UVA sophomore Hannah Graham disappeared in mid-September, after celebrating with friends. The 18-year-old’s disappearance has resonated with former and current Spartans, who held their breaths when remains were found near an abandoned house about 10 miles from where Graham was last seen in downtown Charlottesville.
Senior Maddy Payne was teammates with Graham on her travel softball team in 2013.
“She was really inviting and was one of those people who made you feel welcome and a part of the team” said Payne, who wears a yellow hair ribbon inscribed with West Potomac High School graduate’s name.
Payne described Graham as someone “who will have your back even in the toughest situations and be there to stick it out with you.”
According to video surveillance, Graham was last seen having a drink with Charlottesville resident Jesse Matthew a a downtown restaurant called Tempo about 1 a.m. on September 13. While police had yet not identified the remains found south of Charlottesville last weekend, many UVA students believe that the search for the Fairfax County student has come to an end.

Payne said her travel softball coaches and teammates remain in shock after news of her disappearance was announced.
“Our team made a sign saying ‘Bring Hannah Home’ and put it on our dugout,” Payne said. “We wear yellow ribbons during our games with her name and her number 11.”
Graham is not the only young woman to have disappeared in the Charlottesville area recently. In the past five years, others in their teens and 20s have gone missing, and in some cases have been murdered, in what is known as the Route 29 Corridor, which runs through Charlottesville.
Alexis Murphy, 17, of Lovingston County and Samantha Clarke, 19, of Orange County are still missing, although a suspect has since been convicted in the Murphy disappearance and murder, even though her body has never been found. Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, 20, went missing in Charlottesville in 2009 while attending a Metallica concent at John Paul Jones Arena near UVA. Her body was found in rural Albermarle County, about 12 miles from the UVA campus, three months after she disappeared.
Authorities said they have determined that there is a forensic link between Harrington’s murder and a yet-unsolved 2005 attempted murder and sexual assualt case in Fairfax County. Matthew, who has been jailed in the Hannah Graham case, was indicted in the Fairfax case this week.
Payne said that she is more cautious since her friend Graham went missing.
“[Her] disappearance made me realize that these things actually happen to people you know,” she said. “It hits you in a different way.”
Graham’s disappearance has had a lasting affect on Spartans who are now students at UVA. Freshman Natalie Ha who graduated from WS last year, said “I was shocked that something like this could happen so closs to me.
“It didn’t feel real until I saw search parties looking around grounds,” Ha said.
Government teacher Colin Haller said Graham’s disappearance has touched so many because the young woman is from Fairfax County.
“It’s terrible,” Haller said. “It’s especially sad when there is a young person involved because they have so much to live for.”
Haller said the Graham case is especially traumatic.
“It’s always sad when there is a suspicion of foul play. I can only hope that there will be a stronger emphasis on safety in the Route 29 corridor due to its long history of abducted young women,” said Haller.
UVA freshman Amanda Williams, also a Spartan who graduated last year, said she is now more aware of her surroundings.
“There’s been a strong emphasis on safety around UVA,” Williams said, “especially on not walking anywhere alone. No one ever thinks that something like this will happen in their community.”
“Bring Hannah Home” signs also decorate Graham’s neighborhood in Alexandria. Junior Kelsey Anderson, a student at Episcopal High School, went to elementary school with Graham and still lives down the street from her family’s home.
“Hannah and I were never that close because we were in different grades,” said Anderson, “but she was always a friendly face and always had something positive to say. She will be missed in our community.”
Ha and Williams both hope that last weekend’s discovery in Albermarle County helps bring some peace to Graham’s parents.
“The last five weeks have been hard for the Charlottesville community,” Ha said. “By finding the remains, it brings some closure to the Graham family. It’s a difficult time for them but they have the support of the whole Charlottesville community.”
Williams said that students all over Virginia have reached out to the Graham family and to UVA, usually an in-state rival.
“We also received tons of support from schools such as JMU and Virginia Tech,” Williams said. “JMU had a candlelight vigil of its own for Hannah. To me, that says a lot.”
Williams said that UVA has grown stronger in the face of this ordeal.
“We’re all grieving for our fellow Hoo, and Hannah’s friends and family are all in our thoughts and prayers.”