CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WUSA9) -- An FBI lab in Quantico is waiting for a DNA profile from Jesse Matthew Jr. to see if there's a connection to missing teen Alexis Murphy, a Nelson County prosecutor said.
After Matthew, 32, was charged with abducting University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, the man charged with murdering Murphy asked investigators to check for a possible link between Matthew and the teen. The FBI lab will compare Matthew's DNA profile to unknown DNA found in Alexis Murphy's car, according to her family.
Randy Taylor was convicted in May for the murder of Alexis Murphy but her body has not been found. Tuesday, officials in Nelson County announced they are planning a new search for her, reports WCAV.
The news comes three days after human remains were found off of Old Lynchburg Road in Albemarle County that some believe may be those of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham.
Murphy disappeared from Nelson County in August 2013. Randy Taylor was convicted of her murder in May 2014.
Alexis Murphy's aunt, Trina Murphy, told WCAV that the search will take place in Orange County in November. Another missing person, Samantha Clarke, disappeared from Orange County in 2010, and Randy Taylor was a person of interest in that case.
Trina Murphy told WCAV she doesn't know how she will react if Alexis' body is found during the Orange County search.
"It would obviously be a very big bag of emotions," she said. "Of course, we want to bring her home and have a place where we can go and say 'this is where she is and she's at peace and we have her back.' But at the same time, it's a lot of finality to that."
Trina Murphy does not think Jesse Matthew Jr., the man accused of abducting Hannah Graham, had anything to do with Alexis' death but said, "Even if it came out tomorrow that Jesse Matthew was somehow involved, it doesn't make Randy Taylor any less guilty. All the DNA evidence was found in his trailer. Her blood was on his shirt."
Anyone with information about Murphy's disappearance is asked to call the Nelson County Sheriff's Office at 434-263-7050.
