Morgan Harrington Murder: A Security Check On Security- Why Did It Fail?
Charlottesville, VA-
On the afternoon of October 17, 2009, Morgan Harrington and three of her friends drove to John Paul Jones Arena, located on the University of Virginia campus, to attend a long-anticipated Metallica concert. Following an apparent fall and chin injury occurring around the time she was visiting the ladies room, Morgan ended up outside the arena and attempted to gain re-entry to the venue.
How and why she got there comes in at a baffling second only compared to what happened to her next.
Nine months ago Dr. Dan and Gil Harrington, Morgan’s parents were notified their daughter was missing which is when their nightmare began.
On November 5, 2009, the day before a search which was organized at the request of the Harrington’s was to commence, a vintage black Pantera t-shirt placed on a bush in front of an apartment complex at the intersection near 15th Street and Grady Ave. was located by a nearby resident.
While this discovery was not released publicly, Charlottesville PD knew immediately it belonged to Morgan Harrington. Sara Snead, one of the friends that accompanied Morgan to the concert, immediately confirmed the distinct vintage design that compelled Morgan to borrow the t-shirt from her a week before the show.
Subsequently, DNA analysis confirmed the t-shirt was indeed the same one Morgan was wearing the night she disappeared.
On January 26, 2010 the remains of Morgan Harrington were discovered by David Bass, owner of Anchorage Farm, located in Albemarle County. Although her cause of death has not been released, her manner of death has been classified as a homicide by the Virginia State Police.
Dan and Gil Harrington marked the nine-month anniversary of Morgan’s disappearance from her memorial on Copeley Bridge 4 days ago.
Gil Harrington’s impassioned statement made it clear that her family’s mission is to prevent what happened to Morgan from happening to another victim and their goal is to educate young women about safety and personal security.
On July 1st, based upon an article posted on blinkoncrime.com inside sources confirmed a forensic link between Morgan’s homicide and a Fairfax County Case. Research on this case indicates it was a violent sexual assault that happened in 2005. The victim assisted in the sketch of a man police wish to interview in connection with both the Fairfax assault as well as the apparent abduction and murder of Morgan Harrington. .
What did it mean to the investigation and to the parents of young women in Charlottesville? We have a serial offender on the loose in multiple jurisdictions and an immediate need to beef up personal security.
As our very vulnerable student body returns to campus next month, blinkoncrime.com provides a glimpse at current conditions.
Unregulated Regulations In Security
The 2004 General Assembly, through House Joint Resolution (HJR122), requested the Virginia State Crime Commission to study safety at Virginia’s institutions of higher education. As a result, DCJS created the Office of Campus Policing and Security (OCPS) to address the law requiring minimum training and employment standards for campus security officers.
Campus Security Regulations for Institutions of Higher Education in the State of Virginia, fall under the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) Private Security Services Advisory Board. Below is an excerpt of the unapproved draft meeting notes of their quarterly meeting held December 8, 2009; the first and only since Morgan’s disappearance from JPJ.
The issue of safety and security on college campuses was addressed in a 2006 Crime Commission Study on Campus Safety. This study resulted in the statutory requirements under Code of Virginia (Code) §9.1-102 (49).
College populations represent a large concentration of students between the ages of 18-25 years with limited supervision and life experience. In terms of homeland security, campuses are identified as “soft targets” and are frequently targeted by domestic and foreign terrorists. Campuses also house volatile materials and research facilities that are also targeted by radical elements in society. Campuses host large stadium events and concerts that are potential targets for terrorism and riots. Most campuses also have facilities that are open to the public and are relatively difficult to secure and lockdown. Campus Security Officers are primary first responders to incidents of crime and violence on campus.
Although UVA campus security officers require a certification provided by DCJS, there are ZERO regulatory standards for certification. It was NOT until Morgan Harrington disappeared from the grounds of the JPJ Arena that emergency regulations were sought from Governor Bob McDonnell.
How does a woman on the campus of a University that provides it’s very own Police Department in addition to event security simply vanish without a trace?
By the time Morgan ends up in a hay field 7 miles away, she has passed through 3 different law enforcement jurisdictions and a slew of private campus and event security agencies and personnel. While private security regulations fall under the umbrella of the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, they also require a judicial amendment only if and when they are approved via “emergency” status by the Governor.
Who’s Looking Out For The Kids, Exactly?
As the safety on campus study showed, our college age kids are at their most vulnerable in the University setting. Out from under the watchful eye of Mom and Dad and wading through the rich culture and nightlife of downtown Charlottesville, students face a host of potential safety risks.
In fact, during the very development of this article, I received an alert from UVA security that a UVA student was sexually assaulted in the area of Roosevelt Boulevard. While I commend the swift response and warning from UVA PD chief Michael Gibson, I can’t help but wonder if a similar alert upon learning Morgan disappeared from the UVA/JPJ campus would have made a difference for her.
A simple Google of “Charlottesville security” produces the front page for HH Security Services, Inc, a local private security and bail bonding firm. I am no expert but isn’t it a bit odd to claim to protect one’s security and then bond out someone that may threaten it in the first place?
Who is vetting the security that is responsible for ensuring safety?
While HH Security or it’s employees have no known ties whatsoever to the Harrington case, it is a prime example of the weakness of current security regulations, involving students and private events, 6 years in the making.
At H & H Security Services, Inc. we specialize in Private Investigation, Private Security both armed and unarmed as well as fast efficient Civil Process Service. Our full-time professional agents are well trained, well equipped, well informed, and discreet.? Owner Rod Howard is a native of Charlottesville and central Virginia, where he’s been a well respected business owner for over twenty years. H & H Security Services, Inc. is his vehicle in his effort to help serve and protect the community he grew up in. Over the years he’s assembled a team of certified and experienced personnel who share his commitment to the safety of the community.
HH Security, in a business journal ad, claims to hire members of law enforcement and be very well connected with various police departments and security agencies for nightclubs, special events and home security checks as well in 2007.
HH Security is the security firm of choice for Club 216, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Rivals, which are bars frequently visited by UVA students and athletes.
Roderick M Howard, owner of HH Security and H&H Car detailing maintains active licenses issued through the VA Dept of Criminal Justice Services for private security and as a bailbondsman.
While blinkoncrime editors were researching this piece, a review of Albemarle County Court records show Roderick Howard was arrested for felony rape in 1993, subsequently indicted for same and a year later on the first day of trial, pled guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery whereby he was sentenced to 12 months, 11 of which were suspended and two years unsupervised probation.
Howard was also arrested a few times for felony bad checks; both cases ended nolle prosequi.
How can an accused rapist and convicted sexual batterer hold a dual license in the private security sector as well as two classifications of firearms, all of which is monitored by the VADCJS? It is specifically stated in the regulations regarding moral turpitude AND sexual battery that the VADCJS MAY DENY an applicant on those grounds.
According to Mr. Howard’s own advertisement, he has been in the security industry since 1989. Would that mean he was employed in the security field when he was arrested for rape?
Shockingly, It may be perfectly legal. Although the administrative statute for licensure prohibits granting a license to someone with a misdemeanor sexual battery conviction, if Howard divulged the crime in his application and requested a waiver from the director at the time, it is possible one was granted.
Blinkoncrime.com spoke to Lisa McGee, Regulatory Program Manager for DCJS, private security advisory committee:
“…there is a code in the statute that allows the potential for both an individual convicted of a felony and the outlined misdemeanors exceptions contained therein to obtain a director’s waiver. Two felonies we would never even consider are rape and murder, but dependent upon the criminal offense, the circumstances and the length of time that has transpired with a clean record, the verbiage in the statute would allow an applicant to at least request a waiver for our consideration…” Lisa McGee
Ms. McGee was not able to address Mr. Howard’s file specifically, citing privacy laws, but she was able to verify that Mr. Howard’s registration with the agency is current.
There are however, some discrepancies in the press release written to announce the “restructuring” of both companies, announced October 19th.
For starters, there was only a name change to Mr. Howard’s business, which actually took place prior to the October 19 release date, in May, 2009.
These are not two separate businesses. In fact, the bailbondsman license issued to Mr. Howard’s agent, Anthony Halstead, leads back to Accelerated Bail Bonds, which is not a listed entity in the state of Virginia or listed as a fictitious name for H&H Security Services.
I would be willing to wager that the police departments that allow off duty security employment with this firm would appreciate some clarification on both the personnel and licensing issues.
There has been no arrest in the homicide of Morgan Harrington. In a statement released by Corrine Geller, PR manager for the Virginia State Police, VSP has received approximately 100 significant leads from the release of the sketch of the alleged perpetrator of the 2005 Fairfax County sex assault.
Dan and Gil Harrington will be meeting with new University of Virginia President, Teresa Sullivan, next month to address safety and security issues on campus.
“..People think it cannot happen to them, IT CAN– Dan Harrington.”
Editors Note: I am not a resident of Virginia. However, I think the interest of the safety of our children is a National one. Any person that is placed in a position of public trust, most especially those that come into contact with our vulnerable students, should be REQUIRED to disclose past convictions that would negate them that position without some sort of subjective “pass”. How can we know-TRULY KNOW the level of presumed safety if we really aren’t aware of the backgrounds of those in charge of it?
Blinkoncrime.com editors Jason Mateos, Elizabeth Morton and Madeline Tanner contributed to this report
Images by Klaasend
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I don’t ever mean to sound like I think her friends had anything to do with her death. What bothers me the most is that so many things went wrong for Morgan, after 2pm one thing after another after another and then she was brutally murdered??? Does not compute.
what also bothers me about eppards death and investigation is how quickly they were going to crush the car. they can’t release the dash cames and audio because it is an ongoing investigation – their own words. but, they destroyed the car. WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT!
MSL- That’s what I was saying- Everyone knows everyone or could be related- I was proving Jenny Bass’ point.
But I disagree with your stance- about FB and MS- those are often times different then just signing a guestbook. And I agree, people who know a family from way back will want to pay their respects- and should-
Colby took his aunts car without permission- until that cop followed him in to the woods the chase was over- they knew who he was- his aunt I am sure alerted them- why didn’t that officer wait for back-up or simply have the truck towed?- than he could have picked up Colby later- Danger averted. COLBY’S LIFE SPARED.
Why didn’t the officers attempt to talk with Colby- and get him to surrender? You wrote- If he used that c-car and those guns as a weapon- How much sh$t would have been on the department’s/cops face? Well- I do not know- but How much sh$t is on their face now?
When there is an ongoing investigation, in my experience- the officers are suspended without pay- sometimes with- are they still suspended?
According to Colby- he didn’t even understand why they were after him- he seemed to think it was because he was driving erratically(swerving for a puppy)
As I have written many times before, I respect law enforcement. I teach my children to respect law enforcement. They put their lives on the line daily inorder to enforce the rules and protect us from those that don’t- But what happens if they themselves do not follow the rules, who will protect us then?
Blink I agree with your stance on the “ongoing” investigation into Colby’s death- you forgot to mention that along with not releasing the notes/tapes they did not release any dash cams-nor the number of shots fired- and the car was destroyed-
I did, thank you Mom 3.0
I am shocked that Eppard’s parents did not attempt to seek an injunction against destroying the car.
B
Hi Duke- thanks for sharing your thoughts- You made some very good points and you could be right, but don’t most gang murderers just leave their victims where they lie? As to the boys in black- gangs were brought up before IRT them-it has also been said that black is the “uniform” of sorts for metal concert-goers. It has also been speculated that they could be in sports- and the black they were wearing was their jogging suits.
I don’t know who they were or if any of these theories are correct- but IIRC someone said they had been found and interviewed… Blink am I misremembering this?
I do not know if they have all been interviewed or not, I am lagging today, but I believe they have been.
B
Alexandra
This is something that has always bothered me. All these things that went wrong. This is a young woman of twenty years who more than likely was very well protected by her family. Suddenly she is in a situation where it is easy to make mistakes and they just kept piling up.
I always told my children that if anything strange happened to them, the first thing they were to do, if at all possible, was to call home for help.
I posted some time ago that I thought the real key to why Morgan was outside was what happened with her friends after they arrived at JPJA.
Did she want to go visit someone they thought was unexceptable and would not support her? Someone in the group had her car keys and they may have told her that she was not getting them back.
Three EMT units were assigned to JPJA. At least one of them should have been available to her. She could have sat in the cab of the unit until the concert was over. That didn’t happen.
It is 145 miles or so from Blacksburg to JPJA. Getting a ride from friends for a distance like that is unlikely, so all of them had some other place to go that was in the Charlottesville area. That was the place where she would get the ride to.
Did she accept a ride from someone that she didn’t know? Was someone driving a vehicle that suggested protection? We don’t know.
Could this be a gang related activity. Certainly. The State of Texas just executed the last of a gang that grabbed two young teenagers more than 17 years ago. The girls made the mistake of taking a short cut thorough a wooded area where the gang was located. We had a case of a University of Alabama student who was shot in her car while parked in a school parking lot by a gang member doing an initiation.
Mom 3.0 So far I’ve been able to resist letting my kids sign on to either My Space or Face Book. I know the time will come when they will wear me down. Oh yes, I know social internet sites are very different and that’s what worries me. My sister, who I think is very responsible, has accepted as friends people she has not seen or spoken to in over 20 years, since they were in middle school and early high school. She’s enjoyed re-establishing contact and I’ve tried to resist doing the annoying big sister thing, pointing out the obvious, people change and today could be totally different individuals from their early teen years. She is cautious enough not to accept totally unrecognized names though she has established internet relationships with unknown people through mutual friends. Thankfully, my sister is not like some of her friends who have to post their every move, from going out of town, how long they will be gone to the exact time of return. To me, seems like the perfect invitation for a robbery, or worse.
Thanks on Earl – the Dixie Chicks – and I have the cd and couldn’t remember thanks !!!!!!!
deetee are you former military lol? (“WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT”) That’s hilarious. I had a friend in school who liked to call himself Able Baker Charlie. My husband’s a Vietnam veteran and toilet paper has always been Tango Papa (pronounced with the emphasis on the last syllable — Tango PaPA lol.
Mom3.0, I think it’s possible to have someone as a “friend” on facebook you don’t even like very much. My daughter told me a while back that a girl had “added her as a friend on facebook” because she (my daughter) had commented a couple of times (flirtatiously) on the girl’s boyfriend’s page — it’s a way to keep tabs. I have a friend who’s really into facebook and when I (while on my daughter’s page) check the friends of my friend, it’s a little humorous because I know these “friends” are no one my friend would socialize with IRL. She’s not snobby, just loves to smoke pot and they’d be scandalized. I have a facebook page but it’s not under my real name; I don’t have a picture; I used a generic yahoo e-mail and a different zip code so I can check out the links posted here but I’m probably the only person on facebook who has 0 friends.
MsL, your description of a typical southern “wake” is spot on. It’s polite to take a casserole to the house of a deceased friend or neighbor but I usually take paper products; because of my cooking it’s a nicer gesture.
Mom 3.0 Sorry, I hadn’t finished reading your comment. I really don’t know, with Denise Lunsford’s findings, whether the Police Departments involved believe they have any thing on their face. I think the whole incident was very badly handled in Greene County. To me, that seems to be where a minor situation turned into a major incident. That’s as far as I’m willing to go in criticizing LE. I wasn’t there, I don’t know everything that transpired once Colby was located in Albemarle County. Maybe the officers felt that he had left them no choice, I just don’t know, so I’ll leave that discussion to others.
Maybe I should have written….. To me, that seems to be where a minor situation STARTED to turn into a major incident.
The night of my 10 year high school reunion (many moons ago), my date and I had an alcohol-induced row (I love the British) and I stormed out of the venue in a huff and headed directly into the worst possible section of town wearing a red sequined spaghetti-strap dress and matching heels. I thought of this because I was trying to figure out why Morgan was heading away from the arena. As a matter of fact at the time I was the same height and weight as Morgan and was extremely intoxicated, but in my mind, though I had looked forward to the reunion for months and wouldn’t have left except for the fight, the direction I was walking was the shortest distance to where I wanted to go.
Where did Morgan want to go?
@ A Texas Grandfather
Thanks for the information on the gas tanks! I didn’t realize/know that there is no heavy construction involved. My friend works in civil engineering, after a few months in a third world country, where she was in charge of a sanitation project, she moved on to decontamination of old factory sites – some from pre-war times. She said that it usually takes months, this is what my mind “translated” into “extensive work”.
If I remember correctly, the contamination in the North Garden area came from both domestic gas tanks, and a petrol station.
@ A Texas Grandfather
The non-intervention of the police and the ambulance staff has been bothering me for a while. At any larger event I have attended in my life, in a variety of countries, there was a visible police and EMT presence outside the venue. Their job is to prevent trouble and to pick up people in need of help.
If Morgan was in fact so totally drunk or high as it has been portrayed in the media, why didn’t the authorities collect her? This is one of the reasons why they were there.
@ Texas Grand: Your ideas are all so well thought out, and your sense of the what ifs is so good, that I am beginning to picture you as Willie in that music video.
I wanted your opinion on “the shirt finding”, because it is a puzzlement to me.
As I see it there are three possibilities, no make that four:
1. Someone totally unconnected to the crime saw the shirt somewhere, and thought it looked clever for being found the day before the search for Morgan, but they had no idea it was really hers….or
2. Someone connected to the crime put it there:
a. Sketch put it there to taunt the police , *I can;t imagine a normal person doing this* but obviously these people are not normal.
b. Someone else involved with the crime put it there with implicating dna on it (as rumor has it, but not verified by VSP) Sketches’ dna. I am not excluding the fact that Sketches dna could be on her body also. This scenario involves adversaries of sketch putting the shirt there either to threaten Sketch for some reason, or to throw a red herring in to the process, if Sketch was not really involved. But if Sketch could be blackmailed, or if Sketch was wanted to be quiet if he had found out about the crime inadvertantly through his connections, or if the guilty parties needed Sketch;s help and connections….(all of this assumes that Sketch has turned his life around in the past 5 years, or is in one persona to the public and a criminal in private), this option has the possibilites that sketch was in the crime, and is being threatened, or sketch was not in the crime,but knows about it, and is being blackmailed because perhaps he has turned his life around in the past 5 years, and he would not want to come clean about his prior life which he avoided prison for in the Fairfax matter.
I just cannot come to grips with the appearance of the shirt.
Do you have an intuition here or an insight which you will share with us?
Blink, did I give you my cold? Wishing tomorrow be a better day.
Everyone keep an eye on the weather.
AnotherB
Domestic gas tanks in the USA are usually Pressure tanks placed above ground for the purpose of containing Butane, Iso-Butane, Propane or a mixture of Propane and Butane. While under pressure, these chemicals are in a liquid state. They are also affected by temperature with Butane remaining in a liquid state below 17 degrees F. when subjected to one atmosphere. Pressures on these tanks range from 350PSI to 1,000 PSI to keep them liquid so as to be storable in a smaller space. When pressure is removed or reduced to 4 oz. it behaves like natural gas (mostly methane) for the purposes of heating and cooking. At that point it will NOT contaminate soil or get into a water sand due to the fact that it is a gas that will enter the atmosphere. Propane is also injected into gasoline (petrol) in the winter months to increase its vapor pressure to make it easier to start an engine.
Texas Grandfather Aug 31st 4:07 Pm
One of your most inspired and to the bone and marrow commentaries. Thank God we have you here at BOC. I hope you know that you are much loved and how many people here look forward to reading your sage and pragmatic musings about the demise of our beloved shiny Morgan and life in its’ imperfect state in the USA today.
It must get SO fr….g lonely for Dan Harrington to continue to be such a stand up dad in the face of such loss,shock and grief …to be the lonely patriach voice in the wilderness, speaking up for his only daughter, a physically beautiful young woman and spiritually beautiful old soul…. from a family who adored her and who she adored. It must be so tiring and overwhelming …thankyou for lending your weight TG, your wisdom, smarts, and fatherly, grandfatherly stance to this site and this family. Morgan needs you , we need you.
The world needs stronger father figures right now big time ..Now on the other hand dear Cosmo I always look forward to your ascerbic posts as well …you kind of light a fire under everyone and shake things up a little but we can all tell you are a big softie who has dear Morgans interests to heart .
Mom3.0 your post have been right on point lately I love it when you are on a roll.
J4M LOVE AND PEACE TO ALL Hummingbird
H
You are such a kind and dear lady, thank you for the light you shine.
It is welcome and necessary.
Lol at mom 3.0 on a roll. I have never thought of it that way, but she definitely is.
Thanks again to all who let me hang out here amongst your goodness.
B
Susan
There is only one Willie in the whole world. I can sing his songs,but not like him. My voice is about three times the size of his,but my singing is classical and broadway show type.
My brass students are suprised that I can look at a note on an exercise or another type of music and sing the pitch. Our children today do not listen to music with any sense of pitch. They seem to just want something covering silence.
I will throw another thing into your mix about the shirt. Somewhere back in the beginning when the shirt was found there was a comment that there was some type of facility in the area for people who were trying to get back into society after some serious jail time. There was some thought that perhaps one of them placed the shirt thinking it belonged to a UVA student. This may be all wrong. I just thought of this when you asked your questions.
I don’t think a person that would attack a woman and do the things to them that happened in Fairfax can turn their life around. These people can for a while live a normal appearing life. Then the old urge gets them again and they will repeat the crime. This is why I believe any sex offender when caught should be spending the rest of their life away from society in some form of prison or if a life is taken, theirs should be also.
If anything, the significance of the shirt could indicate some participation in the crime by sketch and and the rest of the perps wanted to point a finger at him for some unknown reason. When this case is solved and brought to trial, we may get a number of suprises.
How did LE know so quickly that the shirt belonged to Morgan? They probably had a good description of the clothing she was wearing and this particular item was not found at AF with her remains.
Was it in good shape? It could have been,but we don’t know.
You appear to have been doing, as have others, some very good research regarding persons in LE in the area that have some strange behavior. Particularly regarding the person from Green County that was found to be 30 or more miles outside his jurisdiction on at least two occasions. This is disturbing because there appears to be some sort of “blue wall of silence” from LE regarding this guy.
AnotherB
If you look at my post where I summarized some of the activities we know regardig Morgan, your question is right on the mark. I stated that there was a hughe breakdown in security at JPJA.
I am beginning to wonder if the police assigned and the EMT people were actually on site when Morgan exited the building. They could have all gone to one of the nearby resturants for coffee thinking that nothing would happen while they were away from their posts. This is just speculation at this point, but someone should do an investigation to prove this either true or false.
Mary, consider yourself to be one lucky woman. None of the crazies were in the area when you so drunkenly walked through.
Facebook is NOT a place for young people to hang out. You never know who is going to get at information that shouldn’t be made available.
My youngest daughter decided to look up some of her old high school classmates on facebook. She was looking to find an old boyfriend whom she dated once or twice. She found him on facebook and then found out he had been in prison for the past ten years convicted of a serious sex crime.
Third world countries???? Visit LA. Some say LA is becoming a third world city as is the state of CA. LA is a protected city (safe haven city) for illegals as is, I think SF. ER’s are a laugh as those without insurance are in there getting help.
The money coming into is not covering the money going out. Once I had to call a favor from a County Supervisor to get my friend to have a gall bladder operation at a County hospital. It was scheduled time but not done for lack of “time”, money. She did not have an ethic last name who had “more seniority”.
Gang shootings all the time; many of those in LA will not drive after dark, no matter what part of the city they live in. LA has Black, Latino, Russian plus more and more gangs. Latinos don’t like Blacks and vv. Discrimination is subtle. The Crips, Bloods, lots of gangs and they mark their territory. Some I know can read the territory markings.Living in LA you learn some of the markings. Some where there is a list. Even girls, women in gangs. The initiation is to kill.
I bring this up as some have mentioned gangs in the theories about Morgan.
IMO I agree with Gil. Evil has increased against our women and children. It’s not that we are hearing about it more, it has increased. Empathy will mean more.
Other states and cities start clamping down ASAP. Clamp down on gangs and drugs. Clamp down on the ones who buy drugs who are in professions, good people and not so good behind closed doors.
However, when back in Indiana I saw more meth heads, and blurry, red eyed people spaced out at Wal-Mart after midnight (we all were looking for AC)than I had seen spaced out at Venus Beach. A real eye opener for me.
It all starts with each one of us doing our part. God Bless Morgan, her family, her friends, Blink and those here.
Thanks, Blink if you post this. This site helps speak against evil.
A cold? but Vicks vapor rub on your feet, cover with socks and go to sleep. It takes out the toxins in the body! Seriously ((smiles))
Texas GF,
Yes I do feel lucky to be alive but unfortunately I didn’t come out unscathed. I spent many years blaming myself and finally came to the conclusion (thanks to some good counseling) that it was absolutely one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done but stupidity is not grounds for assault. I will say that I didn’t touch a drop of alcohol for 15 years after that.
re: dna on the shirt
i am of the opinion sketch’s dna was not found on the shirt, but rather on morgan’s remains, based on the timing of the information being released.
if the shirt was found in early november, and the connection to sketch made through the shirt dna analysis, i would be willing to bet a paycheck or two that releasing the sketch would have been much more of a priority.
given the time frames we know of for dna results to be returned, i believe the results from the shirt would have been available before morgan was ever found. the same time frame would also apply to the results on her remains, and that jives with the eventual *reluctant* release of the sketch.
i’m still having a hard time understanding the reluctance to release the sketch at all, once the link was made, but perhaps that was an effort to keep tabs on sketch while he was more relaxed and likely to make a mistake, like leave his dna on a straw in a trash can for example.
if i take nothing more of the eppard case into consideration here, it will be this: there is a good ‘ole boy network in the acpd and gcpd forces. let’s not forget the chief retired or is retiring recently (feel free to remind me someone). that could be an effort to secure retirement benefits before they are stripped away. something stinks there in local LE imo, and i’m afraid it could be systemic.
#
anotherB says:
August 31, 2010 at 8:24 pm
@ A Texas Grandfather
The non-intervention of the police and the ambulance staff has been bothering me for a while. At any larger event I have attended in my life, in a variety of countries, there was a visible police and EMT presence outside the venue. Their job is to prevent trouble and to pick up people in need of help.
If Morgan was in fact so totally drunk or high as it has been portrayed in the media, why didn’t the authorities collect her? This is one of the reasons why they were there.
______________________________
It hasn’t been portrayed that she was totally drunk or high in the media at all. I don’t think there has even been a suggestion of it beyond LE saying she had been drinking. In fact, I think everyone has bent over backwards to minimize this in the public eye. I think most of us think she was drunk, but she was conversing with people and able to have a phone conversation with her friends. In this country, in a college town, the police are not going to intervene with a drunk person who does not seem out of control.
“And this:
The notes and tapes of the radio continue to be withheld from the public citing it being part of an ongoing investigation- what investigation might that be?
Your correct that Colby, the charges he and friend were facing may be wholly unrelated to what happened to Morgan.
However, HOW HIS DEATH was investigated, and subsequently Morgan’s may not be. B”
~~~
Is this why there is a new office added in North Garden?
http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/99556254.html
And how will it help if one questions the ability to handle an investigation in the first place?
Oh btw, do they have an ear to the ground in North Garden?
A snitch?
Or is this just a “dummy storefront”?
May I ask that?
Someone who knows of a local nutjob with an unbelieveable rage issue?
All I can say is I’m standing in support of that Lt. Rader and team. They will figure this out if they haven’t already.
Another thing, was Colby trying to get to family’s house or a friend’s house? I wonder.
Or was he just driving like the wind but it just seems to me that since he stopped for gas, he was actually heading somewhere.
Who stops for gas if you’ve just stolen a police car?
He was heading somewhere.
XACTLY. He was headed to the location that caused him to take his Aunt’s truck without her permission in the first place. Paid for the gas, paid for the beer.
Wonder if it had anything to do with that ole overdose from NYE on Red Hill Rd?
B
Severely O/T Blink and I hope you do not mind!
mary,
I’ll be your friend! Seems you and I are on the same page.
Also, last year I helped three young girls, two co-eds at JMU.
I wrote about it here on Blink’s site and no, I’m not looking for them. They are just all around town. A college town.
One had a fight with her friends, she was drunk.
One, had a fight with her boyfriend, she was drunk.
One, was getting out of her boyfriend’s house as his mom came home. This is the one that I really gave a lecture of a lifetime.
“If you were not that important to him to let you meet his mom then what are you doing! He hid you & made you walk home. Down a busy road! He’s a loser of epic proportions!”
I have seen this girl and she remembers me. She no longer sees that louse! Tells me I helped her see the light and to think all this came out from sitting at a Subway.
But mary, you were not alone even today all three had on little slips of a dresses and high heels on and all three were crying. And, you tell me that we as a society do not have a problem with our youth.
**Yes**, too big of a discussion for here but just thought I would share. Seems “frontal lobes” need some work.
I would tell you about the time I was intoxicated, fought with and left my friends at Micky D’s, walked home and ate dirt! Yes, dirt! Thinking it would mask the beer smell on my breath.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! On that one!
WTF! My dad knew anyway! Hauled me in first thing Monday morn to principal’s office. I was grounded and had to tell them where I got the quart of Miller’s. Yes, I snitched. We were at a school football game. A graduate brought it for us. My friend’s brother. He ended up in big trouble but back then, it was “Just don’t do that again”, kinda thing. My dad was stricker than the law and the school!
That is why I very rarely touch a drop. Psychologically damaged me plus I’m afraid dear old dad. Just kidding.
I’ll sling it back with the rest.
Just give me a Roger-Wilco and a Bloody Mary! (no pun there)
Remember mary, kids today still have the same problems as you and I, sometimes they just post to much, make the same sh!ithead decisions, feel they are invincible.
This is why as responsible adults we help out.
I never regretted helping them or Morgan Harrington.
Although, I hope that I never have to do the latter again.
Our experiences in life make us more compassion and better people. With hearts that help out a person in dire need.
JMU (Not singling them out, there are other schools with this problem), is what Oye said so long ago; a party school. I recongize that but if it makes anyone feel better the Police presence here is noticiable!
After last year, how could it not be and YES, we support them!
200%
Mary, dear friend of one! If you ever witness a girl stumbling alone…Stand up and do not let it happen to another young girl.
No, you don’t have to pick her up but intervene, call the police, stop them in their tracks. You just may save their life.
You and I were the lucky ones.
It was only by the grace of God that I made it home. Dirt and all.
Oh, if someone, officially, at JPJA just would have just stopped her. We all wouldn’t be sitting here right now and SHE…
would be with her family.
Blink, it seems that we will never know unless family starts speaking up and I’m afraid when a loved one OD’s, people interpret it as a sign of family weakness and they go silent.
Seen it time and again.
Regardless of where Colby was heading.
At this point, this family has a good deal of stressers.
TexasG:
Yes, got the slope ratios.
First number is horizontal and second is the vertical.
Kinda like the run of building a stair, right???
Husband and I had a marital spat about this ratio thing.
Greater vs. lesser
I think I’m correct. (Sorry, dear)
I will double check on this though. Maybe if I’m lucky I can find the same slope out in your neck of the woods as here and post.
No, I clearly believe LE does not need me nor anyone else to weigh in on this.
They know the way in and out. Maybe I’m starting to slip down that critical slope and believe our Lt. Rader is just swamped and overwhelmed OR am I allowed to believe he is just waiting for Ms. Lunsford to decide?
Blink, does he have a case yet? One that Ms. Lunsford deems prosecutable and winable? Geeze, did I just ask that?
I only dwell on the ratio crap because it goes to the “Who in the Hell” knew how to get out there!
That creek bed, that hayfield, that obstacle of barriers thrown in your way, that plot of land and how to get in and out with a girl.
4 or 5 days later? I’m not sure on that, Tex.
But, it could have happened.
http://gisweb.albemarle.org/PropertyInfo.aspx
When you link here, remember to click on Basic Search again.
It will redirect you to be able to put in a road name.
Will you please click on Sutherland Road, last name Ward and just look at the photos around what I’ll call the main property,
3321 Sutherland Road.
The photos of this main house you can find by just clicking on Property Info.
If you choose Map;
Map choice gives you a complete view of land and its buildings in relation to the surrounding area. Plus you can zoom in and out.
Now go to 3323 Sutherland Road, the rental property of the Ward/Houchen.
If you click on this address, in the Property Information feature you can see a sketch of the house, no photos.
Go back and click on Map feature and go to the “OrthoPhotos” of past years. I clicked on 2009. This is where you will be able to see the house before it burned and an automobile in the drive.
The two houses are separated by a pond and do not share a drive.
***My point here is the main house and it’s owner WOULD NOT see what is going on over at rental house!
Blink, am I correct on the above?
If you believe Morgan was at the Sutherland Fire House then I believe that the person who disposed of Morgan on Mr. David Bass’s property had been there lots of times before.
HE knows the Critical Slope of this land and the ingress and egress of Plot 88-41A (How’s that for a learning blog!)
He wouldn’t have taken the chance with a body if he was not sure he could do it without detection. No matter the day.
Remember, Bella Collina is right behind this plot area.
So either he had skill, luck, knowledge of Miss Bass and her parents schedule or a little of all three!
IMO
Back to: GIS WEB for Albemarle County.
I personally believe he has been to Miss Bass’s house.
He also knew what it would take to put Morgan out there and now we know he had to have help. Maybe a lookout?
IMO
Birds of a feather…yes!
But can they all keep their mouths shut and still live in North Garden? Maybe a family can. But even they fight.
IMO
If I were living in North Garden I would be crapping my pants wondering if HE is unable to control his rageful impulses could another girl end up on my own back forty?
Not joking here.
Morgan was going to be his one and only?
No, HE’s got a big problem.
Oh, btw, before anyone tells me that he will never dump here again…I’ll hold my breathe and pray you are right. But, until he is caught, I’ll just keep at this ‘learning blog thing’.
Yes, even for those residents of North Garden.
Plus, we do not know if LE picked up any other piece of evidence from this site. I know you may say if they did and they had prints…
Maybe they do not have prints but stuff they’ve dumped before.
No, they have been roaming this land for a long, long time. Maybe even when they were younger. With saying this, I would like to just believe that LE has something that needs some explaining on how it got out there and I do not mean Morgan’s body.
A cigarette butt, a soda can, a shell?
May I link you this comment from the Hook.
http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2010/01/26/tragic-tale-body-of-woman-found-at-farm/
“Red Hill local January 26th, 2010 | 5:39 pm
Kat – the small pond is not on the Anchorage property. My “guess” is they found the body in one of the small wooded areas either left or right of the barn to the SW. Mr. Bass mentioned that it’s only accessible by a tractor so based on my recollection of the property, even though 30 years ago, must be the steep hillside behind the barn area leading down to the bottomland.”
**See, talking about steep and RedHill would know.
I do understand that it would be difficult for anyone to carry another out there. Period. Forgive me here, but dead weight is just that. It is heavy and well, if it is what you suspect 4 or 5 days have gone by at this time…it is a bit messy unless you are correct and she was alive for a few days. Then taken and disposed on AF, a few days after October 17, 18, 19, 20???
You have me perplexed on the 4 or 5 day theory?
Were those roommates gone like the website said at PVCC. Fall break.
BTW. No need to mention roomies initials, names, etc.
Here’s a sister’s. If we believe her.
lmh
Denver, CO
#32
Jan 26, 2010 Judged:
“This is not a cover up in the least my sister lived in the house only got out three minutes before the roof collapsed on her bedroom. I am thankful that she and her other roommates got out alive!!! It was just a freak fire and the cause is still unknown I wish that people would stop saying it was connected!!!!”
http://www.topix.com/forum/source/nbc29/TB55G96QHN7304A68/p2
Many people stood up for these roommates on the above site.
Were they in the dark about Morgan being there? I do not know.
Why did a relationship sour? Or was it salty?
But TG, transporting after those few days?
*This leads me to her camera, her boots, her necklace.
Where they with Morgan?
They didn’t seem too concerned with a metal bracelet she had on.
Her mother now wears it on her own wrist.
So what did they do with the rest of her belongings?
Keep them? Discard elsewhere?
We know the t-shirt ended elsewhere in early November.
Where did the rest go?
Up in flames because they couldn’t remember where they were and when they did, they set the house up in flames?
Remember TexasG, fire started before Morgan was found. This is why there are some people who believe just a coincidence!
Why keep just the shirt? After all it’s just a t-shirt.
But, a camera and that necklace, well that’s a different story.
Oh, by the way, you and I may be the only two to believe she was at Sutherland Road.
How can it be that these two things happen within hours of each other?
Somebody not telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
TexasGrandfather, Thanks for listening and for the lesson in critial slopes and ratios. It was much appreciated.
BOC: That was a load and a half to get off my chest.
I hope my work product is correct on the GIS site.
&&&
I apolly for commandeering your site today! Please accept and really, truly please point me in some direction!!!
One more thing.
TexasGrandfather, I think that it has about 1000 sq.ft. basement.
Not that it matters now but maybe the appraiser JGS can tell us if there was a shed or outbuilding not listed on property card.
It’s been re-appraised.
Seems like to me the shirt and the fire were attempted distractions, the timing seems too ironic. The house fire the morning before Morgan’s body was found, the shirt being found a day before (is that right?) a major search. Seems to me that whoever was responsible for leaving the shirt was simply hoping to divert attention from AF area to the area where the shirt was left. Maybe the perp caught word that LE would be searching AF and decided it was time to leave the shirt. I think its very much possible the perp might have held onto the shirt just for this purpose, or maybe as a trophy but got scared and panicked and decided it was time to use it as a distraction. Am I correct that her boots have yet to be recovered?
Thanks Hummingbird and Blink- trying to keep rolling-
I went back and read the comments on your very informative article coincidences or clues- So much research on that thread-
http://blinkoncrime.com/2010/04/11/morgan-harrington-murder-coincidences-or-clues
Snipped:
from Fish-
clue or coincidence?
not that it is relevant but was Colby Eppard going to
Cash Family Compound?
or
Waybright/Morris Family Compound?
I know that he blew by Red Hill Road but maybe he missed it and just kept going?
well Fish, we dont really know if he blew by Red Hill, he was unaccounted for until he was spotted by Green Creek.
B
—-
The shirtfind- Colby- Morgan – jurisdictions-bands- Music -families – plumbing-girlfriends-construction- mechanics- EMT’S -security- VFF- RSO’s -arrests-deaths- fires-
circle of names-occupations-
Coincidence or Clues?-
Reread-http://blinkoncrime.com/2010/04/11/morgan-harrington-murder-coincidences-or-clues
Fish about the bracelet- Was clasp complicated?- Could they have left it because they couldn’t figure it out? Hey, did you know.. many of the names you mentioned can be seen in the GB- MS- FB pages
I still can not find who overdosed on Red Hill Road Blink or anyone can you give me a clue to where I can find this info?
Although I did find this- I looked it up but couldn’t find any more info-:snipped from CC article,
Does anyone know who Allan is, and what happened to him?
“Heather Roach: i know… it’s just like what happened with Allan”\
from earliest comments on RIP Colby Wade Eppard (Jan 1st or 2nd)
http://www.facebook.com/search/?flt=1&q=cj+morris&o=2048&sid=100000825134019.1225389177..1&s=30#!/group.php?v=wall&ref=search&gid=233363445046
I do.
That is referring to Alan Cochran, the 16 year old I referred to in the piece. He was killed by Robert Hamm, who was indicted for involuntary manslaughter and then the charges were dropped.
There was an unamed Cons. and Wildlife Officer involved with the Eppard incident, but he was never named.
B
—-
Speaking of names, By the way Blink did you know DF left Virginia for greener pastures?
Gawd, is that a Grady resident or have I lost my auto recall?
B
MSL- Hello, another word for criticism, is reviews- we all are subject to them in our jobs- They help us focus on areas where we need improvement. You wrote that mistakes were made- if we do not learn from our mistakes are we not doomed to repeat them?
Colby’s parents have asked that all the information be released. – Many were listening over their scanners- the media–included. Why can’t the family hear what others already know?
Why is it wrong to ask for transparency in the investigation?
IMO, it would be in the best interests of everyone to learn from what happened. If it is as Lunsford? has said- I would think that releasing the information would only help to underline the fact that there was no wrongdoing- and in essence help those hardworking officers clear their names and reputations and allow them to make any necessary adjustments to their protocols- it would also give Colby’s family and friends, and the citizens of Virginia some piece of mind. JMO
i believe she was abducted from the RV lot or near the porta-potty area by more than one person … taken / got into an RV / Van / SUV vehicle.
the purse / cell / etc. thrown out after battery taken and other items taken for dispersal including the shirt. it would make total sense that she was abducted by some one or ones who could leave the RV lot in a vehicle without anyone giving a second look and no one noticing any kind of struggle because she was taken in a large vehicle, etc. i do think drugs and drug traffic may be involved… and this would be the connection to the farm and the farm area. RSO from the red hill area + “sketch” + possibly more …
@ redly September 1, 2010 at 9:43 am
It has been reported –
http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/15/concerned-witnesses-before-hitching-morgan-harrington-caused-worry
There are also others, and I am pretty sure that the police confirmed that she had been drinking, and that she was not acting rationally.
Redly
In response to your post about the police or security not intervening to help a slightly tipsy young woman that appeared to be in control.
That might be true in some places,but most would attempt to talk with her to determine if she were ok.
I don’t think this happened, because the more I think about it the more I have the suspicion that LE or security assigned to the outside of JPJA simply weren’t there. The reasoning behind this is the fact that no security video of Morgan could be found. This may be because UVA security would be on the hook for not doing their jobs. No video of Morgan and no video showing the absence of security.
I hope I am dead wrong on this. This means ,if I am correct, that there is a cover-up by the campus police/security of UVA.
I would much rather think that the much touted state of the art video system at JPJA is mostly smoke and mirrors.
Either way is not good.
OT Happy Hurricane Season …. Earl is now cat.4. The Navy ships are leaving Norfolk and heading out to sea. ….Yeah..not good when the Atlantic Fleet pulls out….and now it’s Earl in the lead, Fiona is running second – but here comes Hermoine and she is flying!!! I better put the harnesses on the minpins and get ready to hide in the bathtub – oh crap… that’s my tornado drill. But, sometimes hurricane’s bring twisters – how thoughtful..
Minnie Penney
I don’t know how close to the coast you are. There is the possibility that this cat. 4 storm will only graze the shore. If that happens you will probably just get the backside which packs some powerful winds but is usually quite a bit smaller than the NE side.
Cosmo
I agree with your asesment of how Morgan left the area. The problem is with whom? If we had the bib offering her a ride to where she wanted to go and maybe a toke or two of pot, she may have gotten into a vehicle and then was attacked.
Young women who try to do things alone over a hundred miles from home with people they may not know very well or have just met are using very poor judgement. This is the inexperience of youth. A perfect target for any bad guy or group of guys.
@ Fish and Texas Grand, and all: good posts showing a lot of logic and analysis.
Now, one question I have, I have never been to anything called a 7 mile sleepover, why is it called that, and do people and cars stay all night, really, and camp out while they are listening to the music?
I was wondering if it was some sort of miniature woodstock for albemarle co, (very mini), would that have allowed some miscreant, invited or otherwise, to ride in and while people were occupied, and place Morgan in the location?
I believe it was about one week after the concert at JPJA.
Lawdy, can anyone link for susan?
B
If Morgan was seen to be acting more or less rationally before and inside the JPJ Arena but very bizarrely outside the arena it stands to reason that she left the arena and was given drugs by someone she knew or had arranged to meet. The drugs either gave her a bad reaction or interacted with some alcohol or prescription or non-prescription drugs she had taken and caused a very bad behavioral reaction. She may have been “cycling” rapidly through several different emotional states. The person who gave her the drugs may have caught up with her on the bridge and got her into his vehicle. Morgan kept having reactions to the drugs and maybe became extremely violent herself. A fight ensued in which Morgan was killed.
I don’t think there was a disagreement between Morgan and her friends and that was why she went to the ladies room by herself. She planned to leave them and go outside to meet someone from the start. Likewise I don’t think there is any text message saying she would get a ride back to Blacksburg with friends. Total fiction made up by her friends at the time of her disappearance. I also believe there is footage taken in several locations of a desperately disturbed Morgan trying to get back in the arena. At this point I would have to hear a denial from the new president of UVa to believe otherwise.
There was a definite disagreement.
B
@Fish: I am with you, if I lived in North Garden, I would want this pervert captured yesterday. I seriously think I could not live there with knowing someone of this caliber was on the loose, or I would not sleep a wink.
I feel very sorry for the Bass family to have had this happen on their property, and now they have to worry about who is so close, who knows their land.
I agree that the Sutherland location figures into this, and I think evidence wise, as in the basement, more than a just a distraction.
If we can agree that it would take Farmer Bass at least several days to check and mend all of his fences, then we can also contemplate the idea that a close neighbor would see his tractor moving around the field one or two days before the fire “happened.” I really hope that the VSP have asked him this question, “How many days before the fire were you outside on the tractor, or working on the fences?” But somehow I doubt it.
I am not blaming the roommates, I think it is perfectly logical to think that someone else had access to either the house or the basement. A former tenant, a friend, or just someone. Especially someone who was a close neighbor, and could see the activity starting up (tractor) in the am on the AF.
(BTW I wonder who kept the pit bull while the pit bull sitter was on fall break??)
If the close neighbor had been incarcerated, he may have a friendly accessory who would help him work the system for a price. Accessory from the outside who specializes in facilitating the criminal process.
Someone may have unknowingly put the shirt on the bush, but unlikely to put it unknowingly out the day of the search for Morgan.
I am going back to my original theory, that miscreant(s) who did the crime had help after the fact, and then the help after the fact wanted money or more money, when they found this was a BIG deal, and wouldn;t ever die down, so miscreant pervert put sketch’s dna on the shirt, (I am speculating here, I realize that VSP has not released details of dna found where), to say, I know you have a past, I know you are a criminal, but the town thinks you are not a criminal. You have a lot to lose, or someone in your family who looks like you has a lot to lose, and is going to prison for the Fairfax crime if you blab about me, or bother me about money.
There are too many coincidences in this crime to make me think that something hinky is not going on with the fire, the T shirt, and the abduction in the first place. Also with the length of time it has taken the VSP to flesh out the TRUTH.
Furthermore, I am just plain tired of crimes of this sort not getting solved in my state, and quickly. Pressure needs to come to bear on the Governor to make sure VSP gets to the bottom of this, and does not just “support local law enforcement, and make sure that they look good.”
There is NO EXCUSE for a crime of this nature to go cold, in a small community. It should have been solved in the first week after the finding of Morgan.
No excuse at all.
Unless the VSP wants to chalk it up to another serial murder operating in the state.
Shameful.
Less speed traps, more murders solved.
Bottom line.
Fish
You were doing what should have been done for those girls. They needed help from a concerned adult that was not their mom or dad. They will probably remember you the rest of their life. This is the way that each of us make a difference in society.
In 1963 there was a bad accident in downtown Houston where a woman driving in rush hour traffic could not stop and hit about eight pedestrians in a crosswalk. One of them was a young blonde woman and she was underneath the car when it was finally stopped. The police were directing traffic and getting the people into ambulances when I arrived on the scene. No one was paying any attention to the person under the car. I called out to one of the policemen that this woman was under the car. He replied that she was going to the morgue. I bent down crawled under the car and just as I got to her she moved her left hand and right leg. I immediately jumped up and began to shout at the police. It took me threatening to take their badge numbers and reporting them to the media to get them to move to get her out.
Three days later I was working on fixing some plumbing at home and I needed a part. There was a small hardware store about 8 blocks away so I went there the get the material. This was a mom and pop type of store and I knew the owners.
While I was there the woman came in and her husband asked her how is she doing? I didn’t know what they were refering to, so I asked her. She replied that her niece had been in an auto accident downtown and was in the hospital. Then she told me the details as she knew them. One of the girls co-workers told her that she probably would have died except for some angry man making the police get her out from under the automobile. I told her that I was that angy man.
When people don’t do what they should for others, or in the case of you giving the girl a stern lecture about her worthless boyfriend, good people have to act.
Thanks Tex, I feel better now. We do need the rain and I’m on a hill. If I just didn’t have so many oaks – I had a bunch cut down…always worrying. The worst storm I recall was Camille in August 1969. 153 people in Nelson County were killed. 27″ of rain fell in 12 hrs. Richmond was flooded, but my neighborhood was OK. I got these stats from Wikipedia: Camille caused the Mississippi to flow backwards 125 miles from New Orleans and 120 miles north of Baton Rouge. The worst hurricane was the Galveston storm August 1900. Est. deaths 6000-12000. But it didn’t stop there – it went on to New York City on September 12th. Blew some trees down in Brooklyn but Coney Island was spared as was Fire Island…phew….I’m done.
Fish
The story about the girl getting out of the house just prior to the ceiling calapsing is pure fiction. We already know that two to four minutes of smoke inhalation is all it takes to kill you.
Thanks for all the kind remarks about my contributions to the site. We all look for the truth and in doing so we build a community of concerned people. I am probably the oldest person posting,so I can call on more of life experiences to help find some answers.
Blink I had a huge power outage this afternoon and lost everything I was looking at- I tried top go back but can’t remember what led me there… I think I’ve caught Eloise’s cold- J/k
Still,I am unable to go back and fact check it for you- I’ll try to find it again though.
Please for now disregard last sentence regarding DF- I could have been wrong- as I can’t find the reference. But yes to your question- but now I am too unsure to stand by that info- Sorry
Nice to know that you have your thinking cap on Blink- Your auto recall is fine.
Minnie Penney
I know all about the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. My wife’s grandfather was the sheriff of Harris County. He deputized 100 men with horses, loaded them on a train to Galveston to stop the looting. She has pictures of the area in her family album.
@ Blink: I did read your very good article about the 7 mile sleepover, I just had not ever heard of that sort of a party or that term 7 mile.
Farm is 7 mi from downtown Cville
B
Please all be safe. Take shelter when needed ASAP.
I am in an area where we rock and roll with the earth. Thanking God no major ones lately. Need to add “more preparedness” for tomorrow’s list.
TexasGrandfather: in the summer of 1978 my mom (70) had driven cross country from Indiana to CA. We then proceeded in her camper over a Ford truck from in CA headed to a National Film Industry IASTE Union conclave in Hollywood FLA.
In downtown Houston, where all the freeways come together, an engine part broke. I (now looking back at a tad dumb act at age 37) left mom there with safety, food and water; hitched a ride on a semi east to the nearest gas station exit, burning my arm badly in the process of getting up into the thing. The gas station was closed by the time I walked up to it. A local said there was a parts store about 6 blocks away to the north, I think, so even though I was the only white person there, I walked, sang, smiled and said hello the whole way. Got the part and a man there who had just gotten out of church offered me a ride back to the camper. OH happy Sunday!
By the Grace of God, He matched me up with a very safe man who took me back to mom, fixed the part and we were on our way. Like you, there is a very good person in Houston that I will never be able to thank more than mom and I did on that day.
I hope he is reading here or someone knows him who is reading here.
Just also asking myself now, why didn’t AAA come? Maybe they didn’t cover campers even though it was over a Ford truck.
Have been to Houston since; ironically mom and I didn’t remember this. Have spent months in Galveston working. A hurricane was coming. Since we were staying at the Galves (sp) and told that that was the only basement in town when the snakes came onto the streets, I received permission to film all night with children so we could leave the next day. I was to drive a soundman’s car back to CA. Even the nice Texas Highway Patrol man who gave me a ticket for speeding, had to go to jail to pay it was nice. Also spent a summer in Amarillo with now ex on TDY.
Very nice people there in Texas, here on this site and in the Nation, world. We must remember the goodness. Try to remind myself everyday.
God Bless all of you and Morgan. Please stay safe.
P.S. Blink thanks for letting me do O/T. Also thanks to the genealogy clues Blinkettes have given me, I have found Meadow Creak VA. Ironically my aronia seeds and bushes in eBay come from 30 miles where my g-grandfather 8 generations back lived in VA also in what is now NC. The clues also led to me finding his son or his farm in KY northeast of Fort Boonesborough. With 20 spelling variations of the last name, you guys have really helped me. Thanks.
Have a question? My memory is fogged but didn’t Morgan’s brother go to UVA? Could it have been possible for her to seek help from one of his friends by phone or heading toward there?
Something about the this case all along, just doesn’t jive. IMO
In this day and age I just can’t see why the area didn’t have cameras. But if it did not, then what a great liability for the UVA. Gee, Walmart and Target have had them for ages. Walmart in Indiana had them over ten years ago in Indiana. I can’t go anywhere except to a small Italian market and local steakhouse without being under cameras. Even on the street corners.
Whatever happened to the idea there were hunters’ cameras in the area that she was found and their cameras captured something?
Was she run over, crushed by the bad guy(s) the time of placement or an ATV later? Thank you.
RE a house fire. I had one. It happened from an outside surge, even though I had surge suppressors on everything.I was not home but lost 3 cats and a dog who were asleep. Have never fully recovered from that.
The vinyl melting toxin gas, like in a TV, VCR, sofa foam, gets to you first even before the smoke alarms go off. Don’t see it, don’t smell it. Deadly.
So I question escaping from a fire if these things had burned/melted. IMO
Remember… Galvez hotel. Is that the right spelling? Wonder if it survived the last hurricane there?
TexasGrandfather:
My mom who was born 7 years later told me many times about those men. This was before the Internet, so the fame of them must have been in local newspapers in Indiana.