CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WUSA9) -- University of Virginia student Hannah Graham disappeared from the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville on September 13. Police are now calling her case a death investigation.
On Saturday, October 18, police found human remains on an abandoned farm in Albemarle County during the search for Hannah Graham. An emotional Chief Timothy Longo, of the Charlottesville Police Department, began the press conference: "Countless hours, thousands of hours have been spent by law enforcement and volunteers in an effort to find Hannah," said Longo. "We think they have proved their worth."
Graham's parents have been notified of the discovery, police said.
Police have not said the body is Hannah Graham's.
It was late on a Friday night when Graham, a freckled, blue-eyed sophomore from Alexandria, Va., was out in downtown Charlottesville. The accomplished athlete and straight-A student was last seen in the early hours the following day.
Graham's disappearance is a harrowing reminder of several other young women who have gone missing not far from Route 29 in Virginia. With 32-year-old Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. in custody for Graham's disappearance, investigators are looking at possible links to several other cases.
The University of Virginia community has been shaken by Graham's disappearance, and her family and friends are desperately waiting for answers. There was a $100,000 reward for information leading to Graham's whereabouts.
Monday, her parents released the following statement:
"It is now a month since our precious daughter Hannah disappeared.
We would again like to express our thanks to Chief Longo, Mark Eggeman, their teams, and all of the wonderful people who have dedicated so much of their time to help search for Hannah. Words cannot adequately express our gratitude to them, and to the many others who have provided us with support throughout this ordeal.
We truly appreciate the enormous effort that is being made to find Hannah. It is heart-breaking for us that the person or persons who know where Hannah is have not come forward with that information. It is within their power both to end this nightmare for all, and to relieve the searchers of their arduous task.
Again, we would like to urge anyone who has not already searched their property in the city of Charlottesville, or any of the neighboring counties, to please do so today.
Please, please, please help us to bring Hannah home.
Thank you.
John and Sue Graham"
What police know about the hours before Hannah Graham disappeared comes mostly from businesses' surveillance cameras.
Friday, Sept. 12
9:30 p.m. Graham is captured on Camden Plaza Apartments surveillance video in a hallway a few blocks away from the GrandMarc apartments where she lives.
11:50 p.m. Graham's friends meet her at Camden Plaza Apartments on 14th Street Northwest. It is the last time they see her.
Saturday, Sept. 13
12:46 a.m. Graham is captured on surveillance video at McGrady's Pub on Grady Avenue. Police say she was having a conversation with a man and appeared drunk.
1 a.m. Graham is captured on surveillance video at a Shell gas station on Preston Avenue across railroad tracks from her apartment and the U.Va. campus. She's seen running then walking.
1:06 a.m. Graham is captured on surveillance video at Sal's Pizza on East Main Street. A white man walks into the camera's view, looks over his shoulder then steps into a doorway. Graham walks past him and then he starts walking behind her. He later came to police and told them he was following Graham because she seemed distressed and he wanted to make sure she was safe.
1:08 a.m. Graham is captured on surveillance video at Tuel's Jewelers on East Main Street. The video shows the man walking some distance behind her.
After 1:08 a.m. Graham and a man with dreadlocks, identified as Matthew, enter Tempo Restaurant & Bar on Fifth Street Southeast. He buys alcohol, they stay 15 minutes and leave together.
1:20 a.m. Graham texts friends, "I'm coming to a party...but I'm lost." It was the last time she had contact with anyone. If her phone pinpointed her location, police have not released the information, and police did not clarify whether the text was sent before or after leaving the bar.
Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr., a nursing assistant at the University of Virginia Hospital is behind bars, facing abduction with intent to defile, a crime that is sexual in nature, for Graham's disappearance. He was the last person seen with Hannah Graham, as shown in surveillance video from the night she disappeared.
Matthew and Graham were in a bar together on the Downtown Mall on the night she disappeared, and police said they have reason to believe Hannah Graham got into Matthew's car, a burnt orange Chrysler Coupe, at some point.
Matthew was arrested on a beach in Galveston, Texas after speeding away from the Charlottesville Police Department. He had gone to the station to ask for a lawyer, but he had not yet been charged with Hannah Graham's abduction when he fled to Texas in his sister's blue Nissan Sentra.
A warrant was issued for Matthew's arrest, first for reckless driving and then for the abduction charge. After someone spotted him on that Texas beach, where police believe he had been camping for days, Matthew was extradited back to Charlottesville. He's expected to make his first court appearance in December.
Matthew is being represented by former Commonwealth's Attorney James "Jim" Camblos, who says prosecutors have not said what evidence they have against Matthew.
Charlottesville police named Matthew a suspect after removing clothes from his car and apartment for DNA testing. Police have not revealed the results of those tests, but it was at that time when a warrant was issued for Matthew with the abduction charge.
Prior to becoming a suspect in the Graham case, Matthew was a part-time volunteer football coach at the Covenant school in Charlottesville.
An allegation was brought against Matthew regarding a rape when he attended Liberty University in 2003, but it came down to an issue of consent and was dropped, Lynchburg Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Doucette said. Matthew was also accused of an on-campus sexual assault at Christopher Newport University in 2003, where he was a student and football player.
Graham's disappearance is a harrowing reminder of several other young women who have gone missing or been murdered off of Route 29. Suspect Jesse Matthew has been forensically linked to one of those cases and is being investigated in others.
On October 17, 2009, 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington disappeared after attending a concert at John Paul Jones arena in Charlottesville. Her remains were found in January 2010 on an Albemarle County farm.
Forensic evidence belonging to Matthew matches forensic evidence collected during the Harrington investigation. Investigators called Matthew's arrest a "significant break in this case". Sources tell WTVR, a CBS affiliate in Richmond, that Matthew was working as a taxi driver the night Harrington disappeared.
Two years after Morgan Harrington's remains were found, the FBI released a sketch of the man they said had contact with the Virginia Tech student. The sketch was released after investigators found forensic evidence that linked a Sept. 2005 sex assault in Fairfax, Va. to Harrington's disappearance.
After the Harrington-Matthew link was revealed, the Campbell County Sheriff's Office said investigators were taking a closer look at the 2009 murder of 23-year-old Cassandra Morton. Morton's body was found on Candlers Mountain in Lynchburg. Her death remains unsolved.
The Town of Orange Police Department said that police are examining a connection between Matthew and the case of Samantha Ann Clarke. Clarke has been missing since September 13, 2010. According to reports, around midnight the 19-year-old told her 14-year-old brother that she was leaving and she would return in the morning. She hasn't been seen since then.
The attorney for Randy Taylor, the man accused of murdering Nelson County teen Alexis Murphy asked investigators to check for a possible link between Murphy and Jesse Matthew.
Randy Allen Taylor, 48, was found guilty in May for the murder of 17-year-old Alexis Murphy, who was last seen Aug. 3, 2013 at a gas station in Lovingston. Authorities found her car several days later in a parking lot in Albemarle County. Her body has not been found, but prosecutors say her blood and hair were found in Taylor's camper.
Anthony Martin, the Commonwealth's Attorney for Nelson County, said there is no credible link between Matthew and the Murphy case, but he agreed to do testing to dispel any speculation.
Leading the search for Hannah Graham, Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo said he won't give up until she's found.
"I don't see an end in sight until we find Hannah. Maybe that's naïve, maybe that's not the most efficient way to use the resources we have but we're gonna continue as long as it takes," Longo said.
Police have received almost 4,000 tips and covered 700 square miles in Albemarle County. They've searched on foot, on horseback, on ATVs and even in the sky with high resolution cameras.
Police have asked property owners to check large areas of land and any vacant properties for signs of Hannah Graham - maybe her clothes, a silver crop top with mesh cut outs and black leggings, or her pink iPhone.
On October 4, Hannah Graham's parents came forward with an emotional plea.
"Somebody listening to me today either knows where Hannah is, or knows someone who has that information. We appeal to you to come forward and tell us where Hannah can be found," Sue Graham said in an emotional taped statement while sitting next to her husband, John. "John has already said that this is every parent's worst nightmare. ... Please, please, please help end this nightmare for all of us. Please help us to bring Hannah home."
The Hannah Graham tip line is 434-295-3851 and tips can be emailed to CPDTips@charlottesville.org.
The city of Charlottesville, the University of Virginia and the local community have contributed $100,000 to a reward for "information leading to the cause" of Graham's disappearance.
The University of Virginia and West Potomac High School, along with other Virginia colleges, have held emotional vigils for the 18-year-old's safe return.
Hannah Graham's classmates wrote 250 notes to lift the spirits of the different police departments assisting in the search. Her teammates from the West Potomac High School softball team donated bracelets with her initials and jersey number to searchers.
Messages around can be found around the University of Virginia grounds hoping for Hannah Graham's safe return and a Facebook group "Help Find Hannah Graham" has more than 40,000 likes and the hash tag #BringHannahHome has circulated around various social media platforms.
Inspired by Graham's disappearance, Charlottesville resident Gordon Thatcher reported to the city council that he found 110 burned out lights in the city in the past three weeks. He says he's on a mission to literally brighten the city by getting all of the broken street lights fixed.
Debra Alfarone and Peggy Fox contributed to this report.
