Virginia Woman Vanishes From Phish Concert: Could Laura Pepe Case Be Connected to Morgan Harrington?
UPDATE LAURA PEPE FOUND SAFE
Portsmouth, VA– 26 year old Laura Pepe was separated from friends at a Phish concert Tuesday evening. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance and her physical resemblance to Morgan Harrington have police wondering if the cases could be connected.
(WAVY) - A 26-year-old who attended Tuesday’s Phish concert at the nTelos Pavilion in Portsmouth has been reported missing. The Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office contacted Portsmouth Police to report that the woman, identified as Laura J. Pepe, was reported missing Tuesday. Police say while at the concert, the woman got separated from her friends. Pepe (seen left) has been described as a white female, 5’10″ tall, 145 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a white halter top with a bathing suit underneath, khaki shorts, flip flops and small silver earrings. If anyone has information that could help police find Pepe, call Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP, or, you can text your information to police at CRIMES (274637).
Related Posts
Related Posts:
110 Comments
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
according to this article Laura reported home safe WOOT!
http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1982688&nid=25
She’s found safe
http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1982688&nid=25
Apparently touring with the band?
She’s been found, in DC
http://www.wvec.com/news/Woman-missing-after-concert-in-Portsmouth-96552434.html
I just read on twitter that Laura is safe!!! She may have jumped on a tour bus. I’m waiting on the full story.
False Alarm? MyFox 5 (Washington, DC) states:
Laura Pepe (Image Credit: Portsmouth Virginia Police Department)_20100617113035_JPG
Laura Pepe (Image Credit: Portsmouth Virginia Police Department)
Regular Photo Size
Woman Reported Missing After Va. Phish Concert Found
Updated: Thursday, 17 Jun 2010, 11:32 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 17 Jun 2010, 9:43 AM EDT
PORTSMOUTH, Va. – A 26-year-old Fauquier County woman who disappeared after being separated from her friends at a Phish concert in Portsmouth has been found.
Portsmouth police say Laura Pepe traveled to see Phish with friends on Tuesday. She got separated from the other group members, who returned to Fauquier County after being unable to find her.
Police have since located Pepe who was reportedly with friends.
Not serial killer – stupid inconsiderate 26 year old girl…
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/woman-reported-missing-after-phish-concert-found-safe?cid=ltst
OMG, I am glad, thanks everyone for the updates, I am on location the rest of the day
http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1982688&nid=25
FOUND
Here is link to story – she was following the band around.
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/woman-26-missing-after-phish-concert-portsmouth?cid=ltst
She apparently is a bartender at Applebee’s..
Here is a link
http://admin.fredericksburg.com:8080/News/apmethods/apstory?urlfeed=WFA/content/AP%20Virginia%20State%20News%20-%20No%20Weather/69fac94a6bb94c3f948fa480b7e21251-17d633cc5fca4705a29a90524cb30752-entry.xml
Good news she was found. She called her mother.
I just heard that she was found a little while ago, safe and sound with friends, from foxdc.com
Woman Reported Missing After Va. Phish Concert Found
Updated: Thursday, 17 Jun 2010, 11:32 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 17 Jun 2010, 9:43 AM EDT
PORTSMOUTH, Va. – A 26-year-old Fauquier County woman who disappeared after being separated from her friends at a Phish concert in Portsmouth has been found.
Portsmouth police say Laura Pepe traveled to see Phish with friends on Tuesday. She got separated from the other group members, who returned to Fauquier County after being unable to find her.
Police have since located Pepe who was reportedly with friends.
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/woman-26-missing-after-phish-concert-portsmouth
A 26-year-old woman from Fauquier County who came to see the Phish concert on Tuesday and got separated from her friends has been found safe, the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office said.
She was found in the Washington area and was following the band, authorities said.
Blink–
She’s found and safe!
According to this she was “following the band” and has been found safe… http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/woman-reported-missing-after-phish-concert-found-safe
So she’s been found safe?
Forgot the link:
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0610/746865.html
Found safe
http://www.wvec.com/news/Woman-missing-after-concert-in-Portsmouth-96552434.html
They have found her. She was following the band.
from Cville weekly:
UPDATE: Fauquier County woman found, was following the band to D.C.
by Chiara Canzi, June 17th 11:11am
UDPATE: According to Portsmouth police, Laura Pepe has been found. She was traveling to follow the band to Washington D.C.
From the news link Eloise posted above, she is ok, just decided to follow the band. I hope that is true. Thank goodness she is not harmed!
“Police on Thursday say she’s been found and that she was located traveling to follow the band.
She apparently called home after seeing her photograph on TV.”
http://www.wvec.com/news/Woman-missing-after-concert-in-Portsmouth-96552434.html
Scary, but is there any possibility Morgan was not the first? With the FBI involved even peripherally in Morgan’s investigation, it would seem they would have detected the pattern of a serial killer, unless it is someone who does not act consistently. I agree with all who suggest looking at anyone who had any possible connection with both the Metallica and Phish concerts. This not only includes Roadies, vendors and anyone connected with the shows, but also people who bought tickets to both shows, UVa students who are from the Portsmouth area, or Charlottesville area residents attending school in the Portsmouth area. The possibilities are almost mind boggling, and then, there could be absolutely no connection.
“Could be the same kind of musc lover as Metallica. What are we missing!”
I would think it is a totally different crowd at a Metallica concert. The Phish fans I know are all more hippie, tree-hugger, peace loving types. Metallica is more heavy metal. There might be some overlap, but not a lot.
She’s been found, safe. Thank goodness. She was just “following the band.”
FOUND!
She has been found
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-breaking-news/virginia/two-disappear-after-parade-con.html
She was found:
http://www.fox43tv.com/dpps/news/local/region_5/woman-reported-missing-phish_3431239
http://www.dailypress.com/news/portsmouth/dp-missing-woman-0617,0,5915715.story
She is safe, thank goodness.
Sheesh. Sorry RLM.
False alarm. They found her. She was following the band.
Blessings! She followed the band to another town. What was she thinking.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/portsmouth/dp-missing-woman-0617,0,5915715.story
So glad she is safe!
I hope and pray she returns safely home.
One can not help but see the resemblance, and wonder if the two cases are connected.
This would be a good time for someone who may have been suspect of a friend or aquaintence re Morgan’s abduction/murder to determine if this person attended Tuesday night’s Phish concert. Also, I would think a band as popular as Phish would do all they could as far as posting Ms. PePe missing on their website and even establishing a reward.
Whew! okay everyone…back to Morgan for me
Yeah they found her! Thanks for posting that Midwest Mom
Now if only Kyron and the rest would come home.
Now that she is safe- for Krips sake- at 26 she should have known not to just traipse off without letting her friends and family know!!
Back to sleuthing for clues to KH and justice for MH.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – Twenty-five people were arrested Tuesday night by ABC agents at the Phish concert at Portsmouth’s nTelos Pavilion for illegal drugs and underage drinking, among other charges.
Alcoholic Beverage Control agents seized marijuana and ecstasy from people attending the concert. One person was arrested and charged with felony distribution of marijuana and felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
“The purpose of these types of operations is to provide enhanced public safety for the area in and around the venue,” said Frank Monahan, director of the ABC Bureau of Law Enforcement.
Other arrests were made for selling alcoholic beverages without a license, according to the ABC.
Glad to hear she is safe. She is lucky.
I do not understand this!!!
Why did she not tell her friends???
If I were her friend, I would not have left the concert without her.
What are these people thinking?? If you go with friends somewhere, you let
them know if you are NOT going home with them. If you are with a friend and lose
them in crowd, you call, look, whatever it takes to find them… Call police, let
parents, know–not just drive back home!!! Common sense!
Thank goodness she has been found. What must her mother have suffered during the time when she did not know of her daughter’s whereabouts. I’ll cut her some slack only because it’s possible she did not realize she had been reported as missing. But, what kind of judgment did she use for a 26 year old woman? Behavior such as this causes LE to doubt reports of missing adults when some, such as Morgan, are truly endangered. But for the outcome, and thank goodness there was a different outcome, this was Morgan’s story repeated.
Thank goodness she has been found. What must her mother have suffered during the time when she did not know of her daughter’s whereabouts? I’ll cut her some slack only because it’s possible she did not realize she had been reported as missing. But, what kind of judgment did she use for a 26 year old woman? Behavior such as this causes LE to doubt reports of missing adults when some, such as Morgan, are truly endangered. But for the outcome, and thank goodness there was a different outcome, this was Morgan’s story repeated.
If this is a duplicate, I apologize, I’m not sure my server hadn’t timed me out.
Great to hear she was found safe! Not unusual for the “Phish Crowd” to jump around between venues, actually, the practice is encouraged and part of the culture. Sure is nerve-wracking for the rest of us though.
Thank goodness. I’m so happy for the outcome.
Thank God !!!
Question….Should we all message her on FB or MySpace and tell her how stupid she was to leave without telling her friends, parents, etc where she was and what she was doing?
Should we all ask her to read Gil’s blogs, read THE GIFT OF FEAR or the local Sex Offender website?
Should we all send her a message asking her if she cares about her parents at all to be so inconsiderate as to put them through that grief.
Sorry…I am glad she is safe, but someone needs to scare her straight!
26 Y old is a bit old for a gal to be following a band, no?
Lastly, I thought of you when I saw her pic, and that it would upset you, sorry because I know in your Gini’s case you certainly wanted a different outcome.
B
They need to look into what companies are working concerts? Security, catering, stage hands etc. There is a link in there somewhere.
Cat says:
June 17, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Great to hear she was found safe! Not unusual for the “Phish Crowd” to jump around between venues, actually, the practice is encouraged and part of the culture. Sure is nerve-wracking for the rest of us though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phish fans are definitely a culture of their own. Some take off summers to follow the tour. Fly around the country to see their shows. If anyone has been to a show or knows a “phish head” they will know that this practice does not die out in your early 20′s. I know fans that have been doing this for years. I know a group going to the concert in CT tonight. The age range is 21-55.
It is still so frustrating that she wouldn’t have thought to call someone. If she didn’t have a phone….someone else would!!! I would doubt that she herself had not heard Morgan’s story! Very selfish behavior for someone her age!
B, she must be a groupie. Having ushered at an arena for hockey games and concerts, you’d be surprised how old some of these ladies can be! It wasn’t unsually to see 40 – 50+ in your vintage 80′s lyric leggings, chippy makeup (by that I mean, you’d be chipping for days before you put a dent in the layers plastered on) big ratty brassy blonde hair, plastic hoop earrings and stiletto mules. A funny image perhaps, but I felt for these women. They were blatantly making fools of themselves not to mention being used and discarded by these musicians and roadies.
It’s a lifestyle for some of these women and it is danger looking for a place to happen.
PS. Groupies at an Air Supply concert…..I kid you not.
Oh please help me.
EDIT ALERT:
Should read…..It wasn’t unusual to see……lycra leggings (not lyric).
I forgot to mention the all too tight tank tops that they borrowed from their grand daughters. Ouch, I know….sinister as B would say.
I am glad that she is safe- but did she not have a cell phone, couldn’t she have called someone?
When a child get s lost in the store or other- with each passing second you become more filled with fear and with undercurrent of hopeful anger.
If you are lucky enough to be reunited, and your child is safe- you go back and forth between hugging them with happiness and tears to chastising them to NEVER do that again!
I agree with all that at 26 years old she should have known better. Has she not heard of Morgan Harrington?
Perhaps some good could come from this though- maybe LE and the Harrington’s could meet with Laura and her friends to try and understand what their mindset was at the time?
For children, we set up some rules that must be followed when/if we become separated- Gruff the crime dog and others teach them to children.
Perhaps we have to set up a protocol for everyone, even adults or young adults to follow.
Perhaps each venue needs to provide a section solely devoted to those patrons that have become separated from their friends or family. Especially in situations where one has been locked out- or unable to regain entry.
If that lost person is not in the waiting area after the show- then there should be a definite protocol to follow – info should be given, description of person clothes ect. Then turned over to LE when it becomes necessary-
JMO
I say just send her a Facebook message with a link to this page. It so pisses me off that women can be so irresponsible and perpetuate the belief that adult women, in general, will just up and run off. Then, of course, cases such as Morgan’s can get lumped in with cases like this. It’s infuriating!
From the Missing poster (someonemissing.com):
“Laura travelled to Portsmouth with a group of friends. After getting separated from her friends, not being found, they returned home to Fauquier County without her.”
“…they returned home to Fauquier County WITHOUT HER.” My stomach lurched! Not again!
When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?