UVA will mark the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of Morgan Harrington with a commemorative plaque to be installed at the Copeley Road bridge, where the Virginia Tech student was last seen alive. Harrington disappeared during a Metallica concert at the John Paul Jones Arena on October 17, 2009; her remains were found on an Albemarle County farm south of Charlottesville on January 23.
"The loss of a beautiful young person with a bright future is one of life’s greatest sorrows," said UVA President Teresa Sullivan in a statement. "We want to mark her passing in a formal way." The plaque will be installed at a site that has served as a constantly evolving memorial for Harrington since her disappearance. The text of the plaque is visible below:
"In loving memory of
MORGAN DANA HARRINGTON
(1989-2009)
A student at our sister institution, Virginia Tech,
Ms. Harrington was last seen alive on this bridge
on October 17, 2009.
University of Virginia
Dedicated October 17, 2010
••
••••
•"
In July, Virginia State Police released news of a forensic link between Harrington’s death and an unsolved sexual assault and abduction that occurred in 2005. Law enforcement released a sketch of a suspect in the assault. Gil Harrington, Morgan’s mother, said of the sketch, "It’s a lot easier to be careful of this guy than being careful in general." In a recent blog post on FindMorgan.com, Gil Harrington wrote, "We have to find a relationship with Morgan that transcends the inconvenient fact of her death. I am not sure how to do that yet."
