Matt Chittum of The Roanoke Times reports: A search on Friday for Morgan Dana Harrington — the missing 20-year-old junior from Virginia Tech who was last seen at METALLICA's October 17, 2009 concert at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia — by 360 volunteers in 36 teams turned up nothing that proved to be of value to the investigation, but Harrington's mother, Gil, placed value on the elimination of a square mile of area around the John Paul Jones Arena as a place that has now been thoroughly searched.

The search has value beyond finding clues, said Bob Smither, who founded the Laura Recovery Center in memory of his 12-year-old daughter who was abducted and killed.

It both gives the Harrington family hope, and relieves a pent-up desire in the community to help, he said.

Harrington's disappearance has gripped the emotions of both the residents of her hometown and of the place where she went missing.

Olimpia Gocan drove from Roanoke with her husband to join in the search for just that reason. Organizers said Roanoke was very well represented among the searchers.

"We're just trying to do a little more than just pray," she said. "It just feels like a little more of an accomplishment."

Read the entire report from The Roanoke Times.