A forensic connection was later made to Jesse L. Matthew, Jr., the prime suspect in the murder of Hannah Graham, a UVA student who is believed to have been abducted on September 13, 2014.

[3] On March 2, 2016, Matthew pleaded guilty to the abduction and murder of both Graham and Harrington, receiving four consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole.

[4] On October 17, 2009, Harrington and three friends drove to the John Paul Jones Arena at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville for a Metallica concert.

[citation needed] Harrington's purse, containing her identification and cell phone (with batteries removed), was discovered in the RV lot at UVA's Lannigan Athletic Field following her disappearance.

[8] In April 2010, forensic tests confirmed that a Pantera T-shirt, which had been found in November 2009 outside of an apartment building about a mile-and-a-half from the arena, was indeed the shirt Harrington had been wearing on the night she went missing.

[12] The killing provoked fears, expressed by her parents in many meetings with media including national television broadcasts, that a serial killer might be living in Virginia.

[14][15] Her parents continued to appear at numerous special events, including the University of Virginia's annual "Take Back the Night" rally and urged UVA administrators to work toward a safer campus.