Here's What We Know About The Case Of Missing UVA Student Hannah Graham
While there are still no firm answers about the UVA student's disappearance, weeks later there is now a clearer picture of what may have happened that night.
On the night of Friday, September 12, Graham had been out drinking with friends - moving over the course of the night between a student housing complex, on off-campus house party, and several local Charlottesville, Virginia bars, according to a breakdown from the area's alternate news weekly, C-Ville. By the end of the night - around 1 am - Graham was seen leaving Tempo, a popular bar and restaurant on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall, with an unidentified man.
Video of Graham leaving Tempo with the man, who was later identified as 32-year-old Jesse Matthew, is the last sighting of the missing UVA student. Footage reveals that Graham was stumbling around the Mall before encountering Matthew - she was later described by local police as "fairly well intoxicated" - before walking off, seeming to stand only by supporting herself on his arm.
During the afternoon of Sunday, September 14, Graham's friends and family realized that no one had spoken with her since early Saturday morning, when she sent a text message to a friend at 1:06 am. That afternoon, someone placed a call to 911 reporting the disappearance, initiating a weeks-long search for Graham.
After a week of increasingly widening investigations, Jesse Matthew - a lifelong Charlottesville resident - was named on Saturday, September 20, as the primary person of interest in Graham's disappearance. He currently works as an operating room technician at the UVA hospital.
On Sunday, September 21, local police said at a press conference that Matthew had come to the department the previous day asking for a lawyer, before quickly leaving and speeding away, eluding police who were following him. According to C-Ville, a warrant was put out for Matthew's arrest on misdemeanor reckless driving charges.
After further searches of the suspect's apartment, police announced on Tuesday, September 23, that they have enough evidence to charge Matthew with abduction with intent to defile. According to The Washington Post, "The charge implies that police have evidence that Matthew took Graham against her will - or while she was in a state that left her unable to consent."
After a widespread manhunt, Matthew was taken into custody in Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday, September 24, and transported back to Charlottesville to face charges.
Since Matthew's arrest, police have found forensic evidence linking him to the death of Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who went missing in October 2009 and whose body was found three months later.
The search for Hannah Graham continues.