( CNN ) -- Gone but not forgotten . Morgan Harrington , a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student , disappeared in October 2009 . Her remains were found a few months later . Her death remains a mystery , but it 's back in the news this week because of the arrest of Jesse Matthew -- the only known suspect in the disappearance of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham . Virginia State Police have not said how the two cases are connected , except to say there is a `` new forensic link . '' They are pursing that link with the hope of being able to provide , finally , some sort of closure for the Harrington family -- whatever that may look like . `` There 's a suspect , and possibility of a link to Morgan 's murder , and I am so pleased that that has happened , but it does n't change a lot for us , in some ways , '' Harrington 's mother , Gil Harrington , told CNN affiliate WSLS on Monday . `` You know , our bedroom is still empty upstairs . We 're still not going to have the grandchildren , the wedding , those things , '' she said . Can arrest in Hannah Graham disappearance solve other cases ? The disappearance . Harrington disappeared on October 17 , 2009 , after attending a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia 's John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville , Virginia . She had been so excited about the concert , according to her mother , that she posted the tickets on the refrigerator about six months ahead of time . She tried on three outfits before settling on what to wear , a crystal necklace and a black T-shirt with the word `` Pantera '' spelled out in tan letters . Police say she left her friends to use the restroom during the concert . When she did not return , her friends called her cell phone . Harrington told them she was outside the arena and could not get back in because of its re-entry policy but not to worry and that she would find a ride home . There are restroom inside the arena and , to this day , it 's not clear why she left . Witnesses later saw someone matching Harrington 's description walking along a nearby bridge . No further sightings were reported . Harrington 's purse , along with her identification and cell phone , was found the following day in an overflow parking lot near the arena . Her remains were discovered January 2010 on a nearby farm . Another link . On a website dedicated to Harrington , the education major is described as a `` true original . '' `` Time is moving on so very quickly , but we are not . We are stuck in the limbo of not knowing , the purgatory of no answers , no justice . How can it be possible that 4 years ! of investigation has not ferreted out your murderer ( s ? ) We are determined to do just that , find him . Frantic actually , to find him before he kills again , '' it reads . Besides the connection to the Graham case , police have linked Harrington 's death with the kidnapping and assault of another woman in Fairfax , Virginia , in 2005 . That woman , who survived the attack , was able to provide police with enough of a description to make a sketch . Authorities have not publicly identified the woman who gave the description but have said her case was connected to Harrington 's case through DNA . If Matthew is linked to Harrington 's death , and Harrington 's death is linked to the kidnapping and rape of the woman in Fairfax , then is Matthew linked to the Fairfax case ? So many questions . So few answers . But there 's at least one thing Harrington 's family knows -- and for which it is grateful . `` I know where Morgan is . However this unfolds , I know where my girl is . She 's in a box in the living room , '' Harrington 's mother told WSLS . `` Hannah Graham 's family do not know where their daughter is , '' she said . `` We need to find her . The investigation needs to find her and , most of all , her family needs to find her . '' HLN 's Nancy Grace and CNN 's Mariano Castillo and Eliott McLaughlin contributed to this report .
Sarah Harrington , a 20-year - old Georgia Tech student , disappeared in October 2009 . Her remains were found on a beach the following year . Authorities have linked her disappearance to the murder of Hannah Smith .