry Policy at concerts, or any event for that matter, without adequate security measures to protect patrons at the venue who have been refused re-entry. It has just been reported on NEWSPLEX that this was the case. Shame on you! JPJ, as this burden clearly falls on your shoulders now. If she had her ticket stub for which she probably paid too much. She clearly should have been allowed entry. Hell, even the sleaziest Nightclubs "hand stamp" We now have a slight 20 year old girl who is missing mostly because of your egregious negligience. It was reported that after Ms. Harrington was refused rentry she contacted friends inside. Foolishly, JPJ did nothing to ensure her continued safety until the end of the event, or until friends came to meet her.
This negligience and Cavalier attitude make me so angry I could just spit. Change this absurd policy today!!
cookieJar--- Subliminal Distraction is explained in first semester psychology under the physiology of sight. If you did not take psychology have someone you trust explain it to you.
Interviewing her roommate and others she studied with would confirm or eliminate it.
When you look at other student cases they have been found in days weeks, or months. Ron Tammen has been gone fifty years. It is too soon to determine what happened. There is not enough information in published accounts.
Are you smart enough to speak to the Design, Engineering, or Psychology department at VTech about this?
Mr/Mrs/Miss Hmmmm...., I hope you are wrong. Katie Worsky disappeared several decades ago, July 12, 1982 to be exact. While the remains were never found, the murderer was brought to justice and convicted. The community just doesn't need this foolishness once again.
I wonder where Glenn Barker is nowadays?
Some friends, huh?
When did this become about everyone else? No...no parent knows EVERYTHING their kid does, even if they think they do. My parents thought they did and trust me....if they did then I wouldn't be here now. If you are a control freak you are more likely to loose control of your kids in the long run.
The best thing anyone can do or say here is to BE VIGILANT, KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR THIS GIRL, LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING THAT MAY LEAD TO HER RECOVERY AND PRAY FOR HER SAFE RETURN OR ANY KIND OF CLOSURE FOR HER FAMILY.
Good luck to the rest of the world that thinks a young person doesn't have their own personality and secrets. I think this girl was unfortunate and became a statistic, lets just hope she surfaces.
Everyone! This is a serious matter. She really is a great person whom I have known for many years! Everyone just needs to lay off one another and hope that shes ok. I really hope nothing bad has happened she is a great friend to all and we all miss you here at Tech.
I am shocked and appalled at how ridiculous a thread could become in response to a missing individual, which is a very serious matter. It brings me to tears to think that people on here have time and evil energy to waste bantering about misconceptions and insulting one another when there is a daughter, a friend, a human being MISSING. I hope that you all learn what is truly important in this world and pray for this young woman and her family and friends. We need prayers. And hope. Not immaturity and irrelevant banter.
Please pray.
Yes, it is a serious matter. But I also doubt the Hook News Blog comments section is the front line in the search for Morgan. I think all friends of Morgan and those concerned for her safety should pray privately, as Jesus would, for her safe return.
Matthew 6:5-6 but thou when thou pray, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee.
DO YOU KNOW HOW RIDICULOUS THIS THREAD IS?
Apart from the genuine comments on here regarding Morgan's well-being and safe return, everyone else is heartless. Get off here and stop bashing each others grammar, and word choices. Stop making up scenarios about things that aren't happening. This is real, and very serious.
Her family may read these comments, how would all of you fools feel if this was your child missing and these were the kind of comments being posted?!
Morgan is a daughter, a sister, a friend...She is missing and the Harrington's lives are turned upside down, as well as her friends.
Please, just hope/pray for her safe return.
Soon, an announcement from LK Tucker about a revolutionary perpetual motion machine that government and industry are conspiring to keep hidden. VT shooter Cho was a secret agent , etc..., blah, blah, blah....
Here come the loonies!
it is early to speculate what happened.her purse was found in the parking lot along with her cell phone,the battery was removed.
Britt, I have a few questions for you. It was reported by Mr. Rader with the State Police that Morgan's cell phone was found without the battery but that was not unusual for her. Can you help me understand why that was not unusual for Morgan?
And do you know when and where Morgan and all the girls ate before the concert? Or did they plan to eat afterwards somewhere in Harrisonburg? Was there a particular party where Morgan and the group were planning to attend at JMU after the concert? Do you know of anyone from UVA whom Morgan would have expected to attend that party too?
hmmmm,
you are going down the wrong road at the wrong time. its time to wait and see what develops.
Yeah GSOE, some parents still do exercise absolute authority over their teenagers. It always works out just fine. I'm sure YOUR daughter will turn out fine, just fine.....
"Reportedly, Murray was homeschooled in a deeply religious Christian household, and he attended, but did not complete, a missionary training program at the YWAM Arvada facility in 2002."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Colorado_YWAM_and_New_Life_shootings
Back off a bit here and let this news do what it can to help get that girl back home rather than being yet another platform for your ranting. Maybe someone here does know something. Wouldn't you hope for the same if your daughter were the one missing?
I wouldn't have to be ranting if people didn't submit silly ramblings such as pimps taking cell phones and beating girls up. :)
These disappearances all seem to start the same way. Popular student, in good health, no mental health problems, disappears leaving possessions behind. Brian Shaffer was seen on video tape minutes before he vanished.
Some are certainly crime or accident victims and a few are later found suicides without explanation,(Compton, Morse, Ga. Tech.) but another small group return or are found in altered mental states.
Virginia Tech has not warned students about a little known problem discovered because it caused mental breaks for office workers. The cubicle was designed to deal with the vision startle reflex to prevent what is still today believed to be a harmless episode of confusion.
Cho, the mass shooter, created the "special circumstances" for this problem. A variety of outcomes is possible but efforts to determine if she had Subliminal Distraction exposure should be made. If so she could be almost anywhere she could have traveled without a passport.
Students and other adults have been recovered in from a few days to many months. Although they have amnesia most victims appear and function normally otherwise. It is called Dissociative Fugue. Fugue is diagnosed after someone is found but not much is known about the first few days and weeks of an episode.
Wake up all of you
Put your agenda aside. If you want to render a 19 year old helpless , take the battery out of her phone and make her think she can not get in touch with her friends.
Now give her a ride to find them and this gets really dark.
Curious, the only fact anybody needs to know is that the young girl is still missing. My heart skipped a beat last night about 7:30 p.m. when I noticed a girl in Five Guys on the downtown mall. I had to pause and take a good look at the girl for about 30 seconds to make sure it was not Morgan. Sadly enough, it wasn't her.
I don't know her or her family but this makes me sick deep into the pit of my stomach. I sit here looking at her pictures, praying to God that she does not end up like so many other missing people...dead or at the hands of some crazy pervert. I hope she is out there alive, on her way home.
If you don't have children, I suppose it may be hard to feel empathy in this situation..but for me, seeing her father break down on TV is truly unbearable. My God, I pray she comes home soon.
A police news release today confirms she had a small facial injury. There was a report that she fell to get that injury and could not communicate when she stood. The witness thought she was drunk or stoned. Another person saw her inside the restroom crying with the injury. Friends and independent witnesses verify she was not using drugs or alcohol.
Now we know she walked across two parking lots alone. Others there relate "limited interaction" with her. No one assaulted her. But there is no explanation for the abandoned purse with the cell phone inside with its battery removed.
She may have been grabbed after she left the concert area. But there is no proof.