On Friday, September 12, University of Virginia student, Hannah Graham, started out the night partying with her friends. By Sunday, she was reported missing. Her whereabouts were last known at around 1:06 Saturday morning, when she met up with a 32-year-old man named Jesse “LJ” Matthew, and left with him shortly after.
Four days later, her family commented that it was unusual for Hannah to go this long without contacting family or friends. They said Hannah “embraces life with energy and enthusiasm and has enriched the lives of many. Her empathy is evident in her daily interaction with us and her friends.” By September 19, the police pleaded with the public to come forward with information about Jesse Matthew, and by September 21, Graham’s parents expressed their fear of foul play being involved in the incident.
Matthew, after a widespread manhunt, was charged with abduction with intent to defile, and was taken into custody on September 24. The search for Hannah still continued and her remains were not found until October 24 in a rural area about eight miles outside of Charlottesville, VA. The suspect was described as a popular athlete. “The LJ that I knew was a very joyful person,” an old friend stated. “He made you happy just to be around him.” He was a defensive lineman at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. He was linked by forensic evidence in the case of Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student who was last seen outside of Charlottesville in October 2009 and whose remains were found on a nearby farm the following January.
“For a big man, he’s as gentle as they come,” The suspect’s father told a CNN affiliate. “The only thing I could see, him, maybe trying to give the girl a ride or help her out. To kill or hurt somebody, that’s not my son.”