ROANOKE — Neighbors, family and newfound friends filled a Roanoke street corner with candlelight, prayers and music Friday night, trying to help fill the void left by the loss of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington.
Related: Gallery of the vigil
“She was a light in the world,” said friend Ashley Honig.
Honig, a sophomore at Virginia Western Community College, knew Morgan Harrington during high school. They went to church together and were in the same youth group.
“She will never stop being loved,” Honig said.
Honig was just one of a multitude of people who have shown support to the Harrington family since Morgan disappeared on Oct. 17 from the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville
The candlelight vigil was planned quickly, bringing supporters to the home of Dan and Gil Harrington just a day after Virginia State Police confirmed remains found on Anchorage Farm outside Charlottesville were indeed those of Harrington.
The Harrington family expressed their gratitude to the crowd of more than 100 and to those worldwide for joining so passionately in the effort to locate Harrington.
Other attendees offered comfort to the Harrington family as they seek closure after spending 101 days searching for their daughter.
“This has been tragic from beginning to end,” said family friend Janet Crawford to the hushed crowd.
Crawford commended those who stood by the Harrington family through the ordeal of searching for their daughter’s body, which was finally located on Jan. 26 in a remote area of an Albemarle County farm, about seven miles away from the arena.
“Their loss has been great, their pain has been deep, their faith has been strong,” Crawford said.
Friends of and those sympathetic to the Harringtons shared prayers and inspirational poems, reminding one another of the Harringtons’ faith that Morgan is now without suffering.
Some have come to the Harringtons’ side after hearing of Morgan’s disappearance.
“I never knew Dan and Gil until the first search took place in the first part of November,” Jarels said. “I was drawn to them, they were just amazing people. From that point on, it was almost like I had this purpose that I wanted to help them bring Morgan home.”
Since then Jarels has grown to know and love the Harrington family. During the vigil, he even joked his next goal is to be adopted by Dan and Gil Harrington. He has become more involved than a simple member of the search team, connecting to people interested in the Harrington case worldwide on the Internet.
“We have a Find Morgan Web site that has drawn a lot of interest, and we have a Facebook group. Prior to coming over here, I think we had about 34,000 members,” Jarels said. “There’s something very special about Morgan, that’s what I hear wherever I go. It’s her personality, her smile and it’s just amazing the support and love she has gotten all around the world.”
Jarels has also served as a liaison between the Harrington family and the Tech community.
An electrical and computer engineering employee at Tech, Jarels said he spends most of his time with the athletics department.
Men’s basketball coach Seth Greenberg wore a maroon ribbon for Harrington last night during the Hokies’ game against the University of Virginia.
Greenberg and other coaches have pitched in to offer their support.
“I’ve got so many items from them I have to give (the Harringtons),” Jarels said. “They’ve been so supportive.”
He said Greenberg, football coach Frank Beamer and women’s basketball coach Beth Dunkenberger have taken special interest in the Harrington family.
“We’ve got great coaches on the field, on the basketball court, but they are even better off the field,” Jarels said. “And times like this, that’s when it shows.”
Harrington’s parents thanked the world for its support in their quest to find their daughter and closure in the case of her mysterious disappearance.
“Thank you so much,” Gil Harrington said. “We have been held up by your love in this catastrophe.”
“We could not have survived without you,” she said.
Gil said that the discovery of her daughter’s remains had helped to provide a sense of closure.
“We have recovered Morgan’s body,” she said, “now we are attempting to recover ourselves.”
Dan Harrington said during an emotional statement he has also found solace in Tuesday’s discovery.
“This is not the end, but there is some peace in closure,” he said.
Dan Harrington thanked the worldwide community for “holding up” his family during the 101 days that his daughter was missing.
“This community that has continued to be supportive and show us love and friendship — in this century, I think that has never occurred before,” he said.
Dan Harrington said he hopes his daughter’s death will be “not just a death but something that we go forward and remember.”
“Though one person killed Morgan,” he said, “there are many people who love Morgan.”
Many of those people braved below-freezing weather to gather together and share their memories and their sorrow.
Adriann Lester, a 2009 graduate of the UVa, has known the Harrington family since she played basketball with Morgan’s brother Alex when he was seven years old.
“She loved her family,” Lester said. “I loved her family.”
Morgan Harrington has been frequently remembered not just for her love of her family but for her love of others. During her high school summers, she volunteered at a camp for children with disabilities, directed by Deborah Duerke, a long-time friend of the Harrington family.
“This is an exceptional family,” Duerke said. “They’re something we can all learn from.”
Duerke said the thing she finds more important in light of the recent announcement of Morgan’s death is “to make sure nobody forgets.”
Jennifer Henderson, a Tech interdisciplinary studies professor reached by phone Monday, said Morgan Harrington had recently joined the education program in IDST.
She was in Henderson’s Women and Creativity class in spring 2009. Henderson remembered Morgan and her work because it was a fairly small class.
Henderson recalled Morgan being a talented artist.
“She painted a portrait of a woman and infant — it was clear she had a lot of talent. It was a lovely painting.”
Henderson called the death a “horrible tragic waste of a lovely person.”
She also remembered an essay Morgan wrote about becoming a teacher.
“I’m sure she would have made a wonderful school teacher,” she said.
After those gathered in the Harrington family’s neighborhood joined in a stirring chorus of the song “Let There be Peace on Earth” and a closing prayer, many went forward to write notes of encouragement on poster boards bearing the 2-4-1 symbol, a family phrase that has become a rallying point for those searching for Morgan.
The Harrington family traditionally, as they leave the house, says to one another, “I love you too much, forever, and once more.” Those were the last words Morgan Harrington said to her mother Gil Harrington the day she disappeared.
“2-4-1 will always be a part of us,” one person wrote, “as will you.”
While Friday offered a chance for the community to find closure, Jarels said the search for Harrington’s killer is still a priority.
“It’s been an amazing journey,” Jarels said, “but we’re not there yet, because we’ve got to find the guy who did this.”
The Associated Press reported that the discovery of Harrington’s remains have generated a new surge of credible leads in the investigation.
Authorities are still examining the remains as they continue their investigation.
Editor-in-chief Sara Mitchell and news reporter Gordon Block contributed to this report.