<p>Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, was last seen near John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, according to University of Virginia police.</p>
<p>She had gone to the concert with Amy Melvin, her roommate in Blacksburg, and another friend from James Madison University. Harrington drove.</p>
<p>Melvin said Harrington went outside before Metallica took the stage. She said she wasn’t sure why.</p>
<p>“Everyone assumed she’d be coming back,” said Amanda Melvin, Amy Melvin’s older sister and a friend of Harrington’s. Friends and family still haven’t heard from Harrington, she said.</p>
<p>Amanda Melvin said Harrington’s purse and cellphone were found outside the stadium and her car was still in the parking lot. She said Harrington wouldn’t abandon her friends there."</p>
<p>This young woman is still missing. CNN has now picked up the story and hopefully she will be found. D is a student at UVA and I was there Saturday for Family Weekend; lots and lots of traffic and folks not necessarily from the area plus the concert. There is so much information and speculation from a variety of sources on this young woman’s disappearance but I think it’s important to keep this story alive in hopes of a happy resolution for these parents. </p>
<p>A sad update. Police are searching the athletic fields near John Paul Jones Arena. A lot of people park around the area being searched when they attend events at JPJ.</p>
<p>My mother & I were just watching coverage of this story. At the mention of her purse being found in the parking lot we just knew (as all women do) that this was a bad sign.</p>
<p>Is it just that I’m about to have a child going off to college, or does violence against college students seem to be on the rise? (Just here in CT–last year’s book store shooting of a girl at Wesleyan, Yale murder & UConn football player stabbing!!!)</p>
<p>My D is a first year at UVA. She was relatively unconcerned about this situation which really caused me to question if I had done my job as a parent teaching her about personal safety. We have had several discussions since learning of this situation, mainly along the lines of don’t go near secluded areas alone! I truly hope and pray Morgan is alive and well. </p>
<p>The University has done a very good job in keeping students informed and for that I am grateful. But I am still a very anxious parent until they learn what happened to this young woman.</p>
<p>Both of the following quotes are taken from the CNN article someone posted above. Unless I’m misreading something, it sounds like she wasn’t reported missing until Sunday. Surely that isn’t right, is it? Did her friends not report her missing - or contact her family; if so, why not? Is this info correct?</p>
<p>Re post #12, I also found that odd because stories reported that she had traveled with two friends to the concert in her own car (which was still at the arena site) and it doesn’t make sense that her friends did not report her missing. How did they get home? What did they think when she did not re-enter the stadium when she stepped out?</p>
<p>I spoke too soon as the briefing is now saying she was not the driver, even though it was her car. When she left the stadium, she could not get back in due to the policy of the stadium, and did call her friends inside that she would find a way home or meet up with them. They are saying the car is not of relevance. They will not release what other calls she made after she left the stadium, to not jeopardize the investigation.</p>
<p>They also do not want to release her condition in terms of any drinking or drugs. She did communicate by phone with friends in the arena when she could not get back in.</p>
<p>I also watched the conference soozie and wasn’t sure if I had heard that correctly about the car and appreciate you clarifying that. Previously it was reported that she was the driver. Really a sad situation.</p>
<p>Yes, previously it was reported she was the driver. But I watched part of the news briefing online just now and they said that the car is hers but she wasn’t the driver and that the car was not a part of the investigation. It seems as though she told her friends she’d find her own way home. I am not understanding why a roommate would then not report her missing if she never returned. Also, the way that kids text all the time these days, it seems odd that they never touched base with one another again considering they went to the concert together, even though she got separated when she went to the restroom and for some unexplained reason, was outside the stadium and was not allowed back in. Her purse was found. Any way you put it, it doesn’t sound good.</p>
<p>The two questions they refused to answer that were posed (that I saw) were one: her physical state of being…he said they would not comment other than she was moving about the area fine and able to converse with others. (one COULD infer that she was not entirely sober or else wouldn’t he say she had had taken nothing they knew of? not sure on that…) Two, they know all calls she made after she left the stadium and have interviewed those people I think but won’t reveal who she called. They said they did not want to jeopardize certain things should they be needed at some later point.</p>
<p>I think interviews with security may be very important. They were in a position to perhaps have seen her last or offered help or to even be involved in her disappearance.</p>
<p>Rule #1 for young women going to Metallica concerts. Do not leave your friends to go with some cool looking dudes or any other reason. Stay with your craft. Metallica will attract everry methhead, meathead and druggie in greater Central Virginia.</p>
<p>It was reported that she went outside to smoke (I guess smoking is not allowed inside?) and left her ticket inside and could not get back in. Lots of pieces not filled in here.</p>
<p>I also wonder how she figured when she told her friends she would find another way home when she could not get back inside. She had come by car. Did her friends who she traveled to the concert with not ask her, “how will you get back home?” Some of that may be known, hard to say. They are not releasing all calls she made. </p>
<p>Also, they had traveled in her car even though she was not the driver. I gather she gave permission for her friends to use her car to go home on their own? One thing I don’t allow my kids to do (even in college) is to lend out the car they have, which we own.</p>