'Bring Hannah Home:' The West Potomac softball team painted the school rock for Hannah Graham. Photo Contributed
Mount Vernon — Hannah Graham, University of Virginia sophomore and alumna of West Potomac High School, has been missing since the early morning hours of Saturday, Sept. 13.
On Wednesday Sept. 17, members of the West Potomac softball team met before Back to School Night to paint the school’s rock with handprints and the words “Bring Hannah Home,” hanging her special senior softball on a nearby tree.
“That was an emotional moment,” said Craig Maniglia, Graham’s softball coach at West Potomac.
At West Potomac Graham was known for being a responsible, hard-working and safe student. “She was always on time, always gave notes if she was going to miss practice,” said Maniglia. “That’s what makes this so tragic. She wouldn’t just disappear — go on a jaunt and not tell anyone.”
“It was weird because it wasn’t something we thought we’d ever have to do,” said former teammate and current senior captain Madeline Miller. “If we were putting Hannah’s name on the rock, it would be for some great achievement. Not to write ‘Bring Hannah Home.’”
“It was very upsetting,” said Torie Bolger, another senior captain on the softball team. “It kind of made it real to me. When I first heard, I kind of assumed she was going to be OK, hiding out or something. When it had been three and four days since the report was filed, it made it all real.”
Graham contributed to the softball team all four years of high school, earning a starting position playing left outfielder her senior year. She was looked up to by her teammates and named one of the team’s captains.
“She had the athletic ability, the total package,” Maniglia said of Graham while she was at West Potomac. “Talent, attitude, the way other players respect you. She fit that model completely.”
“She was so nice to everyone, so kind,” said Madeline Miller. “She always gave it her all. She was so dedicated, to the game and to the team.”
Graham also excelled in the classroom and behind the music stand as a saxophonist.
“I can say that Hannah exemplified the word scholar during her time at West Potomac High School,” said principal Alex Case. “She took the most challenging courses offered at our school and was a leader in the band, having played all four years in high school.”
“It has been evident at school that many students, families and staff were touched by Hannah during her time as a Wolverine,” Case added.
“Hannah is beyond precious to us, and we are devastated by her disappearance,” her parents John and Susan Graham of Mount Vernon said in a statement. “It is totally out of character for us not to have heard from her, and we fear foul play.”
According to Charlottesville police reports and a statement from the University of Virginia, the 18-year-old left a house party and walked to the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville. That’s where surveillance tapes recorded the last visual evidence of her whereabouts at 1:08 a.m.
Around 1:20, Graham contacted friends via a text message saying she was lost.
Graham’s friends reported her to the Charlottesville police as missing at 4:34 p.m. the following Sunday. Though the police dispatched personnel and bloodhounds to search for her, they have yet to find anything.
On Thursday, Sept. 18, Charlottesville police announced a person of interest: a man a witness said was in physical contact with Graham on Saturday night around the time she was last seen on video.
In Charlottesville students organized a vigil, held Thursday night at the university amphitheater.
The Mount Vernon community held a candlelight vigil on Thursday evening at Aldersgate United Methodist Church on Collingwood Road. Maniglia said another event is being planned for next week.
“Hopefully it will be a celebration,” he said.