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Missing Student a Familiar Story for Harrington Family

Charlottesville Police Department

The search continues today for Hannah Graham, an 18-year-old University of Virginia student who had recently moved to Charlottesville from Fairfax County where she was an honors student and athlete. Hannah Graham was last heard from early Saturday morning, when she texted a friend that she was heading for a party. The news sparked worry on campus and brought a new round of grief for a Roanoke couple whose daughter disappeared five years ago. 

Gil Harrington was distraught to hear that another college student had gone missing near the University of Virginia campus. Months after he daughter, Morgan, disappeared, her remains were found in a farm field along Route 29, south of Charlottesville.

“I was told from the very beginning that it’s most likely that Morgan’s killer would be found from DNA on another body or in another crime.”

And she has watched with alarm as many other cases of missing women were reported.

“There’s a map with like 18 women murdered or missing in kind of this swatch down 29. Those are just cases since 2009 when Morgan was abducted and murdered.”

One man linked to several of the missing women is now behind bars, but Harrington fears others may be out there, and she wants public officials to keep warning those who could fall victim to violent criminals.

“It’s not something that you can do once, because every year there’s a whole new flock of first year students that don’t know crimes or situations that have happened previously there. They’re naive. They’re focusing on themselves, and for that reason we do continue to beat the drums.”

Harrington said she had reached out to Graham’s parents, a couple from England, to offer whatever support she and her husband could provide.

Hannah Graham is 5-feet, 11-inches stall. She has blue eyes, light brown hair and freckles.

Anyone with information that could be helpful in the case should call Charlottesville police or Crime Stoppers.

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief