The parents of missing Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington delivered an impassioned plea to area residents yesterday afternoon, asking them to help find their daughter, who disappeared Oct. 17 during a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena.
"Be strong, we are trying to find you," Morgan's mother Gil Harrington said in a press conference, addressing her daughter directly. "We will never stop. We are trying, honey, hang on."
The Texas-based Laura Recovery Center will help conduct a ground search in collaboration with police officials Friday, Saturday and Sunday near the Copeley Road bridge, where Harrington was last seen, Mr. Harrington said.
"We invite and welcome anyone who is able to volunteer their time this weekend to help in a community search for our daughter," said Morgan's father Dan Harrington. "This current search party is aimed at augmenting the current action of the police force ... We will stop at nothing until she is found."
Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said the community search will help supplement previous efforts conducted by law enforcement officials, who will aid volunteers in planning and conducting the search this weekend.
"For three solid days [police] scoured the immediate vicinity of the John Paul Jones Arena," Geller said. "This [community-based search] is just another avenue, another tool."
She added that although the number of tips investigators have received from witnesses and community members has swelled to 350, authorities still have not been able to pinpoint Harrington's location after 9:30 p.m. that Saturday, when witnesses say they saw someone matching Harrington's description walking along the Copeley Road bridge. Piecing together her later movements is critical, she said, "because that's what's going to lead us to Morgan."
The Harringtons have also enlisted the help of Ed Smart, father of Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted in June 2002 but returned home safely after nine months. Smart said he has consulted with the Harringtons and emphasized the crucial role the community plays during search efforts.
"There are so many wonderful people out there that do care about Morgan and do want to help find her," he said, adding that 10,000 people aided in the search for his daughter.
He said he believes that not everyone who saw Harrington during the night of her disappearance has come forward, adding that witnesses and bystanders can still provide valuable information.
"A family with missing children becomes a member of the club that nobody wants to belong to," he said. "The importance of it is that there is a girl that is lost out there that needs to be found, and somebody out there, I believe, knows something."
Mr. Harrington said Smart's support has been invaluable in helping the family deal with this crisis, noting that it was Smart who originally suggested consulting LRC, which aided in the search for Elizabeth.
"Through people like Ed Smart, you find out that there are resources available to families in our situation," Mr. Harrington said.
LRC officials will host a meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Cavalier Inn for anyone interested in joining the community search. Attendance is not required to participate in the search, however. Volunteers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday must be at least 18 years old and will depart the hotel at 9 a.m. each day.
The Crime Stoppers reward for information leading to the recovery of Harrington has risen to $150,041, through donations from the band Metallica and out-of-pocket contributions from members of the United Way of Roanoke Valley, Geller said.
Anyone with information about Harrington's disappearance is encouraged to contact Virginia State Police at (434)352-3467. Tips can also be e-mailed to bci-appomattox@vsp.virginia.gov.
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