Hannah Graham disappearance: Man charged with abduction in custody

A man charged with abducting a missing University of Virginia sophomore has been captured in Texas and is awaiting extradition — but there is still no sign of the student, authorities said.

Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. was arrested on a beach in the Texas community of Gilchrist by Galveston County Sheriff's authorities, Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo announced Wednesday night.

The capture came less than a full day after police announced they had probable cause to arrest Matthew on charges of abduction with intent to defile Hannah Graham, an 18-year-old sophomore who went missing on Sept. 13 in Charlottesville.

Longo said an intense search for Graham continues.

"This case is nowhere near over," he told a news conference late Wednesday. "We have a person in custody but there's a long road ahead of us and that long road includes finding Hannah Graham."

Matthew was captured at a beach in the community of Gilchrist about 3:30 p.m. after police received a call reporting a suspicious person, the Galveston County Daily News reported. The newspaper quoted Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset as saying a deputy responding to the call found a man who had pitched a tent on the beach with his car parked nearby. Trochesset said a check of the car's plates revealed it was the vehicle sought in connection to the case. Authorities were trying to get a warrant to search the car, he added.

A dispatcher at the sheriff's office in Galveston referred questions about the arrest and timing of Matthew's extradition to Charlottesville police, who did not provide details at the news conference and did not immediately respond to telephone messages afterward.

Graham last seen Sept. 12

The case has spread fear through Charlottesville, a quiet community about 100 kilometres west of Richmond. Authorities have increased patrols and a late-night transportation program for students, who also have begun walking in pairs at night and are paying closer attention to their surroundings.

Graham was an alpine skier and alto saxophone player who had earned straight A's six years in a row, according to family members and police. Graham met friends at a restaurant for dinner on Sept. 12 before stopping by two parties at off-campus housing units, authorities said. They said she left the second party alone, and sent a text message to a friend saying she was lost.

Surveillance videos showed her walking, and at some points running, past a pub and a service station and then onto the Downtown Mall, a seven-block pedestrian strip where police believe she entered a bar with Matthew.

The university said Matthew had been employed at the University of Virginia Medical Center since Aug. 12, 2012, as a patient technician in the operating room.

The charges against the 6-foot-2, 270-pound Matthew surprised Dave Hansen, who first met him about 11 years ago when Hansen served as an assistant pastor at an area church.

"I always thought he was a gentle giant, just a nice guy," Hansen said. "He seemed genuine with his faith and spirituality. ... I don't see him doing this at all, but that's usually the case, I guess."

Suspect had past brushes with law

Hansen said he's only kept up with Matthew through Facebook, but ran into him at the university's medical centre within the last year. He said the soft-spoken Matthew greeted him in an elevator with a high-five.

Matthew attended Liberty University from 2000 to 2002, said officials with the Lynchburg school founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. The school's athletics website listed him as a defensive lineman on the football team.

More recently, he also served as a part-time volunteer for the football team at The Covenant School, a private Christian pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade school in Charlottesville. Officials said his involvement with the school began last month following interviews with the athletic director and head football coach, as well as normal background and reference checks.

After Matthew was named a person of interest in Graham's disappearance, school officials said in a letter that he will "no longer be working with our football program while this matter is being clarified and resolved."

While Matthew has had past brushes with the law, the details of those cases are not clear.

Online court records show Matthew was convicted of trespassing in 2010 but provide no details about the incident. Details also were unavailable for two other charges of assault and attempted grand larceny relating to a 2009 incident that were not prosecuted. Matthew, who had a taxi permit from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles from 2007 through 2010, also has several traffic infractions, records show.

The latest revelations came late Tuesday, when police, who have searched Matthew's car once and his apartment twice, decided they had probable cause to charge him in the disappearance. Longo declined to say what new information police had, but authorities sent several items, including clothing, to a state forensics lab for testing.