[Cuomo:] We have a big break to tell about in case of a missing Virginia co-ed, Hannah Graham. Police investigating her disappearance say forensic evidence links the prime suspect, Jesse Matthew Jr., to the 2009 murder of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington. So what does this mean for both investigations? Let's bring in Athena Jones. She's following the latest developments for us from Charlottesville. What do we know?
[Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. Well, this forensic link police have discovered appears to confirm the fears of a lot of folks around here that Hannah Graham's disappearance was part of a pattern. While it's too soon to know, for sure, this new development has people asking if police has a serial killer on their hands.
[Jones:] Police are calling it a, quote, "significant break", evidence that could link the suspect at the center of Hannah Graham's disappearance to another missing female college student, Morgan Harrington, who was later found murdered.
[Gil Harrington, Morgan Harrington's Mother:] There's a suspect in a link to Morgan's murder. And I am so pleased that that has happened. But it doesn't change a lot for us.
[Jones:] State police say forensic evidence found in the course of three separate searches links Jesse Matthew, who is facing charges in the Graham case, to Harrington, found dead in 2010.
[Jane Velez-mitchell, Hln:] Cops have confirmed that human remains found on a Charlottesville, Virginia, farm are indeed those of the beautiful 20-year-old co-ed.
[Jones:] A 20-year-old Virginia tech student, Harrington vanished after a Metallica concert on the University of Virginia campus in October 2009. The pair are among several young women who have disappeared in the area in recent years, raising questions about whether the cases are linked, including from Harrington's mother.
[Harrington:] I really don't know if it's a cluster phenomena that just is kind of a coincidence, or if it's actually a pattern of a predator.
[Jones:] But until now, police resisted making the connection.
[Chief Timothy Longo, Charlottesville Police:] It's easy for me to understand why people would ask that question and have their mind go in that direction, I don't have enough facts before me to make that determination.
[Jones:] Now Virginia state police are pursuing unspecified forensic evidence linking Harrington and Matthew. If that holds up, there could be another victim linked to the suspect. According to an FBI statement from 2012, the suspect in the Harrington case matched the DNA profile from a 2005 sexual assault in Fairfax, Virginia. Now, Morgan Harrington's remains were found on a farm about 10 miles away from where she went missing. Authorities are still searching for Hannah Graham. And they have no idea where she is Chris.
[Cuomo:] All right. So, there's a big lead, a development here, but still waiting for the most important discovery at least in the Hannah Graham case. Thank you to Athena Jones. Michaela, over to you.
[Pereira:] Yes, let's talk more about this big lead, we want to bring in CNN commentator and legal analyst, Mel Robbins. I was watching you watch piece. You're shaking your head. You're visibly upset. I know you've got some theories about what we're looking at here. Go ahead, talk to me.
[Mel Robbins, Cnn Commentator:] Good morning, Michaela. Yes, I mean, as a mother of two daughters, one who is approaching college age, this is just the kind of story that is every parent's worst nightmare, Michaela. So, I'm shaking my head, because I have a pit in my stomach. Knowing that this guy is not only linked now to a 2009 murder, but also to a 2005 rape, and there's even allegations that he was accused of raping a student at Liberty University, but those charges were dropped. So, I think that we are just at the tip of the iceberg, Michaela.
[Pereira:] What's also really interesting, we've been doing a little digging, I know you have and several other people have been as well, that there's an area of Virginia, Route 29, that has seen its share of disappearances, abductions, even homicides. I mean, there are women Morgan Harrington, as you mentioned, 2009 disappeared. Her body was found on a farm later. Another young woman, Samantha Clark, 19, disappeared in 2010. Lauren Smith disappeared in 2011, Sage Smith disappeared in 2012. Almost every year, Alexis Murphy, 17, a senior in high school disappeared in 2013. This looks like there's something going on on Route 29.
[Robbins:] There's definitely something going on. I mean, the second when we all heard this, you know, you've got the Dashad Smith, all these young ladies, as you pointed out Michaela, same age, same general time period, every single year seemingly vanish off the face of the earth. And when you've got now the man last seen with Hannah Graham before she disappeared, you've got his DNA linking him to 2009. And let me just put it into perspective DNA evidence is the single best evidence that you can have other than a videotape, it's like a marker, a genetic marker of the people that were there, of what happened and so in my mind, they've got this guy, Jesse Matthew, on the Harrington murder for sure. There is no way that they're going to be able to refute the DNA evidence, there's also some outlets reporting that there's physical evidence that was found in his apartment connecting him to her.
[Pereira:] So they're obviously they're obviously going to take his DNA and look at some of the other cold cases, other outstanding cases, correct?
[Robbins:] Yes. And, you know, there's a federal database, that the FBI maintains and I am certain that they're going to take his DNA, Michaela, and they are going to try to match it against cold cases. The local authorities are going to do the same. This guy isn't going anywhere. He's been extradited back to Virginia. He's due in court on Thursday, they will remand him while they wait to indict hit on the murder charges in the Harrington case. And that will give the FBI and the local authorities a chance to really now, go back and take a hard look at
[Pereira:] You know, I was just thinking. I was watching the heartbreaking interview with Mrs. Harrington. Just heart-breaking to listen to this woman. You know, some of these families still don't know what happened to their child. She mentions the fact they know, and they can have a measure of peace, which I don't even know how you could. But they have a measure of peace knowing that their daughter, where she is she's there with them. So, these families don't have that yet. And these investigations are ongoing. In a way, I was thinking about how you need to have a really good victim advocate to keep these stories alive, do you not?
[Robbins:] Yes, because, you know, one of the interesting things that was also so sad is that you you've got families like Alexis Murphy's family. She went missing in 2013. She actually had somebody convicted, but they never found her body. So I would imagine they're going to run his DNA in this case as well. Dashad Smith, Samantha Ann Clark, all these families have been in the press, saying, you know, is it because we weren't out there, is it because of who are families that these cases didn't stay in the limelight. And, you know, it's all in our hope we're going to find Hannah Graham alive. But, you know, in this kind of case, without I mean it's so hard to even talk about it when you have kids at home, when you think about that press conference of the Graham family. And how just heart- breaking it's, it rips your heart out to see what these parents are going through. And what Harrington's mother said, it's like at least now they can move to the stage of grieving. The not knowing is so painful.
[Pereira:] Is the worst part. Mel Robbins, we appreciate you helping us shine a light on it and hopefully, more light will stay on these stories, and we can find some hope and peace for those families. I appreciate it. All right. Just over a month until midterm elections, a new CNNORC poll shows the Democrats may be gaining ground but can they stop Republicans from taking control of the Senate? And are both parties overlooking the issue that matters most to voters? We're going to take a look at the surprising results, ahead.