Body buried in creek behind abandoned home 'IS Hannah Graham': Tragic discovery of shallow grave site in woods just a few miles from where suspected kidnapper Jesse Matthew grew up is 'confirmed'

  • Hannah Graham, 18, went missing on September 13 in Charlottesville, VA
  • Remains found yesterday in abandoned house ten miles away
  • Jesse Matthew, 32, has been arrested and charged with abduction
  • Body has not been formally identified - but local media confirmed find  
  • Road in Albermarle County is close to Matthew's mom's old house 

Human remains dug up by rescuers in a dried-up creek belong to missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, local media has reported.

Searchers found the body behind an abandoned house in Albermarle County, around ten minutes south of Charlottesville, Virginia, where Hannah was last seen on September 13 with suspect Jesse Matthew.

Matthew has now been arrested and charged with abducting Hannah with intent to defile, and police say new forensic evidence links him to the death of another missing girl.

It also emerged that Matthew, 32, grew up around Albermarle County and is familiar with the area.  

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Body found: The remains have not yet been definitively identified as Hannah's - but police called off all other search efforts
Body found: The remains have not yet been definitively identified as Hannah's - but police called off all other search efforts

Missing: Hannah Graham disappeared in Charlottesville, Virginia, on September 13

Uncovered: Human remains were found five miles from where Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington was found dead, according to the local police

Uncovered: Human remains were found five miles from where Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington was found dead, according to the local police

Suspect: Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr., 32, has been charged with abduction with intent to defile
Suspect: Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr., 32, has been charged with abduction with intent to defile

Suspect: Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr., 32, has been charged with abduction with intent to defile

At a press conference yesterday police called off further search efforts for Hannah and announced the find of a dead body - but said it had not yet been definitively identified.

However, today law enforcement officials revealed to the local CBS19 channel that they are sure the find is Hannah.. 

The remains were found five miles from where Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington was found dead, according to the local police.

Sergeant Dale Terry has said that his five-man team stumbled across the body, along with tight, dark colored pants, after initially giving up the search of woodland at Walnut Creek Park.

Terry said that his team were compelled to carry on searching to bring 'closure' to the family of the 18-year-old British-born student, one month after she went missing ten miles away in Charlottesville, Virginia, following a night out. 

The remains are those of Hannah Graham, law enforcement sources told CBS19

The remains are those of Hannah Graham, law enforcement sources told CBS19

Rural woodland: The image above shows the area around which the remains are thought to have been found

Terry said that he believes 'God wanted' them to discover her body - and end the uncertainty for her family.

'I don't know how else to explain it,' he said. 'Something inside me just told me to continue to look.'

'We stayed positive, upbeat,' said Terry to CBS 6.

'We knew we were here for a mission to bring closure and hopefully that's what we've done.'

Terry told WTVR that the human remains were found five miles from where Morgan Harrington's body was found.

In September, Virginia State Police said that there was a forensic link between suspect Jesse Matthew and Harrington.

Roadblock: Officers closed off the road to the site where Hannah's body was found in Albermarle County

Roadblock: Officers closed off the road to the site where Hannah's body was found in Albermarle County

Difficult: Sergeant Dale Terry said that he and his team carried on searching the abandoned property to bring closure to to Hannah Graham's parents

Difficult: Sergeant Dale Terry said that he and his team carried on searching the abandoned property to bring closure to to Hannah Graham's parents

Close: Hannah Graham disappeared one month ago during a night out in Charlottesville, Virginia, after becoming lost in the early hours of the morning

Close: Hannah Graham disappeared one month ago during a night out in Charlottesville, Virginia, after becoming lost in the early hours of the morning

Sgt. Dale Terry told WTVR that the human remains were found five miles from where Morgan Harrington's body was found

Sgt. Dale Terry told WTVR that the human remains were found five miles from where Morgan Harrington's body was found

The 20-year-old student disappeared after a concert in Charlottesville on October 17, 2009 and her body was found on an Albermale County farm on January 26, 2010.

No arrests have ever been made in the death of the Virginia Tech student.

Terry led the search himself at an abandoned property off Old Lynchburg Road in Albermale County and said that the human remains were taken to the Medical Examiner's Office in Richmond, Virginia, to be to positively identified and autopsied.

The grisly find was made around an abandoned property on a rural road - the area where suspect Jesse Matthew, who has been charged with Hannah's abduction, grew up.

The identity of the remains has not yet been confirmed - but officers have called off all other search efforts for Hannah in the meantime.

Graham has been missing for over a month 

Graham has been missing for over a month 

The grisly find was made around an abandoned property on a rural road - the area where suspect Jesse Matthew, who has been charged with Hannah's abduction, grew up

The grisly find was made around an abandoned property on a rural road - the area where suspect Jesse Matthew, who has been charged with Hannah's abduction, grew up

In a press conference this evening, Chief Timothy Longo, Charlottesville police told reporters about the discovery - but said there would be no further detail until tests have taken place.

Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr, 32, has been arrested charged with abduction with intent to defile. 

The sophomore was last seen on a surveillance video walking with kidnapping suspect Jesse Matthew in downtown mall in Charlottesville, Virginia on September 13. 

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

'Forensic tests need to be conducted to determine the identity of these remains. But we wanted to be quick in informing the Graham family.

'This investigation is complicated, it's a complex criminal investigation, it is unlikely that we will have any more information in the near future.'

Appearance: Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. is escorted into a courtroom for an appearance before 405th District Court Judge Michelle Slaughter regarding his extradition back to Virginia, on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, in Galveston, Texas

Appearance: Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. is escorted into a courtroom for an appearance before 405th District Court Judge Michelle Slaughter regarding his extradition back to Virginia, on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, in Galveston, Texas

Graham family: Hannah's mother and father (front and back right) had recently released a fresh plea for people to look for her

Graham family: Hannah's mother and father (front and back right) had recently released a fresh plea for people to look for her

Local and regional police talk to an unidentified property owner where a body was discovered almost 5 weeks after 18-year-old Hannah Graham went missing

Local and regional police talk to an unidentified property owner where a body was discovered almost 5 weeks after 18-year-old Hannah Graham went missing

Describing the 'unprecedented' search effort, he said: 'It was 35 days ago since University of Virginia student Hannah Graham disappeared from our downtown pedestrian mall.

He added: 'Thousand of hours have been spent by hundreds of law enforcement and civilian volunteers in an effort to find Hannah.'

It came days after Sue and John Graham, Hannah's parents, issued a last, passionate plea for Virginians to look out for signs of her.

Writing on October 13 - a month after she vanished - they said: 'It is heart-breaking for us that the person or persons who know where Hannah is have not come forward with that information.

'It is within their power both to end this nightmare for all, and to relieve the searchers of their arduous task.'

Last sighting: Hannah, seen left, was spotted with Matthew on the night she disappeared - she is pictured above just before 1am

Last sighting: Hannah, seen left, was spotted with Matthew on the night she disappeared - she is pictured above just before 1am

Emotion: Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo is overcome with emotional at a press conference announcing the discovery of human remains

Emotion: Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo is overcome with emotional at a press conference announcing the discovery of human remains

Witnesses have said they saw Matthew with Hannah on the night she disappeared.

The spot at which the human remains were found, on Old Lynchburg Road in Albermarle County, is not far from where Matthew's mother used to live.

He is said to have grown up in the area and to be familiar with it. 

Virginia State Police have said 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.

Morgan, a student at Virginia Tech, disappeared on October 17 2009 in Charlottesville. Her body was found only a few miles from where the discovery today was made.

Link: Police have said DNA evidence connects Hannah's disappearance with that of Morgan Harrington, another student in Virginia who went missing

Link: Police have said DNA evidence connects Hannah's disappearance with that of Morgan Harrington, another student in Virginia who went missing

Concert: Morgan, 20, who was at Virginia Tech, disappeared after going to a Metallica concert in 2009

Concert: Morgan, 20, who was at Virginia Tech, disappeared after going to a Metallica concert in 2009

She had been at a Metallica concert in Charlottesville, but was separated from her friends and left outside of the arena. Witnesses saw her trying to hitch-hike home.

Her body was eventually found, more than 100 days after she went missing. Until Matthew was linked to the disappearance, no leads as to who may have taken her had been found. 

Matthew has never been charged in connection with Morgan, but it was recently revealed that police questioned him - but then let him go. 

 

 

 

 

 

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