October 18, 2014

A major break in the Hannah Graham investigation. Charlottesville Police confirm human remains found on an abandoned property Saturday afternoon could be those of the missing 18-year-old University of Virginia student.

"It was a Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office crew that located the human remains along Old Lynchburg Road," said Col. Steve Sellers.

CBS19's Rachel Ryan was first to report police found a female body Saturday afternoon. Two separate law enforcement officials have confirmed to CBS19 the body is that of Graham. Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo told reporters during an evening press conference Saturday an official identification would be made by the medical examiner's office in Richmond later this week.

"This investigation is complicated and it's a complex criminal investigation and it's unlikely that we will have any information in the near future, in perhaps the days to come that we will be able to share with you about what we learned today," said Longo.

Chief Longo told reporters he called John and Sue Graham, the parents of Hannah Graham, and had a "tough conversation" about the discovery.

"Thousands of hours, literally hundreds of law enforcement and civilian volunteers who put in an effort to find Hannah, we think perhaps today proved their worth," said Longo.

CBS19's Stephon Dingle and media partners at Blue Ridge Life Magazine first reported heavy police activity around Old Lynchburg Road around 2:30 Saturday afternoon. The busy road was blocked off to traffic from Red Hill Road to Plank Road, as was Walnut Creek Park. The park was the location of an organized search scheduled for Sunday. That search has been canceled, according to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

Graham was last seen five weeks ago on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville. Jesse Matthew Jr., 32, has been charged with abduction with the intent to defile in her disappearance. Virginia State Police have said Matthew has also been forensically linked to the disappearance of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington in October of 2009. Harrington's body was found three months later on Anchorage Farm in Albemarle County. The rural farm in southern Albemarle County is located five miles from where the female body was found Saturday.

"This sadly is now a death investigation and therefore we will not be releasing any details on specifics on the scene or evidence found at the scene," said Albemarle County Police Chief Steve Sellers.

He asked anyone who lives in the area of Old Lynchburg Road to call Albemarle County Police Department tip line at 434-296-5807 if they remember seeing any suspicious activity or remember seeing Jesse Matthew in the area any time in the past five weeks.

The remains have been sent to the medical examiner's office in Richmond for an autopsy to determine a cause of death and make an official identification.

