<p>Oh wait. They know who the dreads guy is? They aren’t looking for him? My bad. </p>
<p>I don’t think he has fled the area but is just not returning to the apartment that was searched. Odd. The few people I know who have dreadlocks would not give them up for anything. Takes too long to grow them back I guess! </p>
<p>I’m trying to come up with a good reason why an 18-year-old college student would know a 32-year-old guy–any 32-year-old guy–well enough to go somewhere with him. When I was in college my entire universe was made up of 18- to 22-year-olds, plus (more casually) faculty, advisors, and other university staff. Surely, if they had a preexisting relationship, her friends would quickly be able to say “oh, that’s so-and-so, her TA” or whatever.</p>
<p>The whole thing is really weird…and of course sad.</p>
<p>@sally305 </p>
<p>Someone up thread suggested based on some forum posts, that he was a well known student (?), There has been no mention of that by any media or by the police chief and he certainly does not look like the typical UVA student to me, so I’m not sure I believe that. But my current theory is that possibly this dreadlocked man was some kooky local who hangs out at the mall and was “known” or “friendly” to UVA students, or in some way was able to make her feel somewhat more comfortable. I can envision a scenario where Hannah is walking alone, gets scared especially when she picks up on the white guy who pauses to let her by, then immediately starts to follow her. Then this kook, who she may be somewhat familiar with or in some way makes her feel more at ease, comes up and starts to walk with her. So to get away from the guy she thinks is stalking her, she pops in a bar with him and stays a few minutes. Maybe she felt relaxed enough to even accept a ride back to grounds from him. It certainly would have been on his way. </p>
<p>I would surely hope the police are obtaining additional surveillance videos from between the where the bar is and where the car may have been parked, and are actively tracking down witnesses from the bar (through credit card receipts of patrons, talking to the employees working that night, etc) as opposed to just waiting for people to come forward with tips. I’d be curious as what they say as to her condition when she left. Did anyone actually see if they really left “together”, or did they just leave at the same time? Did anyone else leave at this time or right after? Was she walking on her own two feet? (could she have been drugged in there?) And, I wish they would have shown a picture of the make/model of the car. I have no clue what the 1998 Chrysler coupe (no specific model name was given) looks like, and maybe others don’t either! Certainly the burnt orange color may stand out, but possibly if they showed a picture of it, someone might remember seeing it later on in some entirely different place, other than the mall or his apartment. </p>
<p>And, it is entirely possible that even if Hannah did get into the car with this dreadlocked man, that he has nothing do with her actual disappearance. Maybe he dropped her off and someone else grabbed her. Who knows. There’s just too many different possibilities here. But he certainly does seem very sketchy to me. We will know more soon enough. And yes, lets hope the media doesn’t muck anything up.</p>
<p>@lookingforward</p>
<p>The media did initially give out that description and that was directly from the police. When they released that 1st description for POI, the police said it was based on “a witness” account. I took that to mean one person. And witnesses can be unreliable. (they can also lie, but that’s another issue). I was asked by police once many years ago to give a witness description of a person I had seen in the vicinity who likely had committed a sex crime in the neighborhood. Let me tell you, I got a good look at the guy, but it was really hard to remember the details! So, based on that it was only one person’s account, and my own difficulty in providing a description, I actually think that it is possible POI #1 and POI#2 (dreadlock man) are one in the same. The pants and the hair are off between the two, but the dreadlocked man seen in the video has enough similarities to make me think it could be the same person (both black, both roughly around the same age, height and weight, with a “beer belly” and a white shirt. You only see the guy from the side, or from far away in the videos, so I’m unsure about the goatee part. </p>
<p>@jym626</p>
<p>Yes, they knew who he was yesterday, have seized his car and searched his apt, and spoken to him. He isn’t officially a “suspect” at this point, just a “person of interest”. I’m not sure what development today led to his name being released. </p>
<p>^^^
This search has been going on now for a week. If he had nothing to do with her disappearance, but had been in her company that evening, why would he not come forward with the information that he had a drink with her that night? Certainly that kind of info would be very important in a missing persons case. And he can’t claim he hadn’t heard about it as the whole town is swarming with volunteers and policemen looking for her.</p>
<p>I do not think she knew him at all. Think he invited her into a restaurant for a drink and in her condition that invitation appealed to her. Why she left with him and possibly got in his car can only be attributed to her impaired state.</p>
<p>He’s a nursing asst at the UVA hospital. His name is Jesse Matthews. He admits buying her drinks but says they went their separate ways afterwards. So, if there is any evidence of her being in his car they’ll probably have probable cause to bring him in but right now they say they don’t have it…</p>
<p>Yes he did admit to having a drink with her but the important thing is that he did not come forward with that info. It came out when he was questioned by the police late last week.</p>
<p>Right. And, where did he go? He left the apartment and never came back it sounds like, anyway.</p>
<p>I don’t get it either. If all he did was have an innocent drink with her, why didn’t he immediately come forward with this information. And why did nobody from Tempo Bar come forward with this info immediately. </p>
<p>I don’t recall the Chief Longo specifically saying that the dreadlocked guy did not come forward and initiate contact with them voluntarily. I could be mistaken though. All I recall Longo saying was that they issued warrants and that they spoke. In any case, he is sketchy, being the last known person to have been with her as of this point. So, they ought to be tracking down evidence and witnesses so they can piece together what happened after the sighting in the bar. </p>
<p>I think someone from Tempo Bar did come forward. </p>
<p>I think someone from Tempo Bar probably did come forward but when? The info was well publicized since last Monday and things didn’t seem to start happening about the Tempo Bar sighting until days later.</p>
<p>The police made a big deal about the white guy coming forward when he saw he was on tape. I don’t recall a similar statement about the dreadlock guy coming forward on his own but maybe I missed it?</p>
<p>Tempo Bar is off the mall on 5th, near Water, the dreadlock guy’s car was on 4th. I guess it is conceivable that he and Hannah did part ways after being in the bar and someone else snatched her. I hope they are looking at the bar closely, patrons. But if he did have nothing to do with it, he needs to be telling the police everything he knows . I assume they have fully processed his car by now so maybe they have no evidence that Hannah was ever in his car.</p>
<p>…so much speculation. You can watch the police press briefing yesterday at 5pm EST, you can look to local (Charlottesville) news reports. There are several reasons this guy could have “had police contact” before (whatever the exact words.) They could have found something that points to a possible issue of any nature in the car, thus allowing a further search warrants. As the police said on Wed and Fri, we are not telling you everything. And, didn’t they say they have not been through every video yet?<br>
And I don’t now about today, but I spent plenty of time around Cville, worked in a pub during college- and it was common for locals, grad students, med students or some others from the hospital, firemen, local residents, whatever, to be in the same venues as undergrads. And for some people to talk with each other. </p>
<p>I don’t think it is at all unusual for people from different backgrounds to be talking to each other at a bar. That’s kind of the nature of going to a bar or pub. But what would stand out for me in this case, would be the fact that a young , underage, girl , was in a bar, by herself (not with other girlfriends or fellow students), far from Grounds and the main student bar area,with a considerably older man. </p>
<p>I wonder if their server came forward. That’s a distinct interaction. </p>
<p>I’ve been curious about her cell phone. I read that after her last text when she said that she was lost, that the phone either ran out of battery or was turned off. Of course, there’s been misinformation reported too, so there’s always that.</p>
<p>I was wondering if there was any way to continue to track her phone, given the circumstances, even if it had been disabled. It’s also very suspicious that it was disabled right after that last contact. I haven’t read any more about the phone since then, so I’m wondering if I’ve just missed something, or if it’s a nonissue, or if it’s something the police are keeping under tabs. </p>
<p>There are a lot of troubling things with this, including the cell phone issues. Hindsight, yes , with most of it. She supposedly texted someone around 120 am saying she was lost but , of course, we don’t know who exactly that was. But she was not reported missing until well over 24 hours later. There were places someone could have potentially intervened along her travels- at the parties, at McGrady’s, at Tempo Bar, etc. , if only people could have realized how this would end up. Very sad .</p>
<p>Does the “find my IPhone” app work even after a phone is turned off or when the batteries die?</p>
<p>Hopefully the other UVa students are learning lessons from this (A) don’t drink so much that your judgment is impaired and (B) stay with a group; don’t go off by yourself at night.</p>