After nearly a month of searching, Graham remains missing

WASHINGTON – After nearly a month of searching, there is still no sign of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham.

On Friday, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, which is conducting the extensive ground search, says most of an eight-mile radius from Charlottesville’s downtown has been searched.

Moving forward, Mark Eggeman of VDEM, says the focus of the search may shift.

“Just strategy and focus, what we’re going to go after based in either the investigation or the leads that come up,” Eggeman said.

He says the images from a specialized plane with high resolution cameras continues to give them leads to check on. That plane flew over the area capturing the images last Saturday and Sunday.

Graham, a sophomore from Fairfax County, went missing during the early morning hours of Sept. 13 and hasn’t been seen since. Police says Jesse Matthew was the last person seen on video with her, and he has been charged with abduction with intent to defile Graham. Matthew remains in the Albemarle County Regional Jail after he was captured in Galveston, Texas.

Eggeman, who was part of the search for Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student who disappeared after a concert in Charlottesville in 2009 and later found dead, and now the search for Hannah Graham, says justice for all victims keeps him going.

Eggeman has been in Charlottesville since the search began, but signaled on Friday he needed a break from the day-to-day ground search.

“I just feel terrible that I’m gonna walk away … without a conclusion for almost 30 days,” he said.

Searchers from the state and other police departments will continue their efforts, Eggeman said. The state will remain involved until Charlottesville’s police chief tells them to stop looking. Something, Chief Timothy Longo has said in the past, he isn’t ready to do.

Eggeman says his searchers continue to be motivated even though they haven’t found Hannah yet.

“Every day we walk out and say tomorrow is gonna be the day.”

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