The Charlottesville Virginia Police Chief Tim Longo, announced on Tuesday that Jesse Matthew is now wanted on a felony charge. Matthew, a patient technician in the operating room at the University of Virginia Medical Center, is now wanted on an abduction charge in addition to the two other reckless driving charges he received on Monday.
“We reached that point where the Commonwealth felt we had sufficient probable cause to seek an arrest warrant,” Longo said.
The police Chief is referring to the disappearance of University student, Hannah Graham. According to multiple eye witnesses, Jesse Matthew was the last person seen with the 18-year-old Graham in the early morning of September 13th. After bringing Hannah to the Tempo Restaurant for drinks, the two left the restaurant and Hannah has not been seen since then.
After he was identified as a person of interest wanted for questioning in Hannah’s disappearance, Matthew turned himself into police on Saturday and requested a lawyer before police had a chance to question him. He was appointed a lawyer and then left the precinct, speeding off in his car with police following. The police chief said that police ended the chase due to safety concerns for other pedestrians. Jesse has not been seen since.
Matthew is a 32-year-old, 6ft 2 inches black man with dreadlocks and weighs 270 pounds. According to the wanted poster which has since been updated to reflect the abduction charge, Jesse was last seen in possession of his sister’s 1997 light blue Nissan Sentra with a Virginia tag of VAC4575.
There is a reward for Jesse’s capture. He has associates in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington D.C. If you have any information about Jesse Leroy Matthews, you are asked to contact the Charlottesvile Police Department at 434-970-3280 or call Crime Stoppers at 434-977-4000
