3 months ago
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The largest search and rescue Charlottesville has ever seen ended. Twenty-year-old Morgan Harrington has not been seen or heard from in three weeks. And there was not a trace of her that volunteers could find this weekend.
The site where hundreds of people showed up to help search for Morgan over the course of the weekend is now quiet. Many volunteers are now asking what happens next?
With three days and 1,600 volunteers searching, nothing has found yet that puts Morgan anywhere after 9:30pm on Oct. 17. Where she was last seen walking on the Copley Street Bridge. It's there that the case goes cold.
"It's like she was plucked up off the face of the earth," says Jessica Jaglois, a volunteer.
Not a sign, not a trace. The number one goal this weekend for search crews was to find Morgan. No one did. But volunteers aren't disappointed.
Bob Smithers with the Laura Recovery Center says, "I am overwhelmed with relief that we didn't find a body."
"We still want to find Morgan, alive and healthy and return her whole. So, in that respect, it's hopeful," says Joan Fenton, a volunteer.
But others are skeptical as to what the future brings for Morgan Harrington. The Laura Recovery Center has seen child after child go missing; first from their homes, then from the headlines.
Volunteer Lela Marshall says, "After the first three or four weeks, if nothing is found it can drop off. And the news media goes on to something else."
A group of around forty volunteers are meeting this week to form a coalition to ensure that Morgan's name stays out there. And that the right person sees her, hears her name and calls.
A group of about 40 volunteers are planning to meet this week to continue the search.
