1 Year Ago: Charlottesville Police Reveal Name of 'Person of Interest' to Media in Hannah Graham Case, No Charges Filed

It’s every parent’s nightmare — sending your child off to college and finding out they have gone missing. In a case that received worldwide attention, UVA sophomore Hannah Graham went missing in Charlottesville a year ago. The case hit home for many in Northern Virginia — she was an accomplished young woman who had graduated from Fairfax County’s West Potomac High School, just south of Alexandria.

The trial for the man accused of abducting and murdering University of Virginia student Hannah Graham is set for July 2016. Jesse Matthew Jr. faces the death penalty in the case after prosecutors filed a capital murder charge against him. The trial is expected to last three weeks, according to the Associated Press.

Hannah, 18, a graduate of West Potomac High School was a student at UVA when she went missing Sept. 13, 2014 in Charlottesville. Her remains were found Oct. 18.

To mark the one-year anniversary of Hannah’s disappearance, friends and supporters gathered last weekend on the mall in Charlottesville to write messages of hope in her honor, according to Charlottesville media reports.

TV program “48 Hours” will examine the case in a two-hour primetime investigation into who killed Hannah and the terrifying fear that the accused killer may have struck before. “Hannah Graham: Deadly Connections” airs Saturday, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

This post is presented as published on Sept. 20, 2014:

As more than 1,000 volunteers fanned out across Charlottesville Saturday to help find missing college student Hannah Graham, police were confirming to media the name of the “person of interest” who was last seen with the UVA sophomore in the early hours on Saturday, Sept. 13.

Many media outlets have named the man, who has not been charged, questioned or named as a suspect by police although police said Friday in a news conference that they would like to speak with him.

A relative of the 32-year old man told The Washington Post that “police are trying to frame” him.

The person of interest was seen in a Charlottesville bar with Graham, 18, before she disappeared. On Friday, police towed his car away and searched his apartment, which are 2.3 miles from the area where she was last seen.

A reporter for the Daily Mail spoke to the man’s grandmother, who said: ”He said he went his way and she went hers. He told his mother he bought her some drinks. He said she did not get into his car.”

The search for Graham will continue Sunday, according to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, which is coordinating the large-scale searches. In all Saturday, 984 community and 100 SAR (search and rescue)-trained volunteers searched high-priority areas.

Also read:

• Police: Missing College Student Hannah Graham Left Bar with ‘Person of Interest’
• Police Execute Search Warrants in Connection with Missing UVA Student Hannah Graham
• UVA Holds ‘Bring Hannah Back’ Candlelight Vigil
• Charlottesville Police Offer Description of ‘Person of Interest’ in College Student Disappearance
• Security Video Shows Missing UVA College Student Hannah Graham
• New Videos Provide Clues to College Student’s Disappearance
• Family of Missing College Student, Hannah Graham, Issues Statement
• Missing College Student’s Last Text: ‘I’m Lost, Come Find Me’
• Police: West Potomac High School Grad Reported Missing at UVA