Authorities yesterday released a more detailed timeline of the events leading up to disappearance of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, who was last seen Oct. 17 during a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena.
State Police Lt. Joe Rader said in a press conference yesterday afternoon that he hoped that these new details will help elicit more information from witnesses who might have seen Harrington the night of her disappearance but have not yet come forward.
"Our hope is that someone saw something, and this new information will help bring that to light," Rader said.
Harrington left her seat during the concert to go to the bathroom, her friends told police officers, but then ended up outside. She was denied reentry to the arena between 8:20 and 8:30 p.m., because she did not have her ticket stub. Bystander reports place her outside the arena near the ticket booths until 8:48 p.m.
At that time, he said, one of her friends inside the arena called her, and Harrington informed her of the situation. Her friend suggested other points of entry to the arena that Harrington might try to access, but Harrington then indicated to her friend that if she could not reenter, she would try to find a ride home from friends who live in Charlottesville, Rader said.
Multiple witnesses reported seeing someone matching Harrington's description in the vicinity of the exterior of the arena as late as 9 p.m., Rader said. Someone resembling Harrington then was seen walking through the University Hall parking lot at some point between 9:00 and 9:10 p.m., then in the Lannigan Field lot, which is used primarily for overflow parking, between 9:10 and 9:20 p.m. A passerby located her purse and cell phone in the Lannigan lot the following morning.
Others were walking in the vicinity of Harrington as she walked through the University Hall and Lannigan parking areas, witnesses told police, but no one could confirm that anyone was accompanying her.
Bystanders then saw someone matching Harrington's description walking along the Copeley Road bridge over the railroad tracks in the direction of Ivy Road between 9:20 and 9:30 p.m. After that time, police have received no information regarding her location, Rader said.
"Either she kept on going, or she took a cut-through, or maybe she got in a car," State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said. "We don't know."
Authorities are still asking anyone who might have seen a car stopped on Copeley Road near the bridge over the railroad tracks to call police, as this is the type of detail, Geller said, that witnesses and concert-goers may very well remember.
"Now that we've added some more to the picture, people may be more inclined to come forward and provide us with observations," she said.
Rader said he hoped someone might have seen Harrington in the heavily-trafficked Ivy Road area, as she was heading in that direction when she was last seen. But any details of her whereabouts that night, he added, may be pertinent to investigators.
"Nothing is too trivial," he said.
Anyone with information about Harrington's whereabouts can contact Virginia State Police at (434) 352-3467. Tips can also be e-mailed to bci-appomattox@vsp.virginia.gov.
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