After confirming yesterday morning that the skeletal remains found Tuesday morning in a remote field in southern Albemarle County are those of former Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington, state police continue to search the area for answers to her murder.
"Right now the crux of the investigation is how did she get there? How did she come to be there? What are the circumstances surrounding her death?" Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said.
Police officials used dental records provided by Harrington's parents, Dan and Gil Harrington, to identify the body, Geller said.
"Morgan's mother, Gil, and I are overwhelmingly saddened by [Tuesday's] discovery, but we are also relieved because our questions can now be answered and we can give our daughter a proper burial," Dan Harrington said in a statement. "We know that because of the good life Morgan led and the love she created for everyone around her, she is now in a safer, better place."
The remains were located at Anchorage Farms, a 742-acre property about eight miles south of Grounds, near U.S. Route 29. The farm's owner, David Bass, located the body in a distant section of a hayfield, which he last visited in August.
Determining how Harrington's body ended up in such a remote location will be central to moving the investigation forward. Barbed wire, in addition to other barriers, separated Harrington's remains from the nearby road, Geller said. Harrington disappeared Oct. 17 shortly after exiting the John Paul Jones Arena during a Metallica concert.
At a press conference held yesterday on the Copeley Road bridge, the last place witnesses saw Harrington, Dan and Gil Harrington said they expected the Office of the Medical Examiner in Richmond to release the body within five to six days after determining the cause of death. A public funeral service is planned.
"For the first time in 101 days, I have faint tendrils of hope that are growing in my soul," Gil Harrington said, standing before a memorial of flowers, banners and personal notes. "For the first time in 101 days, I am not thinking every minute, 'What is he doing to my daughter now? What is he doing to her? What is she having to endure?' We are happy to have resolution."
Several dozen officers performed a grid search yesterday of the field in which Harrington's body was found, Geller said. Police officers are also currently investigating information they received from a new influx of tips from community members, she added.
Christopher Kopacki, former Henrico County police detective and coordinator of Virginia Commonwealth University's CSI program, said physical evidence, which contains the murderer's DNA, and psychological clues - which would indicate the type of suspect authorities are looking for - are the two main factors police investigators will likely look for when examining the area surrounding Harrington's body.
"Was she dragged there? Was she dropped off in car? Was it one suspect or multiple? What was the condition of the clothing?" he said. "The key is to take the scene as a totality into play."
Kopacki noted, however, that the chance of finding physical evidence that links back to Harrington's killer is "not very likely," particularly because her skeletal remains mostly indicate that she had been left in the field several months ago.
"We are happy to know that Morgan very likely ... did not live through the time of the concert," Gil Harrington said. "She was a long time in that field. I am happy that she was not alive long enduring unspeakable things."
The likely absence of significant concrete evidence, however, may not prevent law enforcement officials from narrowing in on suspects and advancing the investigation. Kopacki said most criminal cases today like Harrington's do not rely on physical evidence.
"Most cases are circumstantial cases, which can be just as strong, but nowadays are hard to get through court," he said.
If the autopsy indicates that there was any sexual contact between Harrington and her killer, the likelihood the two knew each other beforehand increases significantly, Kopacki said. Police officials have not yet released details regarding whether the killer made any such advances toward Harrington.
As police officials continued to scour Anchorage Farms yesterday for additional clues, Dan Harrington reflected on the factors that may have played a role in his daughter's death.
"I think we have the responsibility with Morgan's case to bring to light that people need to be careful," he said. "You don't go out by yourself; we didn't want Morgan to go out by herself. There are so many things that if we could've changed one thing, we would've had a different outcome. We can't turn back the clock, but we can go forward and figure out how we can honor Morgan, how we can remember Morgan."
Anyone with information about Harrington's disappearance should contact the Virginia State Police tip-line at (434)352-3467, officials said. Tips can also be e-mailed to bci-appomattox@vsp.virginia.gov.
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