News Digest

Police in Virginia find body in hunt for missing student Hannah Graham

Police searching for missing student Hannah Graham have found a body they believe could be hers. The British University of Virginia student, who was born in the UK but has lived in the U.S. since she was five, went missing on 13 September. Officers uncovered human remains near an abandoned property on a rural road in Albermarle County, just south of Charlottesville, where Hannah, 18, went missing. Albemarle County’s Police Chief Col Steve Sellers said: “Right now we have the discovery of human remains and a great deal of work ahead of us.”

We cannot and will not jump to any conclusions regarding today’s discovery. I ask for the public’s patience as we move forward and pursue what is now a new, ongoing death investigation.

Albemarle County’s Police Chief Col Steve Sellers

Police said a public search planned for Walnut Creek Park in Albemarle County on Sunday had been called off. Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr, 32, has been charged with abduction with intent to defile Ms Graham. Virginia State Police have said Mr Matthew’s arrest provided a “forensic link” to the 2009 unsolved murder of Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old who also went missing from Charlottesville. The suspect was arrested on a Texas beach last month. He is the last man to have been seen with Ms Graham before her disappearance.

Sometime before noon today a search team from the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s department discovered what appears to be human remains.

Chief Timothy Longo, Charlottesville police