Friday, 7:45 p.m.: Charlottesville Police confirm Matthew landed at Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport at 5:45 p.m. Friday and is now being held in Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Jail. He was held without bond. A bond hearing will be held in the Charlottesville General District Court on Thursday, Oct. 2.
UPDATE Friday, 2:30 p.m.: Galveston County Sheriff confirms Matthew was booked out of Galveston jail at 12:45 p.m. and is en route to Virginia. He did not provide further details as to Matthew's expected arrival time. Three Virginia detectives remain in Galveston, as does Matthew's car, the sheriff said. It will be up to the Virginia detectives if they want to bring the vehicle back to Virginia.
Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo underscored his commitment to locating missing second-year College student Hannah Graham at a press conference Thursday, even as the trial process begins for Charlottesville resident Jesse Matthew, who is charged with abduction with intent to defile in connection with Graham’s disappearance.
Matthew was arrested in Galveston, Texas Wednesday afternoon, and was denied bail Thursday morning as a fugitive from justice in Virginia. Matthew did not request a court-appointed attorney or fight extradition, and is likely to be back in Virginia Friday or Saturday, Longo said. Three detectives representing the Virginia investigation are currently in Galveston.
Matthew has invoked his right to remain silent and has retained Charlottesville attorney James Camblos.
“We cannot talk to him until he says otherwise,” Longo said.
Local investigators, meanwhile, are expanding their search efforts for Graham, Longo said. Search and rescue teams have covered most of the city and Carter's Mountain, and are currently moving south of the city to search rural areas.
“We have an obligation to bring [Hannah] home," he said. "One way or another, that’s what we’ve promised to do.”
Investigators are particularly looking to fill the vacant block of time between when Graham initially went missing and when it was reported to police. Graham was last located on the Downtown Mall early morning Sept. 13. She was not reported missing until the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 14.
“We need to shrink that gap … in as close a time as we can to when Hannah truly disappeared,” Longo said.
Longo asked realtors and property owners to search vacant lots and houses in the area for any evidence leading to Graham’s possible location. Longo said anyone who locates items which may be relevant to Graham’s case — an iPhone 5s in a pink case, a metallic crop top, black pants and white sneakers — should call the tip line immediately but not touch potential evidence.
The city has also set up an email address — CPDtips@charlottesville.org — where information can be sent online.
“No citizen in the community is expected to know what we know about this investigation,” Longo said. “There are a lot of things you won’t know and may never know. … [You should not] make an assessment about what [evidence] is important and what’s not.”
He encouraged community members who know Matthew to reflect on his customs, habits and any particular locations he might be comfortable with. Longo said Matthew likes fishing, and asked the public to come forward with information about familiar places police should potentially re-search.
“If someone saw Jesse Matthew on Saturday morning anywhere and he was alone, we need to know that information,” Longo said. “If his demeanor, attitude or personality was different, we need to know.”
Longo also said anyone with information about why Matthew may have gone to Galveston should come forward and speak with investigators. Police do not have reason to believe an accomplice helped Matthew reach Texas, he said.
Longo again declined to elaborate on what served as probable cause to search Matthew's car and apartment last Friday. He said he was not at liberty to discuss what evidence was obtained in these searches, but that this information would be useful in trial.
"I'm not at liberty to disclose the type of evidence or the result of that process,” Longo said. “To discuss them in too much detail runs the risk of being prejudicial in that trial."
Longo said the Grahams remain hopeful that they will find their daughter and are thankful for the community attention her case has received. He acknowledged the difficulty of waiting on information pertaining to her whereabouts.
"Everyone realizes the more time that goes by the more difficult this is going to become for everyone," Longo said. "I can't lose hope until I have to — until I need to."
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