Morgan's Missing Flier

Last Saturday, October 17th, a 20 year old girl named Morgan Harrington went missing in my hometown of  Charlottesville, Virginia. Morgan, who has blond hair, blue eyes, and is 5’6 and about 120 lbs, was last seen at a Metallica Show at the John Paul Jones Arena.She was wearing a black Pantera t shirt, a black miniskirt, black tights, and black knee high boots.

For some reason, around 8:45, before Metallica even started playing, she went outside the stadium- to use the bathroom or smoke a cigarette– reports differ– and because she didn’t have her ticket stub she was refused re-entry. She then called her friends with whom she went to the show and said she would find another way home. That doesn’t really add up– it was before the concert that her mother (with whom she is very close) described her as “very excited about,” and, because she is a student at Virginia Tech, located 2.5 hours away in Blacksburg, Va, random rides home probably weren’t going to be that easy to find.

Police found her purse and her cell phone in the parking lot, but no other clues about where Morgan went.  Obviously Police and her parents suspect foul play. As her father said on the news, “kids at that age believe that everyone is their friend.” The more time that goes by, the bleaker the outcome seems. Metallica has upped the reward money to $150k, and have posted a message on their website, hoping anyone at the show who saw anything at all will come forth– one really never knows how the smallest detail could solve a mystery.  Morgan’s story has been featured on Nancy Grace, the Today Show, and even the normally celeb-drivel focused site Perez Hilton. Here is the tip line: 434.352.3467,  here is the  tips email bci-appomattox@vsp.virginia.gov , here is the Facebook community dedicated to finding her, and here is the website set up by her parents.  It’s always horrifying when someone is abducted or goes missing, and of course because this happened in my safe little hometown, it makes me feel that much more accountable to try to put the word out there. Because the people or person who took her is still out there, and Charlottesville has always felt like a safe community, it’s especially rattling. Unfortunately, crimes like this truly can happen anywhere, at anytime, and to any of us. Always keep your eyes out for your friends, and please play it safe this Halloween. Our thoughts are certainly with her parents, as we can only imagine every minute that they don’t have their little girl back home with them is a living nightmare. More photos of Morgan are below, and here is an updated time line regarding her whereabouts last Saturday, the 17th .

Morgan Harrington

Morgan Harrington

Morgan Harrington

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.