Weekend searches scheduled for missing Virginia Tech student

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Dan and Gil Harrington formally announced three days of searches to be held in Charlottesville this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the search for their missing daughter Morgan.

The couple said the details about those searches will be announced on the Find Morgan Web site.  The Harrington’s said a private group that helped in the search for Elizabeth Smart several years ago, as well as other missing people, will organize the searches.

Dan Harrington said the group that is organizing the search will arrive in Charlottesville Wednesday night, to set up their base of operations for the searches this coming weekend.  Dan said not living in Charlottesville, it was difficult to know how to rally a community, and the group that is coming is very experienced in doing that.  Dan added that the group is coordinating the search with authorities.  Dan also believes that the more they can have people “look at this, the more likely we can get Morgan back.“

Dan said some people from the Roanoke area have already offered to go to Charlottesville to be part of the team, and that the point of today’s news conference was to let people in the Roanoke and Charlottesville areas know about the upcoming weekend searches.

Morgan’s mother, Gil Harrington, made another heartfelt plea.  She said she wanted to speak directly to her daughter, and told her to “be strong, we are trying to find you, and will never stop.“  Then Gil asked the person who has taken Morgan from her and her husband, to please let her go because Morgan has so much more to live for and to give.

Ed Smart, the father of Elizabeth Smart, joined the Harrington’s at Wednesday’s news conference.  Dan Harrington said he reached out to Ed last week, to find out how he and the Smart family got through Elizabeth’s disappearance.  Ed shared with the Harrington’s how he felt the morning after Elizabeth disappeared, when the community support brought his family “tremendous hope.“  Ed Smart also said Dan and Gil Harrington are doing their best to keep the awareness of Morgan’s disappearance out there, during this “tremendous traumatic event” in their lives.

Ed Smart also said he believes somebody out there knows something about Morgan Harrington’s disappearance.  He asked anyone with knowledge of anything that happened with Morgan the night of her disappearance, no matter how insignificant they may think it is, to please come forward and talk to police.

Ed also talked about the group that will coordinate the searches this coming weekend, saying the group generally starts the search from the last place the missing person was seen at, then spreads out using that last sighting as a center point.  Smart said missing people are generally found within a five-mile radius of the last place they were seen.

Smart added that the group briefs volunteers on how to perform the search, and gives vests to volunteers to identify them as a searcher.

Ed then described the searches for his daughter Elizabeth involved around 10,000 people, and that many of those volunteers came back day after day, giving the family “tremendous hope.“

State Police did not have any updates in their investigation.