Virginia State Police have confirmed that human remains discovered in a remote farm field are those of a college student who vanished last fall while attending a Metallica concert.
Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old student at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, was at Metallica’s concert in Charlottesville at the John Paul Jones Arena Saturday, Oct. 17.
According to police, Harrington left the concert before Metallica began performing to use the restroom, but somehow ended up outside the building and couldn’t get back in. Her roommate told The Roanoke Times that Harrington called her friends shortly after leaving, saying she would not return.
Since then, police have asked Metallica fans to check photos and videos of the night to see if the missing college junior might have been photographed. A passerby found her cell phone and purse in a parking lot near the arena, but no solid leads ever turned up.
Now investigators say skeletal remains discovered in a farm field about 10 miles from the venue earlier this week are Harrington’s, and that today’s positive identification is based on dental records supplied by the family.