Friday, February 5, 2010

Dan and Gil Harrington, Parents of Slain Student Morgan Harrington on the Today Show


http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/35141949#35141949 Click on this link to see the interview.

This case is a real mystery.

Oct. 17, 2009, Morgan had gone to Charlottesville with friends to attend a Metallica concert. Somehow, she got separated from the rest of her group. She had a fight with one of her friends, went to the bathroom, and found herself outside the arena during the concert without her ticket or car keys. Several witnesses reported seeing Morgan injured both inside and outside the Arena, one Metallica fan inside says she seemed “upset” with blood on her chin but declined his offer to help. Fought with security, asked a man for help who was waiting for a friend to go into the concert. Unable to get back in, she called her friends and told them not to worry about her; she’d find her own way home. Was seen walking across the parking lot with several college age boys. Ran into members of the Virginia Tech Men's basketball team. Was last seen walking across a bridge. Another expert has been bothered by the emotions of her friend when being interviewed and I have to agree it is odd.

I have been watching this case from the beginning. Used Google Maps to track her last movements and how far she was from her parents home. Watched interviews and news video concerning Morgan's disappearance. I even had a post all ready to go but decided to not post it for various reasons.

The post I never published, was about an odd statement her mother said at a press conference days after she initially went missing; where she said something about Morgan having laundry, etc. at home and she wanted her to come home so they could work it all out...

I do not want to bring pain to her family, and really want the police to make an arrest because I'm perplexed by some of the news coverage, the statements made by her friends, and the witness accounts, and the mothers odd statements and personality.

Something that has been taken out of context, is the media saying that Gil was making a reference to the book and/or movie "Lovely Bones." I thought it odd that someone with a missing girl would see that movie... perhaps she read the book when it came out? When you watch the video it is clear that she was literally referring to the actual bones of her daughter. This is very odd and creepy. I cannot imagine what I would do if something happened to my son or daughter, but I find it even harder to imagine talking about their bones!?!?!?

A "natural" who I asked to review this interview, actually gasped at the bones comment, and thought this was very odd. She went on to say that it is also odd how she looks to him when he is talking, while he doesn't look at her. There is a place at 4:23 when Dan is being asked if he thought the person who did this is local, where Gil swallows hard and is breathing harder, then looks down when he starts answering. This is obviously a stressful situation for her.

I also find another odd statement by Gil, "Dan wants justice and punishment of this man. I really care little about either one of those things. I know he will receive the punishment that he is due, at some point. I am concerned and determined that he be caught for safety reasons,”

To say this just four days after her daughter's body is found is odd, she must be very religious or has leaped through many of the stages of dealing with the death of a loved one.

We both are chalking up these comments, and unorthodox grieving process, and views to her obviously less than normal personality. We really want them to make an arrest and figure this out so we can learn from this case, to help us in future cases.

In many ways I feel Gil Harrington reminds me of Diena Thompson (the mother of a little girl from Florida whose body was found in a Georgia land fill). They both show little unsettling "quirks" when being interviewed.◦
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

of course the Mom is uncomfortable being interviewed - she's grieving, #1 and she is most likely worried that she's being judged as a mother, full of unsubstantiated feelings of remorse at the little things she may have done differently that possibly could have maybe ended the situation differently.If it were me I wouldn't want to be face front & center under these circumstances - I would be mortified. She's a brave woman who did everything right when raising her daughter in my book,so give the grieving Mom a break here.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the author of this blog. It's bizarre that a mother would bring up her child's "bones." Most parents want to remember their child "alive," as opposed to the child's skeletal state. I feel terrible for the parents, but their behavior on the today show was odd.

Anonymous said...

Any significants to the facts that she always uses "he", "him", "the man" when referring to the person that did this? Also, I feel as if she knows who did this... she kind of creeped me out

Anonymous said...

The mother is an oncology nurse, which could explain why she's so matter of fact about medical issues (describing the skull as a "cranium") and about death. The father is a psychiatrist, so he probably knows a lot about aberrant behavior and criminal profiling. How often is the abduction/murder of a pretty, young woman ever the work of anyone but a lone male assailant?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it was a little weird the way Gil behaved, but I in no way felt that she was involved in the death of her daughter. I think she just has an unusual personality. None of us is completely "normal" and we all have our idiosyncrasies.

I think it is very important to Gil that she saw her daughter from before she was born (on ultrasound) until after she died, when she viewed her bones. That's what I think the "lovely bones" comment meant for her. It is a strange way of saying she was involved in every aspect of her daughter's life--birth to death--because she loves her so much.
That's my take on it anyway.