The search continues for missing UVA student Hannah Graham, and the man accused of kidnapping her could return to Virginia in police custody today. Charlottesville’s police chief took questions from reporters Thursday, and they had plenty.
Police Chief Tim Longo stressed that he won’t say anything to jeopardize the trial of 32-year-old Jesse Matthew. Instead, he talked at length about the on-going search for Hannah Graham.
“We have no idea whatsoever where she is, despite our best efforts. As we speak, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management search and rescue team has covered most of the city, they’ve spent some time on Carter’s Mountain. They’re moving south of the city of Charlottesville into Albemarle County to search farmlands and large parcels.”
He urged realtors to search vacant properties, asked rural residents to survey their land and check wildlife cameras – to look for mysterious tire tracks, the clothes Hannah Graham wore the night she disappeared – to watch for her iPhone in a pink case. And he asked people who knew Jesse Matthew to talk with police.
“Someone was talking, and they mentioned that Jesse liked to fish. Well where did he go fishing? Was there a particular pond, a particular farm, a particular location that he was comfortable with?”
Reporters wondered if the on-going investigation showed Graham and Matthew were acquainted before the two were shown on security videos. She was a nursing student. He worked at UVA medical center, transporting patients.
“You know that question’s come up just about every time I talk with someone We have no reason to believe that to be the case.”
But if someone knows otherwise, Longo begged for a call to the police department’s tip line or an e-mail to CPDTips@charlottesville.org. He said anonymous information was welcome:
“You don’t need to tell us who you are. You just need to tell us.”
So far, he said, more than 15-hundred people had offered tips, and a reward for information leading to Hannah Graham has grown to $100,000. Asked if he thought Graham was still alive, Longo choked up, saying he could not lose hope until he has to.
“”I have hope. I think Hannah’s mom and dad have hope. We all know though how as each day goes by the hope will diminish.”
Longo said he had no idea why Jesse Matthew headed for Texas, but investigators would try to find out, and to check on whether Matthew had met with anyone on his 13-hundred mile trip. Unfortunately, he said, Matthew had refused to talk and could not be compelled to do so.
