Search continues for missing Virginia student

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 25 (UPI) -- With a suspect in the disappearance of a University of Virginia student in custody, police dealt with a tough question: Where is Hannah Graham?

Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said at a news conference Thursday that there is still hope Graham is still alive. Graham was last seen Sept. 13 when she left friends to walk home.

"The more time goes by, the more difficult this is going to be for everyone," he said. "I have hope, Hannah's mom and dad have hope and as time goes by, that hope will tend to diminish."

The suspect, Jesse Matthew, 32, was arrested in Texas, where he was spotted camping on a Galveston beach. He waived extradition at a hearing Thursday and was expected to be returned to Virginia within a day or two.

Matthew is charged in Virginia with abduction with intent to defile.

Longo asked property owners and real estate agents to check for any signs of the student or for possibl clues like unexplained tire tracks. He said that should be done in Charlottesville and in rural areas in central Virginia.

"This bright, really intelligent, athletic, friendly, beautiful 18-year-old college student ... is still missing. We have no idea exactly where she is, despite our best efforts," Longo said

Matthew, 32, worked at the University of Virginia Medical Center and volunteered as a football coach at a Christian school, Covenant Academy. Friends told the Daily Progress they were shocked by the charges.

"I'm so shook up by all this," said Michael Moore, who has known Matthew since their childhood in Albemarle County. "L.J. is one of the most loving, helpful people you'd ever want to come in contact with, and he always has been."