Va. College Student Vanished, Cops Say
Police searched Tuesday for a Virginia Tech student who hasn't been seen since she was separated from her friends at a Metallica concert Saturday.
Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, was last seen near the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. Her parents said they talk to her every day and her disappearance is very out of character.
"Morgan is a pretty transparent kid, who's had a really close relationship with us," her father, Dan Harrington, said in a phone interview Tuesday. "I don't think there are lots of secrets, so this kind of behavior of (her) missing is not something I think we would expect."
CBS News Correspondent Terrell Brown reported from Charlottesville Wednesday on CBS' "The Early Show" that her parents held back tears as they pleaded for the return of their youngest child and only daughter.
"If Morgan is out there and hears us, please come home," Dan Harrington told reporters Monday.
The opening act of the concert took the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday. Police say just before 8:40 p.m. Harrington left the concert to have a cigarette outside but left her ticket inside. Friends in the arena phoned her and she said not to wait up for her and that she'd find her own ride home. That was the last time anyone spoke with Harrington.
Dan Harrington, who lives in Roanoke, Va., said his daughter had asked him to help her study for a math test and go through the class schedule for next semester on Sunday. He called her friends around 12:30 p.m. when he realized he had not heard from her.
Police said Morgan Harrington, a junior majoring in education, was wearing a black T-shirt with "Pantera" across the front in tan letters, a black mini skirt, black tights and black knee-high boots.
More on Morgan Dana Harrington's disappearance from the Crimesider blog
She has long blonde hair and blue eyes, is 5-foot-6 and weighs about 120 pounds. She was not carrying an identification card or cell phone.
Investigators are treating the disappearance as a missing person case, said Virginia State Police Lt. Joe Rader.
"We have no evidence that a crime has been committed," he said.
Word of Harrington's disappearance has left students on the quiet Virginia campus shaken, Brown reported.
"It's just kind of a shock to realize that somebody's actually gone missing," student Ania Giffin told Brown.
Metallica released a statement last night to its fans. "If you or anyone you know shot video footage or took photos of the concert or audience, please check to see if there is anyone in your photos who might resemble Morgan," the statement said.
A candlelight vigil is planned for Harrington at her former high school in Roanoke Thursday.