RICHMOND, Va. -- There have been a number of prominent missing persons cases in Virginia in recent years. While the disappearances of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington and Nelson High School student Alexis Murphy each made national headlines, Virginia State Crime Commission said as of 2014, there were 600 open missing persons cases in the state.
Wednesday, families of missing persons will meet with state lawmakers in Richmond to talk about how laws could be changed to enhance the search and rescue process. The Virginia State Crime Commission said a Missing Persons/Search & Rescue Study published in 2014 showed there was not enough attention nor resources put into finding missing persons between the ages of 21 and 60.
Gil Harrington's daughter, Morgan Harrington, disappeared in 2009. Her body was later found on an Albemarle County farm.
"They really have gone about it in a quality thought-out way," she said. "This is the third meeting where they have asked victims' families to come in and give suggestions based on their experiences."
Topics expected to be on the table Wednesday include funding, law enforcement training, statewide alerts for missing adults and the use of social media in the search and rescue process.
