Bizarre Twist In Search For Hannah Graham, Person Of Interest Wanted By Police

INSIDE EDITION reports from Charlottesville, Virginia on the recent twist in the search for missing college student Hannah Graham.

The heartbreaking saga of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham has taken a bizarre twist.

This is the man police want to talk to in connection with Hannah's disappearance more than a week ago.

His name is Jesse Matthew, a 32-year-old nursing assistant at the University of Virginia Hospital. He lives on a quiet Charlottesville street.

Matthew actually went to the police station on Saturday as a "person of interest" in Hannah's disappearance. But after asking for a lawyer, he left the building and cops say drove off at high speed along with a woman believed to be his mother.

Now, some are astonished that such a thing could happen.

On the Today show, Tamron Hall said,  "At some point he just left the police station without being questioned! It's a very strange story."

HLN's Jane Velez-Mitchell told INSIDE EDITION, "Why didn't he want a lawyer? He's entitled to a lawyer. But then, after getting a lawyer, why didn't he proceed to say what happened and tell police everything he knows?"

INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent spoke with Charlottesville police captain Gary Pleasants. The police station is literally down the block from the mall where Hannah was last seen outside a jewelry shop walking with a man believed to be Jesse Matthew.

Trent said, "For parents out there watching this story, it defies logic to them that this is the last gentleman to be seen with Hannah and yet, you're telling me that there's no probable cause to bring him in for questioning for that."

"There's more frustation on our part too, believe me," said Pleasants. 'We've got to make sure we follow the law."

Watch More of Pleasants' Interview

Both the state police and the FBI had been following him but didn't pursue him.

"We had no warrants on him at the time and when he ran, it became so dangerous that they thought it was a danger to other people around, and they decided to not try to pursue him," said Pleasants.

Now, Matthew is wanted on charges of reckless driving.

A college professor says he's known Jesse Matthew since he was a toddler and can't believe he had anything to do with the disappearance of Hannah Graham.

Professor Stefan Veldhuis of Crafton Hills College, California, told INSIDE EDITION, "He's just a very amicable person. In any situation I've been in with him in my life, he has never hurt anyone and really tried to help people."

Meanwhile, Hannah's grief-stricken parents made their first public appearance. Her mom broke down as Hannah's dad held up a stuffed rabbit doll Hannah has had all her life.