NH NH - Maura Murray, 21, Haverhill, 9 Feb 2004 - #12

[scoops]

More from Sharon:

SHARON RAUSCH:

" Upon my return to OH, numerous individuals and agencies offered their assistance to us. OH LE was given the prepaid calling card number. After 2 weeks of extensive research, both OH LE and a private investagator told me that unless I had the acutal calling card information: the numbers that are entered when making the call plus the name of the merchant: ie ATT, US Postmaster, Walmart, etc, that THERE IS NO WAY TO TRACE THE LOCATION FROM WHICH A CALL IS MADE FROM A PREPAID CALLING CARD; that the number that shows up on caller ID is simply one of hundreds of thousands of numbers purchased by various calling card companies.....I was actually told that because these calls cannot be traced, criminals know to use them to be protected from prosecution.....Fred Murray used other resources to confirm this information. Therefore, we have another example of misinformation from NH SP.


The message was deleted by my son when we learned it could not be traced. In order to save any message, his cell phone service requires listening to it every 10 days. He chose to delete the blood chilling message rather than being repeatedly exposed to the agony of hearing what he believes to be Maura and at a loss to help her.
I know this was a mistake, but he is young and felt that saving the message was of no benefit.

I had given Maura several prepaid callling cards in November prior to her disappearance. She also knew her father's prepaid calling information. We are certain that she did not have any calling card with a connection to the ARC. Even if she had, one must understand that we did not have the information needed to trace a prepaid calling card."

 

[Fireweed]

So Sharon does not think that the call came from ARC, even though that is what LE is saying.

There are so many complete contradictions in this case that it this point I have no idea who is telling the truth, who is lying, and who is just confused.

But I will say this: Maura was a fully adult woman who lived by herself. She could have obtained calling cards that her bf's mother did not know about for chrissake!

 

[Lolacat]

Agreed. Ive often found it weird how Maura's family seem to infantilize her as if she were some silly teenage girl, not someone in their early 20s. Ive also noticed that people who do this often do it as a means of control.

 

[scoops]

So Sharon does not think that the call came from ARC, even though that is what LE is saying.

There are so many complete contradictions in this case that it this point I have no idea who is telling the truth, who is lying, and who is just confused.

But I will say this: Maura was a fully adult woman who lived by herself. She could have obtained calling cards that her bf's mother did not know about for chrissake!

But it is on record now that Police identified the caller (the very same day the call was made) and discovered that it came from the red cross.

Sharon got her answer the very first day, she just chose to not believe the answer.

And that early on in Maura's disappearance, when no one could've predicted all of the backstory and the months and years to follow with the media attention and conflict between police and family

why would the police lie to Sharon when they were just meeting her that very same day or night before.

There was no conflict early on. You had concerned parents and family rushing to the area to try and find their missing daughter and a police force that was all ears early on wanting to learn more about Maura from the family.

 

[BillNH]

BBM:
~ true BillNH, my simplistic statement was based on the premise that most who follow the case would get the point - that the CALLER was never truly determined and the fact that it could have been MM remains open IMO. Whether it was interpreted as weeping or whimpering is inconsequential In My Opinion.
~ At about the time that Maura went missing I had also used calling cards. It required that I call the 800 number, enter a PIN selected by me and then enter the number I was calling. In My Opinion, this method, "at that time" reduced most chances of random cross connecting to an identifiable originating number, as that is exactly the source of the revenue for the card. However, the fact the originating number was traced to the Red Cross is a very good indication of a cross connection as it is not likely that a person at that number would have left a voice (not data) message that had the kind of imprint that could be so easily interpreted as a person not exactly paying attention, 'whimpering' and then disconnecting. As I recall, the description of the voicemail was that there was a lag after the VM connected and the 'whimper' started and ended and then the VM sequence ended.
~ I am not in an emotional state and I can still accept it as whimpers simply because it wasn't proven that it wasn't. IMO
~ We have no exact data on WHEN he deleted it and I only see a question there as to the fact that LE examined it, had a copy of it and there was no reason to preserve it.

Since there was no definitive analysis that identified the message as absolutely originating at Red Cross, since there is no definitive identification of the message as stray radio, voltage or digital interference and not voice, and since the exact origin of the "noise" could not be determined, In My Opinion, it still leaves an open question.

All we have is a "possibility" it could have been a cross connection with line noise or even a miss-directed vm from an unknown source, but none of that means that it was absolutely NOT MAURA.

So I still wonder why it is so easily discounted.


:cow:

For me, very simply, it could not have been Maura and most certainly not a Maura in distress if she dialed an 800 number, then a pin(which in most cases the pin was under a scratch off area on the back of the card and was about an 8 - 12 digit number), and then Billy's number. That's about 30 numbers.

Is it impossible it was Maura, no, of course there is a slight possibility only because we don't KNOW it wasn't her.

Is it 99.995 % unlikely it was Maura. Definitely.

If it was Maura and she was in someone's basement, attic, car, garage, shipping container, or what have you... She would most definitely NOT call 30 digits, or even 20 digits (if it was a pin selected by her) to make a phone call for help. She would call 911. Period.

If she was up on a mountain having taken a bottle of pills then nearly drank herself to death and in a moment of lucidity and regret she decides she does not want to end it all, she is not going to dial a 20 or 30 digit number to summon help to save her from a bad decision. She would call 911.

911 is ingrained behavior, almost instinct, learned at a young age, its the go-to emergency move. In moments of distress or unclear thinking, calling 911 is what you would do.

The only possible scenario that I can see it actually being Maura using a calling card is if she was intending to be mean to Billy as she was leaving the country or whatever, and I have a hard time believing that also.

This call and message, to me, is the single biggest piece of non-evidence in this entire case. Just my opinion of course, but I own it.

Bill

 

[BillNH]

I had always understood it to be a calling card purchased by the Red Cross to donate to someone in need: homeless, lost, etc. I didn't think it was a Red Cross worker calling. Why would a Red Cross worker use a calling card? It could have been Maura making that call. She could have "picked up" the card somewhere the way she helped herself to other things.

The way I understood it was that the calling cards were donated to the Red Cross from organizations and individuals to defray long distance calling expenses.

 

[emeraldine]

Agreed. Ive often found it weird how Maura's family seem to infantilize her as if she were some silly teenage girl, not someone in their early 20s. Ive also noticed that people who do this often do it as a means of control.

This happens in SO many cases when a person goes missing(especially when it's a woman), that it makes me wonder if it's the cause rather than an effect.

Most of these people(Maura included, I'd imagine) are competent adults; maybe they're trapped in unpleasant or dangerous situations, but that has no bearing on their ability to function as human beings under normal circumstances.

Why must people act like they're five years old?

 

[BillNH]

So Sharon does not think that the call came from ARC, even though that is what LE is saying.

There are so many complete contradictions in this case that it this point I have no idea who is telling the truth, who is lying, and who is just confused.

But I will say this: Maura was a fully adult woman who lived by herself. She could have obtained calling cards that her bf's mother did not know about for chrissake!

No, what she said was that Maura had no cards with a connection to ARC. As noted above, the ARC used a card to call Billy. They admit they did it. Regardless if how the message ended up, they said they called him with a calling card. I see no ambiguity.

 

[Lolacat]

This happens in SO many cases when a person goes missing(especially when it's a woman), that it makes me wonder if it's the cause rather than an effect.

Most of these people(Maura included, I'd imagine) are competent adults; maybe they're trapped in unpleasant or dangerous situations, but that has no bearing on their ability to function as human beings under normal circumstances.

Why must people act like they're five years old?

Its a control thing, I think. What better way to control someone than to constantly remind them of how incapable they are of managing their own life and to highlight the petty mistakes they've made as evidence of this? This is JMO but I've noticed that in quite a few missing cases the families who do this often typically come out with the old, "XYZ would NEVER just run off and leave us like this, its COMPLETELY out of character". Then, later on, its discovered that actually it IS very much within their character and a whole bunch of stuff was happening that they had no clue about. Obviously, this doesn't apply to everyone and I'm sure that there are many super close families who have great relationships. Its just something that struck me when watching the disappeared episodes that when it comes to young adults (especially), their families often had no idea of the complexities and issues that they were dealing with because they just didn't feel able to tell them.

 

[emeraldine]

Its a control thing, I think. What better way to control someone than to constantly remind them of how incapable they are of managing their own life and to highlight the petty mistakes they've made as evidence of this? This is JMO but I've noticed that in quite a few missing cases the families who do this often typically come out with the old, "XYZ would NEVER just run off and leave us like this, its COMPLETELY out of character". Then, later on, its discovered that actually it IS very much within their character and a whole bunch of stuff was happening that they had no clue about. Obviously, this doesn't apply to everyone and I'm sure that there are many super close families who have great relationships. Its just something that struck me when watching the disappeared episodes that when it comes to young adults (especially), their families often had no idea of the complexities and issues that they were dealing with because they just didn't feel able to tell them.

Indeed - and then, there's the problem of having other people try to tell you what is and isn't a mistake in the first place, as if their opinions are facts, and as if their own personal codes of living are supposed to apply to everyone.

In a lot of cases, I think the family doesn't hear about issues in the missing person's life because, if you're in a situation like those we're mentioning, it's natural to instead confide in somebody else who takes you seriously and treats you as an equal - or else nobody, which is still better.

Also, given the things that end up being revealed about missing people after their disappearance, once the family goes to the media...well, I can only say that I'd probably choose to stay missing due to humiliation.

I'm not saying that Maura's family, specifically, treated her this way...but we do end up with a picture of her that would make us afraid for her safety even if she wasn't missing, despite her independence and ability to juggle such a demanding workload(a lot of people twice her age can't do so much).

 

[Steleheart]

For me, very simply, it could not have been Maura and most certainly not a Maura in distress if she dialed an 800 number, then a pin(which in most cases the pin was under a scratch off area on the back of the card and was about an 8 - 12 digit number), and then Billy's number. That's about 30 numbers.

Is it impossible it was Maura, no, of course there is a slight possibility only because we don't KNOW it wasn't her.

Is it 99.995 % unlikely it was Maura. Definitely.

If it was Maura and she was in someone's basement, attic, car, garage, shipping container, or what have you... She would most definitely NOT call 30 digits, or even 20 digits (if it was a pin selected by her) to make a phone call for help. She would call 911. Period.

If she was up on a mountain having taken a bottle of pills then nearly drank herself to death and in a moment of lucidity and regret she decides she does not want to end it all, she is not going to dial a 20 or 30 digit number to summon help to save her from a bad decision. She would call 911.

911 is ingrained behavior, almost instinct, learned at a young age, its the go-to emergency move. In moments of distress or unclear thinking, calling 911 is what you would do.

The only possible scenario that I can see it actually being Maura using a calling card is if she was intending to be mean to Billy as she was leaving the country or whatever, and I have a hard time believing that also.

This call and message, to me, is the single biggest piece of non-evidence in this entire case. Just my opinion of course, but I own it.

Bill

All reasonable. On that 0.005% possibility, the scenario I envisioned was Maura was out there, inebriated, possibly trying to come to grips, say goodbye, have her mind changed or what have you, not realizing the VM came on and then ended, the call ended.

But based on what I now understand I don't see a point in any inference that the detective did NOT speak to the employee who made the call - that's good follow-up, IMO. I WOULD like to know why that employee called Billy directly though.

ETA- Not implying that anyone specifically as done that, But if that point is in question, then either the information we have is flawed or the detective didn't' do what he said.

MOO

 

[BillNH]

Indeed - and then, there's the problem of having other people try to tell you what is and isn't a mistake in the first place, as if their opinions are facts, and as if their own personal codes of living are supposed to apply to everyone.

In a lot of cases, I think the family doesn't hear about issues in the missing person's life because, if you're in a situation like those we're mentioning, it's natural to instead confide in somebody else who takes you seriously and treats you as an equal - or else nobody, which is still better.

Also, given the things that end up being revealed about missing people after their disappearance, once the family goes to the media...well, I can only say that I'd probably choose to stay missing due to humiliation.

I'm not saying that Maura's family, specifically, treated her this way...but we do end up with a picture of her that would make us afraid for her safety even if she wasn't missing, despite her independence and ability to juggle such a demanding workload(a lot of people twice her age can't do so much).

I think you are spot on with this. Fred Murray and Sharon Rausch are both very controlling personalities. It's been a long held notion that Maura's life was being directed for her overtly by Sharon and at least covertly by Fred (covertly meaning his disproval was something to avoid and actions that would cause disapproval were not mentioned or avoided altogether) but possibly overtly as well.

 

[scoops]

All reasonable. On that 0.005% possibility, the scenario I envisioned was Maura was out there, inebriated, possibly trying to come to grips, say goodbye, have her mind changed or what have you, not realizing the VM came on and then ended, the call ended.

But based on what I now understand I don't see a point in any inference that the detective did NOT speak to the employee who made the call - that's good follow-up, IMO. I WOULD like to know why that employee called Billy directly though.

ETA- Not implying that anyone specifically as done that, But if that point is in question, then either the information we have is flawed or the detective didn't' do what he said.

MOO

It would make perfect sense for the red cross employee to get in touch with billy.

Billy's mom contacts the red cross the night before to try and get some assistance with setting up billy's emergency leave. She gives the red cross Billy's basic information (what unit he is assigned too etc.)

The red cross employee contacts Billy's unit (and likely gets Billy's cell phone # in doing so) and the next morning (the day the mysterious phone call came into Billy at the airport) the red cross reaches out to billy, but billy doesn't answer.

the main reason Sharon chooses not to believe police about the red cross worker is because she knows she didn't give the red cross billy's cell phone number herself. So how would they know to call his cell?

But if you are in the military, you are likely having to update (monthly at minimum) your contact information to include home and cell phone numbers, because your unit will have an active recall roster in case something breaks out and they need to get a hold of you and you are in turn responsible for calling the next person in line on that recall roster.

So a red cross worker would have little trouble IMO, finding billy's cell number once they got in touch with his unit and explained the situation.

 

[emeraldine]

I think you are spot on with this. Fred Murray and Sharon Rausch are both very controlling personalities. It's been a long held notion that Maura's life was being directed for her overtly by Sharon and at least covertly by Fred (covertly meaning his disproval was something to avoid and actions that would cause disapproval were not mentioned or avoided altogether) but possibly overtly as well.

Hmm.

Well, whatever the relationship was between Maura and her family(and/or boyfriend's family) prior to her disappearance, I hope the personal information about her that tends to be presented along with the information that's actually relevant to her case(the latter being the only part we really need) will either improve or simply disappear altogether.

I still say that she was either picked up by someone(probably known to her) who knew of her plans and helped her to achieve them, or else picked up by someone(probably unknown to her) who killed her.

 

[scoops]

For all you ID Disappeared junkies:

The case of Michael "Braydyn" Fuksa has been solved earlier this month.

There are some similarities to Maura.

He was in a little bit of trouble (although I don't think Maura's was that bad)

He up and left Lawrence Kansas and drove to Wyoming the beautiful scenery out there never to be heard from again.

They found his remains recently and he died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head.


While this proves nothing about Maura's disappearance, it does show that someone (who may be suicidal) just doesn't automatically end their life right on the spot of their despair. He chose to end his life hundreds of miles away quietly alone but among some of the countries best scenery.

http://trib.com/news/local/crime-an...cle_cf6978e9-3ece-592a-b81b-c159a2d1cbef.html

 

[Steleheart]

It would make perfect sense for the red cross employee to get in touch with billy.

Billy's mom contacts the red cross the night before to try and get some assistance with setting up billy's emergency leave. She gives the red cross Billy's basic information (what unit he is assigned too etc.)

The red cross employee contacts Billy's unit (and likely gets Billy's cell phone # in doing so) and the next morning (the day the mysterious phone call came into Billy at the airport) the red cross reaches out to billy, but billy doesn't answer.

the main reason Sharon chooses not to believe police about the red cross worker is because she knows she didn't give the red cross billy's cell phone number herself. So how would they know to call his cell?

But if you are in the military, you are likely having to update (monthly at minimum) your contact information to include home and cell phone numbers, because your unit will have an active recall roster in case something breaks out and they need to get a hold of you and you are in turn responsible for calling the next person in line on that recall roster.

So a red cross worker would have little trouble IMO, finding billy's cell number once they got in touch with his unit and explained the situation.

BBM - This is where I got tripped up. The impression Sharon was trying to give is that ARC could not have called him therefore LE is not doing enough to be thorough.

How, then, were Billy's leave arrangements made if the employee did not actually leave a cohesive message?

Admittedly over so long a time many details become blurred in my mind or forgotten.

MOO

 

[scoops]

BBM - This is where I got tripped up. The impression Sharon was trying to give is that ARC could not have called him therefore LE is not doing enough to be thorough.

How, then, were Billy's leave arrangements made if the employee did not actually leave a cohesive message?

Admittedly over so long a time many details become blurred in my mind or forgotten.

MOO

Very likely, The arrangements were made long after billy already arrived to the scene of the car accident in new Hampshire.

Billy, afterall, was already heading for his plane before anyone from the red cross had gotten a hold of him. The fact that no message was left isn't a big alarm in my book. I doubt airports back in 2004 were as wifi friendly as they are now. I bet no phone message was left because the reception (while billy was at the airport running through security) wasn't the best. the way the phone call was described by police IMO, it wasn't a case of someone not leaving a message, it was someone trying to leave a message, but all that came through was phone static.

 

[BillNH]

Very likely, The arrangements were made long after billy already arrived to the scene of the car accident in new Hampshire.

Billy, afterall, was already heading for his plane before anyone from the red cross had gotten a hold of him. The fact that no message was left isn't a big alarm in my book. I doubt airports back in 2004 were as wifi friendly as they are now. I bet no phone message was left because the reception (while billy was at the airport running through security) wasn't the best. the way the phone call was described by police IMO, it wasn't a case of someone not leaving a message, it was someone trying to leave a message, but all that came through was phone static.

I hate to bring this up since it all seems to be tied up neatly but...

Billy's cell reception would not have any affect on the quality of the message since he did not answer the call. Messages go to a storage area on his cell carrier's servers if the call goes unanswered. It does not go "through" Billy's phone, messages never leave the cell tower so-to-speak. In order to have a "static" message on his voice mail it would be the callers connection that would be called into question here. Now it is not unusual to have a bad connection, even on a land line. We have about 20 lines at work that select randomly when you pick up the phone and one of them is so staticky that as soon it starts to connect you can barely hear it ring. You can also get a poor connection on a wireless handset easily enough.

While I still do not believe the call was Maura for the reasons I stated previously, the explanation for the static above does not add up.

 

[scoops]

I hate to bring this up since it all seems to be tied up neatly but...

Billy's cell reception would not have any affect on the quality of the message since he did not answer the call. Messages go to a storage area on his cell carrier's servers if the call goes unanswered. It does not go "through" Billy's phone, messages never leave the cell tower so-to-speak. In order to have a "static" message on his voice mail it would be the callers connection that would be called into question here. Now it is not unusual to have a bad connection, even on a land line. We have about 20 lines at work that select randomly when you pick up the phone and one of them is so staticky that as soon it starts to connect you can barely hear it ring. You can also get a poor connection on a wireless handset easily enough.

While I still do not believe the call was Maura for the reasons I stated previously, the explanation for the static above does not add up.

I get what you are saying, but that doesn't change anything.

If billy had good reception while at the airport, he would've answered the phone to begin with.

A phone message appears to have been attempted by whomever called Billy.

That phone message was described by Billy and his mother as being Maura whimpering and breathing.

Police listened to that same message and came to the conclusion that it was simple phone static that was being heard.'

Point is, someone did try to leave a message to Billy (because some posters have been saying 'well if it was the red cross, then why didn't they try and leave a message')

Someone attempted to leave a message, but for whatever reason that message did not come through.

The person trying to leave the message may have not even realized that their message wasn't coming through.

 

[goodgirl65]

The comment--
Ann Marie February 6, 2014 at 7:32 AM
It was my credit card that she used. She took the numbers off of a receipt that was taped to a pizza box in our dorm trash room. After I reported the incident the bank credited me back the money immediately and I never though about it again until she went missing. I only knew who they caught because I happened to be outside her room when the police went in. Mr Renner is correct, it was several weeks before I noticed because she ordered food from all the same places I ate at until she finally ordered from a place that I had never been to before. Someone who lived on the same floor as her told me they thought she was bulimic. What a horrible, sad story. It's too bad her family and the people who love her haven't been able to get any closure after all these years.
quote, BBM

Its been awhile since ive been on this site and thread...I also followed Mr Renner's blog for a bit...I am playing catch up with posts but I wanted to put this down...Theres never been much said(or anything I recall) about the possibility of Maura being bulimic ...The stealing of credit card #s for, as far as anyone can tell, was for food........Bulimic and out of control would make perfect sense she would be desperate for more $$$$$$,like any addiction...Many bulimics have cross addictions, such as alcohol or drugs...It seems Maura liked to drink a lot.....The eating disorder alone could have caused her to have a couple of car accidents and put alcohol on top of that, along with any other stresses she was facing, then perhaps suicide WAS the intention when she headed to the mountains that nite...I just wonder if the angle of a possible eating disorder was considered as it might explain a lot of her behavior.....

I am still behind with post reading here and am only up to Jan of this year...So I apologize if this post breaks the pattern of what is currently being discussed, or if this subject has been discussed or dismissed or whatever else. Thanks!!