The prime suspect in the abduction of Hannah Graham has been linked to the disappearance, rape and murder of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, it was revealed on Monday.

Virginia State Police this morning confirmed the arrest of Jesse ‘LJ’ Matthew had provided a ‘new forensic link’ to detectives investigating the disappearance of 20-year-old Morgan in October 2009.

Police described the dramatic development as a ‘significant break’.

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Suspect: The man suspected in the recent abduction of 18-year-old Hannah Graham(left)--Jesse Matthew, Jr. (right)--has been linked to the 2009 abduction and murder of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, 20, according to Harrington's mother Gil Harringto

Police revealed Monday that evidence appears to link the still open abduction-murder case of Morgan Harrington (pictured), who vanished outside a Charlottesville Metallica concert in 2009, with the suspect in the recent disappearance of UVA student Hannah Graham

Morgan’s brutal murder has already been linked by DNA to the rape of a 26-year-old woman in Fairfax, Virginia in September 2005.

If the link between Morgan’s disappearance and Matthew is confirmed, the 32-year-old will be accused of the abduction, rape or sexual assault of at least four young women over a 14-year period.

The abduction ‘with intent to defile’ (a legal term for sexual assault) of UVA student Hannah Graham in September 2014.

The murder of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington in October 2009

Sexual assault of a 26-year-old woman in Fairfax, Virginia, in September 2005

Rape of a Liberty University student in October 2002

Morgan’s mother, who has tirelessly campaigned to bring her daughter’s killer to justice, told local TV station WTVR.com: ‘We worked five years to get to this point, so we are relieved.’

The disappearances of a further five young women from the area around Charlottesville, known as the Route 29 corridor, remain unexplained.

Two years after Morgan Harrington’s remains were found, the FBI released a sketch of a man seen with the student.

The sketch was released after investigators found forensic evidence that linked a 2005 sex assault in Fairfax to Harrington’s disappearance.

Virginia State Police refused to link Hannah’s disappearance with the Morgan Harrington case when contacted by MailOnline last Thursday.

Spokeswoman Corinne Geller said: ‘The disappearance and death of Morgan Harrington remains a separate and ongoing criminal investigation by Virginia State Police. There is nothing new to release at this time concerning the progress of the Harrington case.’

The disappearances of a further five young women from the area around Charlottesville, known as the Route 29 corridor, remain unexplained.

Was this a sketch of Matthew? Police sketched out the suspect at left after the 2005 was connected to Harrington's murder in 2009. At right, a photo of Matthew when his hair was far shorter than it is today

Pictured: Matthew was working as a taxi driver at the time of Morgan’s disappearance and would offer lifts for free to girls, according to a source with detailed knowledge of his past. A source told MailOnline: ‘LJ got in trouble with work because he would pull up in his cab alongside girls walking along and he would ask random girls'

Christian college student: A team photo of the 2002 Liberty University Football team that included Jesse Matthews. Matthew, the man suspected of abducting missing UVA student Hannah Graham, was behind bars Wednesday night after he was dramatically arrested in Texas

However a source with detailed knowledge of Matthew’s background alerted MailOnline to a likely link with Morgan’s disappearance as soon as he was charged with Hannah Graham’s abduction.

Speaking to MailOnline the source said: ‘After Morgan disappeared LJ [Matthew] started growing his hair and shaved off his beard.

‘I mentioned to him that he looked like the man in the sketch [of a suspect issued by police following Morgan’s disappearance].

‘It was the spitting image of him.

‘He didn’t reply, he just said “oh”, which was unusual. He normally always had something to say.

‘Even friends from elementary school said he looked like the man in the sketch.

‘At the time when the incident happened he had a beard and short hair. And he was a lot darker then.

Taken away: Morgan's skeletal remains were found in January 2010 on a farm in Albemarle County - around four miles away from where she disappeared

Left alone: Harrington left the 2009 Metallica concert alone and witnesses claim a woman fitting her description was seen hitchhiking at a bridge near the concert venue

‘But he grew his hair out and shaved his beard off.

‘He had his hair twisted. And then he grew it out into dreads and he wore it in a pony tail.’

Yesterday Virginia State Police confirmed this suspicion.

A spokeswoman said in statement: ‘For the past give year, the Virginia State Police has been aggressively pursuing the investigation into the disappearance and death of 20-year-old Morgan D Harrington of Roanoke, VA.

‘Last week the arrest of Jesse L Matthew, 32, of Charlottesville, Virginia, provided a significant break in this case with a new forensic link for state police investigators to pursue.

‘There is still a great deal of work to be done in regards to this investigation and we appreciate the public’s patience as we move forward.’

Morgan Harrington vanished from John Paul Jones Arena while attending a Metallica concert in October 2009. Her remains were discovered on a farm in Albemarle County in January 2010.

Got their man? FBI agents lead Matthew out of a plane after his extradition from Texas, where he was discovered camping on a beach September

Found: Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. is escorted into a courtroom for an appearance before 405th District Court Judge Michelle Slaughter regarding his extradition back to Virginia on Thursday in Texas. Matthew Jr. was arrested on a beach in the Texas community of Gilchrist by Galveston County Sheriff's authorities

The 20-year-old was last seen trying to hitch a lift, according to Virginia State Police.

Matthew was working as a taxi driver at the time of Morgan’s disappearance and would offer lifts for free to girls, according to a source with detailed knowledge of his past.

The source told MailOnline: ‘LJ got in trouble with work because he would pull up in his cab alongside girls walking along and he would ask random girls.

‘He would say; “hey do you want a ride. I’ll take you wherever you want to go for free”.

‘One time he tried to follow one girl into her home.’

Meanwhile the search for Hannah Graham continues.

The second-year UVA student vanished on the night of Friday 12th / Saturday 13th September after leaving a student party.

Video footage showed her walking to the Downtown Mall. She was last seen on film at about 1.00am being followed by a black man with deadlocks who later put his arm around her. The pair were later spotted in the Tempo restaurant together.

Jesse ‘LJ’ Matthew was named by MailOnline as that man.

He told family members he was innocent and that ‘he went his way and she went hers’, MailOnline exclusively reported.

But Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo said he believed Matthew was the last person to be seen with Hannah Graham ‘before she vanished off the face of the earth’.

Matthew was charged with abducting Hannah, ‘with intent to defile’ – a legal term for sexual assault – last Tuesday.

However he had gone on the run.

Search is on: Hannah Graham was reported missing on September 14, the day after she was caught on surveillance videos as she walked unaccompanied in Charlottesville's Downtown Mall

Confusion: This map shows Hannah Graham's movements on the night of Friday September 12 and Saturday the 13thj. At 11.50pm she was seen at a party by friends with another male friend. She then seemed to head westward toward the Charlottesville Downtown Mall

Searching: Volunteers search woodlands in Charlottesville, Virginia, during a massive search effort by the community to find missing UVA student Hannah Graham

The search area has now been widened to wooded areas south of Charlottesville principally between routes 29 and 20

Matthew was captured the following day in Gilchrist, Texas, after his face appeared on an arrest warrant which was circulated across the country.

He was extradited from Texas to Virginia on Saturday and he is expected to appear in court for the first time on Thursday.

Police have admitted they don’t know what happened to Hannah Graham and the hunt for her continues.

In 2002 Matthew was named as a suspect of a rape at Liberty University, the acclaimed Christian college, in Lynchburg, Virginia, MailOnline revealed.

He was not arrested or charged but he was expelled.

The victim of the Fairfax assault, in September 2005, was lucky to have escaped with her life.

The 26-year-old woman was walking along a residential street after dark when a man grabbed her from behind and forced her into a nearby wood.

He sexually assaulted her but he fled after being startled by a passerby.

The victim was rushed to hospital for treatment for several injuries.

She described her attacker as black in his mid-20’s and with a heavy build, to police.

Virginia State Police have said there was a forensic connection between this case and the murder of Morgan Harrington. DNA evidence linked the cases, according to the Washington Post

Snatched from a Metallica concert, raped, murdered and her body was found dumped on remote farm three months later: The Morgan Harrington mystery and the four other girls who vanished along Route 29

Morgan Harrington was snatched from a Charlottesville, Virginia Metallica concert in October 2009. She left alone and witnesses claim a woman fitting her description was seen hitchhiking at a bridge near the concert venue. Her body was not recovered until three months later, hidden at a remote farm. She had been raped before she was murdered. Snatched: Morgan Harrington was last seen alive at an October 2009 Metallica concert in Charlottesville, where the 20-year-old Virginia Tech student had been visiting The day after her disappearance, Harrington's purse and cellphone were discovered at the arena. Police would later reveal that a Pantera t-shirt discovered in November 2009 at an apartment over a mile from the arena also belonged to Harrington. Her skeletal remains were found in January 2010 on a farm in Albemarle County - around four miles away from where she disappeared. 'I looked down and saw what looked like a human skull, and my first thought was that it was Morgan Harrington,' David Dass, owner of the farm where the remains were found, told WTVR after he stumbled upon them. On a mission: The horrific crime has changed Morgan's mother Gil Harrington for life. Mrs Harrington, who has started a non-profit dedicated to preventing such tragedies from befalling other girls said: 'You kind of go down the rabbit hole again of anguish. My heart goes out to Hannah's family. It is all about their girl, their beloved daughter' The horrific crime has changed Morgan's mother Gil Harrington for life. Mrs Harrington said: 'You kind of go down the rabbit hole again of anguish. My heart goes out to Hannah's family. It is all about their girl, their beloved daughter.' Mrs Harrington, 57, from Roanake added: 'I hope and pray that Hannah is somewhere and is recoverable and will come walking through the door with a sheepish look on her face any moment now. 'That's my hope. But my logic tells me that is unlikely to happen. I'm really holding out hope that we can have a good outcome.' Missing on Route 29: Five women have gone missing in and around Charlottesville, Virginia, just a few minutes' drive from the same highway in the last five years. The body of just one has been found so far Morgan Harrington and Hannah Graham are among five young women to have disappeared from the Charlottesville area in the past five years within a few minutes' drive of the same Route 29 highway. As the FBI, police and volunteers continue their desperate search for the 18-year-old and her parents said they fear 'foul play', the mother of one of the young women who vanished said the worry of not knowing is the hardest part to bear. Morgan Harrington and Hannah Graham are among five young women to have disappeared from the Charlottesville area in the past five years within a few minutes' drive of the same Route 29 highway Her body was not recovered until three months later, hidden at a remote farm. She had been raped before she was murdered. Mrs Harrington said: 'You kind of go down the rabbit hole again of anguish. My heart goes out to Hannah's family. It is all about their girl, their beloved daughter.' Mrs Harrington, 57, from Roanake added: 'I hope and pray that Hannah is somewhere and is recoverable and will come walking through the door with a sheepish look on her face any moment now. 'That's my hope. But my logic tells me that is unlikely to happen. I'm really holding out hope that we can have a good outcome.' Hannah is one of five young women who have disappeared from Charlottesville and the surrounding area in past five years along the Route 29 corridor. Only one of the cases has been solved and the whereabouts of four, including Hannah, remains unknown. Morgan Harrington, 20, vanished from John Paul Jones Arena while attending a Metallica concert in October 2009. Her remains were discovered three months later but her killer is still at large. Samantha Ann Clarke, 19, went missing after leaving her home in nearby Orange County in September 2010. Her body has not been found. Connected? Alexis Murphy, 17 (left), was last seen at a gas station in Lovingston in August 2013. Samantha Ann Clarke, 19 (right) vanished after leaving her home in Orange in September 2010 Missing: DaShad Laquinn Smith, 19, has not been seen since November 2012 DaShad Laquinn Smith, 19, disappeared in Charlottesville in November 2012. Her whereabouts remain a mystery. Alexis Murphy, 17, disappeared after leaving her home in Shipman, Virginia, in August 2013. This May, Randolph Taylor, 48, was convicted of her abduction and murder in January although her body has never been found. Another two young women, Alicia Showalter Reynolds, 25, and Anne Carolyn McDaniel, 20, were abducted and murdered in 1996 along the same corridor. Mrs Harrington has launched a charity in her daughter's honor called Help Save The Next Girl to educate young women of the dangers of predatory men. She has previously said that a serial killer was responsible for Morgan's murder. Mrs Harrington said: 'My own daughter was abducted in the area that Hannah went missing. Morgan was abducted and murdered in Charlottesville in 2009. We know that the person involved with Morgan's case was a serial offender. We know that because he was involved with a previous abduction and rape in 2005.' She refused to elaborate or speculate further. Advertisement



