Search Continues For Missing University Of Virginia Student
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Police are ramping up their efforts to find a missing 18-year-old UVA student who disappeared after a party in Charlottesville. Police want to question a man seen on surveillance video with her that night---but he's on the run!
Christie Ileto reports he may have ties to Maryland.
Monday's wanted poster means an intensified search for missing UVA student Hannah Graham, who disappeared nine days ago. Detectives say Jesse Matthew is their missing link.
"Please, please, please if you have anything, however insignificant you think it might be, call the police tipline," said John Graham, Hannah's father.
Graham made an emotional plea for help in finding his daughter.
Surveillance video made Matthew a person of interest but it's his erratic behavior behind the wheel that has him charged with reckless driving. Detectives say he was seen speeding away minutes after showing up at the police station requesting to speak with a lawyer. At the time, he couldn't be detained for questioning.
"Detaining essentially puts him under arrest. We don't have anything to arrest him or anyone else for at this moment in time. Had we had that, he would not have left here," said Captain Gary Pleasant.
Carting away clues, police searched Matthew's home again---still no trace of him or Hannah.
Police fear Matthew could be anywhere and, based on a wanted poster, he has friends up and down the 95 corridor---even right here in Maryland.
"If someone is fleeing the police, it's not uncommon for them to travel several states away," said public safety expert Rob Weinhold.
Weinhold explains the search area now extends beyond Charlottesville.
"What makes this case a little bit different is that law enforcement has identified a person of interest and generally they won't do that nor identify someone publicly unless there's a link between the two," Weinhold said.
It's unclear if Matthew is a suspect but police do want to question him so he can help fill in the blanks.
The city of Charlottesville and the UVA community have contributed around $50,000 to a reward for information leading to the cause of Hannah Graham's disappearance.
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