The last words overheard by a passer-by on the street were,”I’m not getting into the car with you,” And then she was gone
UVA Student Hannah Graham Vanishes, Massive Search Underway
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – September 15, 2014 – An 18-year-old University of Virginia student, Hannah Elizabeth Graham, has been reported missing after she was last seen early Saturday morning, September 13, 2014, sending shockwaves through the campus and the Charlottesville community.
Graham, a second-year student at UVA, was last seen around 1 a.m. Saturday in the area of the Downtown Mall, a popular pedestrian shopping and dining area near the university. She had reportedly been out with friends before separating from them. Her disappearance has prompted an urgent and expanding search effort led by the Charlottesville Police Department, with assistance from the University of Virginia Police and state authorities.
“We are dedicating every available resource to finding Hannah,” said Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo in a press conference today. “Our primary focus is to locate her and bring her home safely.”
Search teams, including K9 units, have been combing the city, reviewing surveillance footage from businesses and residential areas, and interviewing potential witnesses. Friends and family reported Graham missing on Sunday after they were unable to contact her. Described as 5 feet 1 inch tall, with a slender build, light brown hair, and blue eyes, Hannah was last seen wearing a black crop top and black pants.
The University of Virginia community is deeply shaken by Graham’s disappearance. Students, faculty, and local residents have joined organized search parties, distributed flyers with her photo and description, and utilized social media to spread awareness using hashtags like #FindHannah.
“Our thoughts are with Hannah’s family and friends during this incredibly difficult time,” stated a UVA spokesperson. “The university is fully cooperating with law enforcement and providing all necessary support to the search efforts.”
Authorities are urging anyone who may have seen Hannah Graham or has any information regarding her whereabouts, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to contact the Charlottesville Police Department immediately at [placeholder for hypothetical number, e.g., (434) 977-4000] or their local law enforcement agency.
As the search intensifies, the UVA campus and the broader Charlottesville community remain on edge, holding onto hope for Hannah Graham’s safe return.
Update:
A US man accused of abducting a British university student is due be handed over to detectives after he was caught fleeing more than 1,000 miles from the scene of the crime.
Police have charged Jesse Leroy Matthew with “abduction with intent to defile” after he allegedly kidnapped 18-year-old Hannah Graham in Virginia nearly two weeks ago.
Matthew fled from a police station over the weekend and escaped pursuing officers in a high speed chase, sparking a widespread manhunt across the US.
He was finally arrested on a beach in Texas on Wednesday night after apparently driving 1,100 miles away from the scene of Miss Graham’s disappearance in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Matthew is now due to be extradited back to Virginia where he will be interrogated by detectives.
Chief Timothy Longo, the head of Charlottesville police, said he remained optimistic that Miss Graham, a second-year student at the University of Virginia, could still be alive 12 days after her disappearance.
“We have the person in custody but there’s a long road ahead of us, and that long road includes finding Hannah Graham,” he said.
A $100,000 (£61,000) reward is being offered for information that leads to her recovery.
Miss Graham was born in Reading, Berkshire, but moved to the US at the age of five. The British embassy confirmed she is a British citizen.
Her British parents, John and Sue Graham, made an emotional appeal for information earlier this week, describing their daughter’s disappearance as “every parent’s worst nightmare”.
“Somebody knows what happened to Hannah,” said Mr Graham. “All we want is to bring Hannah home safely. Please help us.”
Her father asked the audience at a press conference to think of Miss Graham grandparents in Britain, “an ocean away, not knowing what happened to their cherished granddaughter”.
Miss Graham went out drinking with friends in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Friday, September 12. In the early hours of Saturday morning she walked into the city on her own and at around 1am texted friends that she was lost.
CCTV footage shows her walking past a bar with Matthew apparently a short distance behind her. He told police that he had bought her drinks but insisted the pair left separately.
It is not clear if Miss Graham and Matthew knew each other from the university, where he worked as a technician.
Police searched his car and apartment and last week he voluntarily came to a Charlottesville police station and requested a lawyer.
He left the station after a brief meeting with detectives and sped off with officers in close pursuit. Police announced he was wanted for reckless driving but when he failed to reappear they announced charges of “abduction with intention to defile”.
The charges sparked a manhunt across Virginia and then across the United States. On Wednesday, police in Texas were alerted to a suspicious man camping on a beach.
They ran his car’s registration plate and arrested him after making the connection to the charges in Virginia. Matthew did not resist
Friends and neighbours gathered Wednesday at the West Potomac High School in Alexandria, a suburb of Washington DC, to hold a vigil for the young woman who graduated from the school two years earlier.
Members of the concert band Miss Graham was once a member of played Elvis’s “I Can’t Help Falling in Love”, one of the missing woman’s favourite songs.
“We’ve never gone through anything like this before,” said Grace Link, whose daughter is a friend of Miss Graham’s. “You read about this kind of thing but now it’s somebody that we know. Every parent can put themselves in that situation.”
