Remains of Missing Va. Tech Student Found

(Jan. 26) – Skeletal remains found on a Virginia farm are those of Morgan Dana Harrington, a 20-year-old Virgina Tech student missing since Oct. 17, authorities say.

David Bass found the remains this morning in a remote hayfield on his farm approximately 10 miles outside of Charlottesville. The hay had been cut in August, and by October it would have been waist high.

"I was on my tractor feeding cows on a remote part of the farm I don't normally go to," Bass told The Hook, a Charlottesville newspaper.

Bass' property is the 700-acre Anchorage Farm. There is no public access to the area where the body was found. Police had not searched the area before this morning.

The remains reportedly have blond hair and were clad in black clothing. Missing-person fliers for Harrington described her as blond and said she was wearing a black T-shirt with the word "Pantera" on it, a black miniskirt, black tights and black boots when she disappeared.

At a news conference late this afternoon, authorities said they were confident the remains are those of Harrington. "There were significant items and evidence" found to support the identification, Virginia State Police Superintendent Steve Flaherty said, although he would not elaborate. Police did not give any information about how she died.

Police said they would need to be careful when giving out information because the "perpetrator or perpetrators" are still at large. The body was being taken to Richmond for an autopsy.

Harrington was last seen in a parking lot at the John Paul Jones Arena at the University of Virginia, where she had been attending a Metallica concert. Around 8:40 p.m., she went outside to smoke a cigarette and left her ticket inside. Her friends in the arena called her and she told them she'd find her own ride home. That was the last time anyone talked to her.

Her parents became worried the next day when she didn't show up at home. Harrington was an education major and had planned on returning to her parents' home in Roanoke the next day to study with her father for a math test.

Police found her purse, ID and cell phone in the parking lot, but said there was no sign of a struggle.

The farm where her body was found is about 10 miles from the concert venue.

"This is a horrible day" for the family, her father, Dan Harrington, told WTVR in Richmond after the remains were discovered.

The Harrington family has offered a $100,000 reward for her return or information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in her disappearance. Metallica has added another $50,000 in reward money.