NH NH - Maura Murray, 21, Haverhill, 9 Feb 2004 - #10

[scoops]

Though I agree that we have no positive evidence that Maura had a secret cell phone, I still think it is worth considering as a possibility. It seems that Maura was pulling away from Billy. One of the things that people do when they pull away, is to reestablish their own separate identity. Billy had an ability to monitor Maura's cell activity at a time when she was looking for privacy and some separation from her life. All I am saying is that if I were in her position - in sort of a limbo between a complete break-up and just pulling away - ten I certainly would have gotten my own prepaid cell phone.

And so why did the "Mystery travel partner" - that James has introduced to further his theory - call maura on her regular cell phone that afternoon and not the secret second pre-paid cell phone?

Something can't be right here.

If maura did in fact have another phone for the sole purpose of keeping a partner a mystery from her boyfriend, than that mystery person is not going to call maura on her regular cell phone.

If maura doesn't have a second pre-paid cell phone Then maura had no contact with a mystery person that day. Maura would've had to have her phone turned on to make or receive calls and maura's phone's last activity (according to police) was at 4:37 p.m. Monday -- almost three hours before her wreck.

 

[Fireweed]

I totally agree there. That is why I do not think that the Londonderry ping is relevant. I think it is a red herring. If Maura did meet with someone up there with the intention of taking off for good, then it would be really, really stupid for that person to call Maura on her cell phone. I mean, as far as Maura knew, any calls from that person could have led to her immediate discovery.

 

[Gene S.]

Why do I have to prove that there was no second phone, yet no one has to prove that there was a second phone. <Mod Snip>

I have tried very diligently to stay with the knowns of the case (even if they aren't complete)

<Mod snip>
I have based all my conclusions on what happened to maura based on what evidence is there, what people have physically said over the years and then also tried to throw in some common sense along the way as well.

<ModSnip>.

I don't know what narrative you think considering the possibility that Maura had a second cell phone pushes along. I don't think you have to buy into the tandem theory or the significance of the mysterious ping to to buy into the second cell phone theory.

Billy got reports of Maura's cell phone activity from the cell phone we know about. We seem to be pretty sure that (a) Maura was capable of deception; (b) Maura and Billy had trust issues; and (c) Maura had relationships that she wouldn't want Billy to be aware of. There isn't 100% proof that Maura had an additional cell phone but, based on what we know, I don't think it's making things up out of whole cloth to consider that she had a phone Billy and her family didn't know about.

 

[Fireweed]

Re: the cell phones. I want to just add one more thing to the pile of consideration. Maura was born in 1982 and spent most of her life without a cell phone. She and I are the same age and I clearly recall in 2004 not being "tied" to my cell phone like I am now. We rarely texted and not everyone had a cell phone then. What I am trying to say is that a person in 2004 (even a cell phone owner) would still have been entirely comfortable making a plan and then not communicating about it anymore until the meet-up. Like, it still would have been normal then to have called someone at noon, and planned to meet up at 8 pm and not had any further communication. I know because we actually used to live like that! I am not saying that is what Maura did; I am just saying that unlike a college student today, Maura (b. 1982) would have not been at all alien to concept of making plans and following through with them without any further communication on a cell phone.

 

[scoops]

I don't know what narrative you think considering the possibility that Maura had a second cell phone pushes along. I don't think you have to buy into the tandem theory or the significance of the mysterious ping to to buy into the second cell phone theory.

Billy got reports of Maura's cell phone activity from the cell phone we know about. We seem to be pretty sure that (a) Maura was capable of deception; (b) Maura and Billy had trust issues; and (c) Maura had relationships that she wouldn't want Billy to be aware of. There isn't 100% proof that Maura had an additional cell phone but, based on what we know, I don't think it's making things up out of whole cloth to consider that she had a phone Billy and her family didn't know about.

if you don't believe that maura was traveling in tandem with someone, then what possible significance would a second phone even have to anything?

 

[scoops]

Re: the cell phones. I want to just add one more thing to the pile of consideration. Maura was born in 1982 and spent most of her life without a cell phone. She and I are the same age and I clearly recall in 2004 not being "tied" to my cell phone like I am now. We rarely texted and not everyone had a cell phone then. What I am trying to say is that a person in 2004 (even a cell phone owner) would still have been entirely comfortable making a plan and then not communicating about it anymore until the meet-up. Like, it still would have been normal then to have called someone at noon, and planned to meet up at 8 pm and not had any further communication. I know because we actually used to live like that! I am not saying that is what Maura did; I am just saying that unlike a college student today, Maura (b. 1982) would have not been at all alien to concept of making plans and following through with them without any further communication on a cell phone.

So then what happens when maura had her wreck?

I guess you could imply that the wreck was planned at that very spot, otherwise, how would maura have gotten a hold of the person she was meeting? It wasn't on her main cell phone and again, if she was communicating with a mystery person vie a pre-paid cell phone, then why was that person calling her on her main cell phone hours earlier?

It doesn't add up.

 

[JamesRenner]

She was traveling in tandem with the other driver. Other drive is the one in front, heading east. She gets in the wreck. They turned around and picked her up. It would have taken a while to turn around at that time of year. The next road after Bradley Hill is quite a haul. Would have taken about seven minutes to return to the site.

 

[Vinny]

She was traveling in tandem with the other driver. Other drive is the one in front, heading east. She gets in the wreck. They turned around and picked her up. It would have taken a while to turn around at that time of year. The next road after Bradley Hill is quite a haul. Would have taken about seven minutes to return to the site.

I admit, it's an interesting theory and I see you've put a lot of work into investigating this case.

However, I've read through your blog and I've seen nothing solid to back it up at all. Am I missing something?

 

[scoops]

She was traveling in tandem with the other driver. Other drive is the one in front, heading east. She gets in the wreck. They turned around and picked her up. It would have taken a while to turn around at that time of year. The next road after Bradley Hill is quite a haul. Would have taken about seven minutes to return to the site.

Well that is a theory. But why does this particular theory stand out to you more than any other theory?

You yourself interviewed the lead investigator on the case and he noted in that interview that the family believed maura came up to the white mountains to take her own life.

Yet you totally disregard that, and because some irrelevant (IMO) track assistant coach who had a fling with maura says that at one point she mentioned running away ... You completely ran with that like it was the spoken gospel.

I don't understand.

 

[Lolacat]

One of the enduring frustrations in this case is that we, the general sleuthing public, have access to very little real information. We are left with tidbits, hearsay, and speculation. Some of us get married to our preferred assumptions about this case. Others of us (myself included) have tried to keep our mind entirely open to the breadth of possibilities &#8212; simply because there are many semi-plausible possibilities. I'm not sure that my very-open mind is a better position than another person's insistence that things simply can't be different than their own preferred scenario (and that anyone who disagrees is foolish), but it's all I can honestly do, given so little actual evidence at my access.

Here's hoping that JR has assembled compelling evidence and some new facts that add up to something coherent.

This is very much how I feel. Thats why this case is one of the most maddening, frustrating, perplexing and yet compelling mysteries I have ever come across. Even the "facts" that we have been presented by the media and interviews with people involved have turned out to be untruths- e.g., I always thought Maura stated there was a "death in the family", but it turns out this might not be the case at all. Usually, you can create a working theory based on knowable facts but even this is impossible since these so-called "facts" have become so distorted they no longer even resemble the truth. Honestly, it feels like crawling around in the dark sometimes, and what makes it more bizarre is that noone from Maura's family seems to want to talk about what really happened, they just seem completely preoccupied with preserving this pure image of Maura as the perfect american girl. Its weird.

 

[scoops]

This is very much how I feel. Thats why this case is one of the most maddening, frustrating, perplexing and yet compelling mysteries I have ever come across. Even the "facts" that we have been presented by the media and interviews with people involved have turned out to be untruths- e.g., I always thought Maura stated there was a "death in the family", but it turns out this might not be the case at all. Usually, you can create a working theory based on knowable facts but even this is impossible since these so-called "facts" have become so distorted they no longer even resemble the truth. Honestly, it feels like crawling around in the dark sometimes, and what makes it more bizarre is that noone from Maura's family seems to want to talk about what really happened, they just seem completely preoccupied with preserving this pure image of Maura as the perfect american girl. Its weird.

IMO, there is enough compelling evidence out there that proves that Maura used the words "Death in the family" when she sent an email to her nursing school faculty and her two places of employment.

I think what likely happened is that various sources (media) picked up the case and began summarizing facts (which is not uncommon) while adding on a new sentence or two and at some point the language shifted from the email saying "a death in the family" to a "Family Emergency."


Here is some proof.

This article was done by Maura's school campus newspaper just eight days after she went missing.

"Two UMPD officers, Detectives Chris Thrasher and Brian Davies and two counselors from Mental Health Services visited a junior nursing class, Parent-Child Nursing, on Friday afternoon. Joan Cully, administrative director of the Office for the Advancement of Nursing Education and Eileen Breslin, dean of the school of Nursing were also present at the meeting.

In addition, an email was written by Breslin, and released to the UMass nursing community. According to the email, Murray sent an email to her faculty Monday afternoon at 1:24 p.m. indicating she was heading home for the week due to a death in the family and that she would contact everyone when she returned.

Lindsay Pemberton, a junior nursing major, has the same class schedule as Murray and was present for the meeting on Friday. Pemberton told The Massachusetts Daily Collegian that staff in the nursing department spoke to Murray’s family, and were told that there were no recent family deaths.

“Also, her dorm room was all packed up, like she was planning on moving out,” said Pemberton.


Now why would staff question Maura's family about a death in the family, if the email Maura sent made no mention about death?

OFF CURRENT TOPIC ---- But note that a fellow nursing student commented on Maura's room being packed up like she was planning on moving out ... This was someone that lived in the dorms and had the same schedule as Maura. She did not say anything about Maura just not having time to unpack from winter break. Afterall, both of these two nursing students would be in the same boat.

 

[Lolacat]

IMO, there is enough compelling evidence out there that proves that Maura used the words "Death in the family" when she sent an email to her nursing school faculty and her two places of employment.

I think what likely happened is that various sources (media) picked up the case and began summarizing facts (which is not uncommon) while adding on a new sentence or two and at some point the language shifted from the email saying "a death in the family" to a "Family Emergency."


Here is some proof.

This article was done by Maura's school campus newspaper just eight days after she went missing.

"Two UMPD officers, Detectives Chris Thrasher and Brian Davies and two counselors from Mental Health Services visited a junior nursing class, Parent-Child Nursing, on Friday afternoon. Joan Cully, administrative director of the Office for the Advancement of Nursing Education and Eileen Breslin, dean of the school of Nursing were also present at the meeting.

In addition, an email was written by Breslin, and released to the UMass nursing community. According to the email, Murray sent an email to her faculty Monday afternoon at 1:24 p.m. indicating she was heading home for the week due to a death in the family and that she would contact everyone when she returned.

Lindsay Pemberton, a junior nursing major, has the same class schedule as Murray and was present for the meeting on Friday. Pemberton told The Massachusetts Daily Collegian that staff in the nursing department spoke to Murray&#8217;s family, and were told that there were no recent family deaths.

&#8220;Also, her dorm room was all packed up, like she was planning on moving out,&#8221; said Pemberton.


Now why would staff question Maura's family about a death in the family, if the email Maura sent made no mention about death?

OFF CURRENT TOPIC ---- But note that a fellow nursing student commented on Maura's room being packed up like she was planning on moving out ... This was someone that lived in the dorms and had the same schedule as Maura. She did not say anything about Maura just not having time to unpack from winter break. Afterall, both of these two nursing students would be in the same boat.

This is extremely interesting. Ive always thought that her lying about a death in the family was a huge red flag and perhaps indicative of her not planning to return. Why on earth would you make up such a bold faced lie when you know you'll have to return to face the consequences? People dont take kindly to others deceiving them about something as sensitive as death- its considered taboo and reflects very badly on the person's character. Thats why I wondered why she didnt just use the old faithful, "I'm sick" excuse- SO much easier.

 

[trenchmouth]

Good point Lola. Using a death in the family excuse leads me to believe she was buying more time and didn't plan on coming back to face any consequences. If she used the sick excuse, someone would have been sent to her dorm to check on her. I'm convinced she didn't plan to return. The question is did she get abducted, start a knew life, or take her own life? I vascillate between all of these options, that's why it is such a mystery.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

[BillNH]

And so why did the "Mystery travel partner" - that James has introduced to further his theory - call maura on her regular cell phone that afternoon and not the secret second pre-paid cell phone?

Something can't be right here.

If maura did in fact have another phone for the sole purpose of keeping a partner a mystery from her boyfriend, than that mystery person is not going to call maura on her regular cell phone.

If maura doesn't have a second pre-paid cell phone Then maura had no contact with a mystery person that day. Maura would've had to have her phone turned on to make or receive calls and maura's phone's last activity (according to police) was at 4:37 p.m. Monday -- almost three hours before her wreck.

Keep in mind that a call was made to her phone while it was off. At some point she checked her messages. Suppose this was planned. Secret caller left her a message, she checked her messages and got whatever message was there.
She got her message and the only evidence of the call required a subpeona to find the source. The family and billy would never know it happened and perhaps it happened a lot prior to he disappearance.

 

[walkingdeadgirl]

Ive been thinking a lot recently about one of Maura's last ever telephone calls. The one she made to her tutors saying that there had been a "death in the family". I can't help but find this really very odd. If you are looking to skip out of work/college why not use the simple, non-complicated excuse of "I've got food poisoning/upset stomach/flu/bad cold/cough" etc. That way, when you return to work/college all you have to say is, "I'm feeling much better thanks". Thats it. Its simple and effective. It gets the job done.

Claiming that one of your relatives has died is in no way a simple excuse at all. When you return there will be questions to be answered and you will have to continue the charade for even longer, and its certainly not a comfortable act if its a lie. When I was in the last year of my degree I actually did have a death in my family and I took some time off. When I returned to college my tutors were very concerned to make sure I was ok. They asked me about what happened, was I ok? did I have support?, did I need to talk to anyone about it? did I need any extensions for my essays etc.. I cannot imagine how ashamed I would have felt by their obvious concern if I had made the whole thing up. Not to mention, the risk of my friends finding out about it and knowing that it was a blatant lie. Why didnt she just say she was sick?

I always assumed that Maura wanted a temporary break but I am really beginning to come around to the idea that she simply did not plan to return to Umass. That way, her excuse doesnt matter- she never planned to see them ever again so the consequences of her lie just wouldn't matter....

an illness can only cover a certain amount of time, and people will inevitably call or stop by to check up on you. if you say there has been a death (or a family emergency) and you will be gone for a week, that gives you the whole amount of time to be "missing" without any expected contact from people. they will just assume you are busy with the emergency, or grieving the death.

 

[walkingdeadgirl]

Though I agree that we have no positive evidence that Maura had a secret cell phone, I still think it is worth considering as a possibility. It seems that Maura was pulling away from Billy. One of the things that people do when they pull away, is to reestablish their own separate identity. Billy had an ability to monitor Maura's cell activity at a time when she was looking for privacy and some separation from her life. All I am saying is that if I were in her position - in sort of a limbo between a complete break-up and just pulling away - ten I certainly would have gotten my own prepaid cell phone.

I agree. I was in a relationship many years ago with an individual who liked to be in control of such things, and the first thing I did when deciding I needed to begin pulling away was to establish a pager (ha - a million years ago, that was) in my own name, instead of a shared one. Getting her own prepaid cell (which she already had cards to use on it) would have been a logical first step towards trying out her independence.

 

[JamesRenner]

Scoops, can we just hug it out. I hate all this bickering. You've got your opinion. I have mine. I believe the most likely scenario that explains all the evidence is the tandem driver. And the fact that they haven't found a body yet. But I get where you're coming from with the suicide. It's obviously what Fred was thinking at first. The question is what happened that was so bad she needed to kill herself. Anyway, I wish you would focus on digging up some new info. One major hole in my reporting is the mother. And Fred Jr.

 

[walkingdeadgirl]

if you don't believe that maura was traveling in tandem with someone, then what possible significance would a second phone even have to anything?

that she was communicating with other gentleman outside of her boyfriend, though she could have easily done that with her dorm phone.

 

[imamaze]

If you feel a member's post is attacking, rude or being snarky then alert, don't respond to the post and let a Mod check out the offending post.

Everyone has a right to their opinion here, do not attack someone for their opinion. You can argue what the post says, you can not say its ridiculous, or not using common sense or anything like that. Just post what you disagree with.

 

[Captain_Khan]

I admit, it's an interesting theory and I see you've put a lot of work into investigating this case.

However, I've read through your blog and I've seen nothing solid to back it up at all. Am I missing something?

Renner has a book coming out shortly to explain his theories, so I assume he is holding back the evidence/theories as material for that.

This is extremely interesting. Ive always thought that her lying about a death in the family was a huge red flag and perhaps indicative of her not planning to return. Why on earth would you make up such a bold faced lie when you know you'll have to return to face the consequences? People dont take kindly to others deceiving them about something as sensitive as death- its considered taboo and reflects very badly on the person's character. Thats why I wondered why she didnt just use the old faithful, "I'm sick" excuse- SO much easier.

While it's a valid point that it is taboo to lie about death, don't forget that a lot of people do just that. A death in the family requires no doctor's note, won't have people questioning why you seemed just fine yesterday, and hopefully sounds severe enough that people will not question it.

Not saying that's the reason Maura chose to use that excuse - just a possibility to remember.