Charlottesville police say they’re making progress in their quest to figure out what happened to Hannah Graham. After more than 400 tips came in from the public, they said she was seen with a 32-year-old man and may have gotten into his car – a vehicle they searched and impounded. They also located the man and searched his apartment but have not charged him with anything. Meanwhile, university police belatedly reported two possible rapes near campus after Hannah Graham went missing.
On Thursday, Charlottesville police were asking the public for help in finding a black man with a shaved head and goatee, but on Friday, they were looking for another guy pointed out by people who viewed surveillance tapes online. Here’s Detective Jim Mooney.
“You see a black male wearing all white. He has long dreadlocks, walking westbound. Within a couple of seconds you see Hannah Graham walking eastbound. You can clearly see this black male with dreadlocks cross to the other side of the mall, and then he travels eastbound behind her. And additional video shows that same man with his hands around Hannah Graham’s waist.”
And police chief Tim Longo says that same man was seen elsewhere with Graham.
“She was inside of a bar on this mall with an individual, and it’s entirely possible we believe that she got into his vehicle.”
Police found and impounded the car before searching the man’s apartment. They would not say whether the guy had been questioned, but legal experts said there was insufficient evidence to arrest him.
Longo again urged the public to help with the investigation. As he had done earlier in the week, he invoked her worried parents.
“Jim and I sat with Mr. and Mrs. Graham this afternoon, about an hour and a half ago. They want their daughter back. They want to know what happened to their little girl.”
Longo declined to discuss two other young women who were attacked during the week. One day after Graham disappeared, a UVA student was raped near campus, and the following day, a young woman from Charlottesville was found unconscious, badly beaten and likely raped nearby. Asked why the public had not been informed, Longo held up the routine police reports delivered to news organizations daily.
“Between 5:57 and 6:02 the media gets a report that looks like this. Those incidents are on that report.”
He couldn’t say whether UVA had specifically been informed of the incidents, did not think the crimes were related to Graham’s disappearance and insisted reporters stay on track.
“This press conference, and every press conference hereafter is about one thing and one thing only, and that is finding Hannah.”
Members of the public were expected to try and do just that on Saturday and Sunday when volunteer search efforts were set to take place east and north of the downtown mall.
