JUSTICE FORUM Compiled by fredericksburg.com and Free Lance-Star reporter Pamela Gould, this blog includes news on a broad range of justice issues. Send feedback to pgould@freelancestar.com. Follow @Justice4um
FRIDAY MORNING UPDATE:
Police continue to search for University of Virginia student Hannah Elizabeth Graham, 18. She was last heard from about 1:20 a.m. on Saturday and police have been searching for her since Sunday.
A reward of $50,000 is being offered for information on what led to her disappearance.
The tip line number is 434-295-3851.
Students at the University of Virginia held a candlelight vigil Thursday night with the theme of 'Bring Hannah Home.' Thousands turned out.
Police have released a description of a 'person of interest' in the disappearance, according to the Associated Press.
The description released Thursday is of a man a witness said put his arm around Graham early Saturday in the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville.
The man is described as black, 5-foot-10 or 5-foot-11, and 250-285 pounds with a close-shaved head and goatee. He also had a 'beer belly' and was dressed in black jeans and a white T-shirt.
You can check out the full story from last night here.
The search has involved local police, the Virginia State Police, University of Virginia police and the FBI, which is processing leads, according to Charlottesville Police Capt. Gary Pleasants said. The search has also included canine teams and helicopters.
Police still haven't suggested a link to Graham's disappearance and other cases of young women missing from the same area. However, by mid-week they had shifted from a statement from spokesman Lt. Robbie Roberts who had told The Daily Progress that he was not familiar with all the cases of missing women in the area, but he did not believe there was a connection.
On Wednesday,Detective Jim Mooney, the lead investigator, said police searched the rural area where Morgan Harrington's remains were found.
OTHER UNSOLVED CASES OF MISSING YOUNG WOMEN:
At least three other young women have disappeared in the area in the last five years.
October 2009: Morgan Harrington, 20, disappeared after stepping outside John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, where she had been attending a Metallica concert. The Virginia Tech student's remains were found about three months later near U.S. 29 in a remote field of a 700-acre farm in southern Albemarle County.
In July 2010, state police announced that evidence in Harrington's case was linked forensically to the September 2005 abduction and sexual assault of a 26-year-old woman in the city of Fairfax.
That victim was attacked as she walked home from a grocery store. She survived.
A suspect has not been identified, but police released a composite sketch of the man who was described as black, between 25 and 35 years old, about 6 feet tall and, in 2005, sporting a mustache and beard.
The tip line for the Morgan Harrington case is 434/352-3467.
September 2010: Samantha Ann Clarke, 19, of Orange disappeared from the town of Orange after leaving her home.
Last week, divers from about 70 agencies searched a lake in Greene County for her, The Daily Progress reported. That lake had previously been searched.
Police have questioned a man in that case but have not charged anyone. Her whereabouts remain unknown.
November 2012: DaShad Laquinn 'Sage' Smith, 19, left to meet a friend on West Main Street in Charlottesville but never came home. She remains missing despite searches. (Photo not yet available.)
Sept. 13, 2014: Hannah Elizabeth Graham, 18, is last heard from shortly after 1 a.m. in downtown Charlottesville.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
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