MORGAN HARRINGTON MISSING

Investigators say they are confident the remains found on a Virginia farm are the remains of missing college student Morgan Harrington.  Skeletal remains were found earlier today on a farm in Charlottesville, Virginia.  According to a press release issued on the Virginia State police website, “State police were notified at 9:59 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010, by an Albemarle County resident of the discovery.  At this time, the remains and scene are being evaluated by forensic technicians.”  The location is Anchorage Farms, more than 700 acres of pasture and woods about eight miles away from Interstate 64.  

Nancy and David Bass have owned this farm for more than 30 years. I spoke with Nancy earlier today and she says the pasture is empty in the winter, but where the body was found is a place they do farming.  There is a subdivision that is close by to their land, and sometimes people trespass, hunt, and go biking on their property.  Nancy is not certain the exact place where the remains were found, and she hasn’t had a chance to speak to her husband about the body because he’s been swamped with calls.  I have a call into David, and hope to bring you more shortly.  Investigators said in a press conference David found the remains earlier today while he was on a tractor in a field.  The hayfield was cut in August, and since that time her body could have sat under rain, sleet and snow.  More than 600 tips have come in on this case, and once the medical examiner confirms what authorities believe to be true, this case may shift to a homicide investigation.  I spoke with the CUE center for Missing Persons and they had a search scheduled at the end of this month in the exact area where Morgan was found.  

As this story develops we will bring you more…

BACKGROUND:

Investigators say Morgan vanished on October 17, 2009 while attending a concert outside the John Paul Jones arena in Virginia. State police officials report Morgan was last seen by the ticket office on the University Hall side of the building. Right now, her family and friends need your help, the reward in this case is up to $150,000.  The band, Metallica, graciously added $50,000 of their own money to this reward fund.  On the weekend of November 6, 2009, The Laura Recovery center  helped to organized a three day search for Morgan, volunteers from all over assisted with this amazing effort. 

According to a Virginia State Police press release: “During the course of the investigation, police have been able to establish a timeline of Miss Harrington’s movements once she ended up outside of the arena at approximately 8:30 p.m. After talking to her friends on her cell phone, she then walked through the parking lot of University Hall and was also seen in the Lannigan Field athlete parking lot, which is also used for RV parking. At around 9:30 p.m., she was seen walking on the Copeley Road bridge near Ivy Road.”

According to Virginia State police, based off independent witness accounts, investigators believe on October 17, 2009 (the night Morgan Harrington went missing) that she was hitchhiking along Copeley Road Bridge.  Investigators are now searching for a vehicle they believe stopped in the middle of the bridge and possibly picked up Morgan.  Also, investigators need the public’s help to finding a young woman the night of the Metallica concert that may have loaned her cell phone to Morgan. 

Virginia State Police have a tip line, please call them with any information: (434) 352-3467 or send them an e-mail: bci-appomattox@vsp.virginia.gov