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

[Sutton]

Being outside of the case, many things seem strange. Most would agree that some of FM's action have been odd. But that doesn't mean he has knowledge of MM's fate. I remember thinking SR's interview was off, or fake, but maybe she was nervous or concerned with appearances or any other innocent explanation.

LE's treatment of the case is also puzzling. They don't seem to be actively investigating it, and they seem to be guarding important clues. MM's other family members, her friends, and BR, all seem less than forthcoming.

It is hard to rule out any possibility because there are so many curious reactions from case players, mysterious actions by MM preceding the disappearance, and indicators that support each outcome. All, JMO, of course.

 

[Fireweed]

I think Fred was so desperate to preserve his daughter's and his family's reputation that he unintentionally hampered the investigation. Their whole plan for finding Maura was to make her out to be the all-American girl who was on a path towards a middle-class bliss of marriage, family and career. Sure, she had been having a bad few days but really it was nothing and it had nothing to do with her disappearance. A little more digging showed her to be a much more multi-faceted human being with a slightly darker life than her loved ones led on.

It was obviously important to Fred and the rest of the family that it looked like the only thing that could have happened to Maura was a chance encounter with a dirtbag. But that strategy really hurt the chances of finding Maura as far as I am concerned. Just a little extra knowledge as to what Maura's life was actually like forced a lot of people to seriously question Fred's sincerity, and I think they were all right to do so.

At the end of the day this case differs from other cases of young women getting grabbed by a stranger in several key ways. Fred wants everyone to ignore those differences and focus instead on finding who harmed Maura, but the flaw in his master plan is that until we know why Maura went to New Hampshire that night, there will always exist the possibility that she went there to meet someone.

 

[scoops]

Being outside of the case, many things seem strange. Most would agree that some of FM's action have been odd. But that doesn't mean he has knowledge of MM's fate. I remember thinking SR's interview was off, or fake, but maybe she was nervous or concerned with appearances or any other innocent explanation.

LE's treatment of the case is also puzzling. They don't seem to be actively investigating it, and they seem to be guarding important clues. MM's other family members, her friends, and BR, all seem less than forthcoming.

It is hard to rule out any possibility because there are so many curious reactions from case players, mysterious actions by MM preceding the disappearance, and indicators that support each outcome. All, JMO, of course.

I lean towards the theory that Maura took her own life and the timeline of events, the words people in the know have spoken and the actions of the people involved, IMO, do nothing to discredit the suicide theory.

Maura was an avid hiker, something that seems lost on a lot of people and her favorite place in the entire world, the place she had picked for her honeymoon, was the place she went missing in, another point that seems lost on people.

Her father's first reaction when he found out Maura went missing, was one of terror (understandably so) but not because he thought a dirtbag grabbed her, it was because he believed she went to the white mountains to do personal harm to herself. This is collaborated from the lead investigator of the case, someone who didn't know fred previously.

While searching for his daughter many days in, Fred made the comment that his daughter was going to be found naked and drunk as he pointed towards the mountains, completing confusing the guy he told this too. That to me proves, that Kathleen's ex husband is not making this comment by Fred up, because he had no clue what fred was talking about. And if you are going to make up something someone said, you are going to know what you made up means.

But, IMO, what Fred was referring to was a condition of hypothermia known as paradoxical undressing. It's the last stage before someone perishes that suffers hypothermia, they get this sensation in which they feel like they are literally burning which leads them to strip themselves of their clothes and end up dying. When found, they are often mistaken for being a victim of sexual assault because their clothes have been removed from their body.

It was only when cameras were rolling and the media was paying attention that Fred introduces this dirtbag grabbing Maura theory.

IMO, this wasn't ever a sincere belief by Fred of what happened to Maura.

With the panic he displayed in the first 24 hours of her going missing, he knew, IMO, that police better find her fast, before she could do harm to herself, and after getting to the area and being there for a few days, it was already a done deal. He wasn't getting Maura back.

The messages to the public were no longer pleas to his daughter to change course, they were almost exclusively about the incompetent job the police were doing.

I've said it before, but I believe Maura did a lot of final destination actions right up to the point she disappeared. She emptied her bank account, returned her lab coat (she had just started nursing clinicals, kind of silly to be turning the coat in after the second week of clinicals) She got the forms her father requested from her earlier accident, secured them in her car after it wrecked (knowing that the car would eventually land in the hands of her father) and she either hitched a ride to closer to her final destination or she got there eventually on foot.

Had she not wrecked that Monday night, I think she was planning to use her remaining money to rent a hotel room, possibly to write out a final note to family/ boyfriend.

I think she would've been up at the crack of dawn that Tuesday morning (hadn't she wrecked) and off to a favorite location in the mountains at which time she would've drank herself to death or eventually jumped.

 

[brokerage]

I agree with scoops here. The family was/is doing what they think is right to find Maura. To them, the best way to do that was to infantilize her and make her look like the perfect "good girl" so that LE and the public would be forced to search harder for her.

Here is Kathleen Murray in The Daily Collegian September 9, 2004:

"It was just a regular phone call. It made no difference to me. It was just Maura calling me, that was that. I told her about my day and quarreling with my fiance" Murray said. "I don't know what I could have done to upset her... Seriously, I think she just wanted to get out of work."

So a peer of Maura's who is not likely to infantilize her thinks that there was no phone call and that Maura was just trying to get out of work. Uh-huh. Yup. I still do not think that Maura was as much of a little girl victim of mean people on the phone as her family makes out. I think that Kathleen, her own sister close to her age who knew her well, is dead-on when she says that their was no phone call and that Maura was just trying to get out of work. I for one don't think she was trying to get out of work due to laziness or anything, but rather as a set-up for her later "death in the family email".

We have a 1:00 AM "breakdown" when Maura last talked on the phone 45 minutes previously. Maura never once said "I got an upsetting phone call." Her supervisor saw the phone on the desk and heard Maura mumble something like "my sister" and the supervisor 100% just assumed that Maura was upset because of phone call. This eventually became a "fact" of this case that has no basis in what actually happened.

I believe that Kathleen's initial notion as the what happened that night is correct - Maura faked a breakdown in order to get out of work.

On the James Renner site, circa July 25, 2011, James interviewed Maura's shift supervisor, Karen Mayotte, who stated that Maura's shift was due to be completed that night at 1:45am. Ms Mayotte went on to say that she walked Maura away from her shift around 1:15am. My point being that if Maura was due to get off work at 1:45am, would she really have faked being in a catatonic state to get off work, if she was only a 1/2 hour away from having her shift end? Anything's possible I suppose but it seems like quite a performance to achieve that result. Assuming her staring into space and being non-responsive was legitimate, 2 likely scenarios emerge as causes: She took a break from her shift and had something to do with the Vasi hit and run, or (as Scoops pointed out) the 12:07am phone call with Billy contained dialogue that she took real hard (e.g. he was seeing someone else, was breaking up with her for good, etc). Either of those scenarios could've severely traumatized her and led to her apparent non-responsiveness at the desk and might possibly have shaped the events that took place over the next few days.

 

[scoops]

I agree with scoops here. The family was/is doing what they think is right to find Maura. To them, the best way to do that was to infantilize her and make her look like the perfect "good girl" so that LE and the public would be forced to search harder for her.

Here is Kathleen Murray in The Daily Collegian September 9, 2004:

"It was just a regular phone call. It made no difference to me. It was just Maura calling me, that was that. I told her about my day and quarreling with my fiance" Murray said. "I don't know what I could have done to upset her... Seriously, I think she just wanted to get out of work."

So a peer of Maura's who is not likely to infantilize her thinks that there was no phone call and that Maura was just trying to get out of work. Uh-huh. Yup. I still do not think that Maura was as much of a little girl victim of mean people on the phone as her family makes out. I think that Kathleen, her own sister close to her age who knew her well, is dead-on when she says that their was no phone call and that Maura was just trying to get out of work. I for one don't think she was trying to get out of work due to laziness or anything, but rather as a set-up for her later "death in the family email".

We have a 1:00 AM "breakdown" when Maura last talked on the phone 45 minutes previously. Maura never once said "I got an upsetting phone call." Her supervisor saw the phone on the desk and heard Maura mumble something like "my sister" and the supervisor 100% just assumed that Maura was upset because of phone call. This eventually became a "fact" of this case that has no basis in what actually happened.

I believe that Kathleen's initial notion as the what happened that night is correct - Maura faked a breakdown in order to get out of work.

On the James Renner site, circa July 25, 2011, James interviewed Maura's shift supervisor, Karen Mayotte, who stated that Maura's shift was due to be completed that night at 1:45am. Ms Mayotte went on to say that she walked Maura away from her shift around 1:15am. My point being that if Maura was due to get off work at 1:45am, would she really have faked being in a catatonic state to get off work, if she was only a 1/2 hour away from having her shift end? Anything's possible I suppose but it seems like quite a performance to achieve that result. Assuming her staring into space and being non-responsive was legitimate, 2 likely scenarios emerge as causes: She took a break from her shift and had something to do with the Vasi hit and run, or (as Scoops pointed out) the 12:07am phone call with Billy contained dialogue that she took real hard (e.g. he was seeing someone else, was breaking up with her for good, etc). Either of those scenarios could've severely traumatized her and led to her apparent non-responsiveness at the desk and might possibly have shaped the events that took place over the next few days.

I will blow your mind further (even though, this scenario doesn't have anything to do with why I think Maura took her own life, but it would make things even more interesting).

I think both of your scenarios you just laid out could actually be linked.

Maura stepped out (on break) and immediately went to use her cell phone as she drove and while talking to Billy on the other end, became distracted and hit Petrit Vasi, forcing her to freak out.

She is in shock immediately, not knowing what to do.

She eventually calls her father, who magically swoops into town just a little over 24 hours later to help her deal with her "situation."

They have to come up with a cover story as to why Maura's car is no longer visible to anyone, so they inform anyone who comes into contact with Maura that Saturday that maura's car is in the shop for repairs which would explain why fred lends Maura his car to use instead that Saturday night.

They may have very well spent Saturday trying to unload Maura's car in a trade-in, but could've come to the realization that trading the car off somewhere reasonably close to where Petrit Vasi was hit, may not be such a good idea.

Once again I am not fully subscribed to the theory that Maura was involved in the hit and run with Petrit Vasi.

But the facts are Petrit Vasi was found hit at 12:20 a.m., Maura became upset somewhere around 12:30-12:45 a.m. Maura also was on her cell phone at 12:07 a.m. to 12:14 a.m. (likely time-frame that Vasi was actually hit)

Vasi was hit about a block away from where Maura was working.

 

[Fireweed]

I agree with scoops here. The family was/is doing what they think is right to find Maura. To them, the best way to do that was to infantilize her and make her look like the perfect "good girl" so that LE and the public would be forced to search harder for her.

Here is Kathleen Murray in The Daily Collegian September 9, 2004:

"It was just a regular phone call. It made no difference to me. It was just Maura calling me, that was that. I told her about my day and quarreling with my fiance" Murray said. "I don't know what I could have done to upset her... Seriously, I think she just wanted to get out of work."

So a peer of Maura's who is not likely to infantilize her thinks that there was no phone call and that Maura was just trying to get out of work. Uh-huh. Yup. I still do not think that Maura was as much of a little girl victim of mean people on the phone as her family makes out. I think that Kathleen, her own sister close to her age who knew her well, is dead-on when she says that their was no phone call and that Maura was just trying to get out of work. I for one don't think she was trying to get out of work due to laziness or anything, but rather as a set-up for her later "death in the family email".

We have a 1:00 AM "breakdown" when Maura last talked on the phone 45 minutes previously. Maura never once said "I got an upsetting phone call." Her supervisor saw the phone on the desk and heard Maura mumble something like "my sister" and the supervisor 100% just assumed that Maura was upset because of phone call. This eventually became a "fact" of this case that has no basis in what actually happened.

I believe that Kathleen's initial notion as the what happened that night is correct - Maura faked a breakdown in order to get out of work.

On the James Renner site, circa July 25, 2011, James interviewed Maura's shift supervisor, Karen Mayotte, who stated that Maura's shift was due to be completed that night at 1:45am. Ms Mayotte went on to say that she walked Maura away from her shift around 1:15am. My point being that if Maura was due to get off work at 1:45am, would she really have faked being in a catatonic state to get off work, if she was only a 1/2 hour away from having her shift end? Anything's possible I suppose but it seems like quite a performance to achieve that result. Assuming her staring into space and being non-responsive was legitimate, 2 likely scenarios emerge as causes: She took a break from her shift and had something to do with the Vasi hit and run, or (as Scoops pointed out) the 12:07am phone call with Billy contained dialogue that she took real hard (e.g. he was seeing someone else, was breaking up with her for good, etc). Either of those scenarios could've severely traumatized her and led to her apparent non-responsiveness at the desk and might possibly have shaped the events that took place over the next few days.

Sorry I did not write that very clearly. Completely my fault. I think that Kathleen's initial instincts were correct in that Maura faked her breakdown to "get out of work" but I do not think that Maura just wanted to no work for another thirty minutes (as you point out that is a bit ridiculous). I think that Maura wanted "witnesses" to her being in a bad state, and that her supervisor would have been the perfect person for that. So Maura sends her supervisor the "death in the family" email on Monday and of course that makes perfect sense to the supervisor, after all Maura had a catatonic breakdown on Thursday night where she did mumble something about a family member.

Whatever happened that night it sure as sheet did not start with a phone call. After more than ten years no one has been able to find this phone call and who it was with and what the topic was, and that is because it didn't exist.

 

[Fireweed]

I will blow your mind further (even though, this scenario doesn't have anything to do with why I think Maura took her own life, but it would make things even more interesting).

I think both of your scenarios you just laid out could actually be linked.

Maura stepped out (on break) and immediately went to use her cell phone as she drove and while talking to Billy on the other end, became distracted and hit Petrit Vasi, forcing her to freak out.

She is in shock immediately, not knowing what to do.

She eventually calls her father, who magically swoops into town just a little over 24 hours later to help her deal with her "situation."

They have to come up with a cover story as to why Maura's car is no longer visible to anyone, so they inform anyone who comes into contact with Maura that Saturday that maura's car is in the shop for repairs which would explain why fred lends Maura his car to use instead that Saturday night.

They may have very well spent Saturday trying to unload Maura's car in a trade-in, but could've come to the realization that trading the car off somewhere reasonably close to where Petrit Vasi was hit, may not be such a good idea.

Once again I am not fully subscribed to the theory that Maura was involved in the hit and run with Petrit Vasi.

But the facts are Petrit Vasi was found hit at 12:20 a.m., Maura became upset somewhere around 12:30-12:45 a.m. Maura also was on her cell phone at 12:07 a.m. to 12:14 a.m. (likely time-frame that Vasi was actually hit)

Vasi was hit about a block away from where Maura was working.

Scoops I ask this in all earnestness: have you ever actually lived in a dorm and experienced the parking situation at midnight?

I am not saying that you are wrong, but your theory rests entirely on parking at the dorms being abundant and close to Maura's work place at midnight.

 

[sandcastle]

Scoops, that was a interesting tidbit about Sharon's journal. I have been following this case for a few years and I think that was the first time I ever heard about that. Unfortunately for me, I started following this case after the family took down their forum. Do you have anything else that you can share from that time period?
I always thought that maybe some of this information that is out there, and not correct, was in fact corrected by the family early on and I just missed it. I know Fred takes a lot of heat and maybe rightly so for what he is selling. But I can't help but wonder where Billy is in all of this. After all, according to Sharon, they where in love and getting married. I understand he was in the military at the time and could only do so much. But come on, if you where in love with someone that disappeared wouldn't you be following this case? As far as I can tell Billy has never said a word about her in public. Except maybe thru his mother. And if what you stated is correct, then what can we really trust coming from Sharon? If that is what Sharon is selling then it is obvious that she is spinning a narrative to protect her son. Billy could single handedly corroborate Fred's tale or blow it out of the water. Did Sharon ever back up Fred's account of the Geo prism? Wouldn't Billy be in the know about them looking for a car?
The phone call Friday morning is troubling because I think is was Billy that upset Maura. If it was in fact Maura hitting Vasi, than I would expect her to call Billy and not her father. But according to her phone records, that is not what she does. Her next phone call placed was evidently for pizza!
I think people do things for a reason. Even though the reason may not be clear to an observer. You can piece things together by knowing what events take place and what peoples reactions are to them.
I will give you one example. We know by the phone records (and by Fred's account) that Fred calls Maura late Sunday night. We only have the story that Fred is telling. And I think some of it is true. They did talk about the car insurance papers. But I am sure that is not the only thing. What does Maura do after hanging up with Fred? According to computer records, she almost immediately starts looking for places to go. Why?
I think you are right on the money Scoops about Fred's initial reaction to hearing the news. He had a guilty conscience about the last time he talked with Maura. His reaction was that she was going to harm herself. Why would he think that? Because he knows what was said between them and it might not have been good.

 

[scoops]

Scoops, that was a interesting tidbit about Sharon's journal. I have been following this case for a few years and I think that was the first time I ever heard about that. Unfortunately for me, I started following this case after the family took down their forum. Do you have anything else that you can share from that time period?
I always thought that maybe some of this information that is out there, and not correct, was in fact corrected by the family early on and I just missed it. I know Fred takes a lot of heat and maybe rightly so for what he is selling. But I can't help but wonder where Billy is in all of this. After all, according to Sharon, they where in love and getting married. I understand he was in the military at the time and could only do so much. But come on, if you where in love with someone that disappeared wouldn't you be following this case? As far as I can tell Billy has never said a word about her in public. Except maybe thru his mother. And if what you stated is correct, then what can we really trust coming from Sharon? If that is what Sharon is selling then it is obvious that she is spinning a narrative to protect her son. Billy could single handedly corroborate Fred's tale or blow it out of the water. Did Sharon ever back up Fred's account of the Geo prism? Wouldn't Billy be in the know about them looking for a car?
The phone call Friday morning is troubling because I think is was Billy that upset Maura. If it was in fact Maura hitting Vasi, than I would expect her to call Billy and not her father. But according to her phone records, that is not what she does. Her next phone call placed was evidently for pizza!
I think people do things for a reason. Even though the reason may not be clear to an observer. You can piece things together by knowing what events take place and what peoples reactions are to them.
I will give you one example. We know by the phone records (and by Fred's account) that Fred calls Maura late Sunday night. We only have the story that Fred is telling. And I think some of it is true. They did talk about the car insurance papers. But I am sure that is not the only thing. What does Maura do after hanging up with Fred? According to computer records, she almost immediately starts looking for places to go. Why?
I think you are right on the money Scoops about Fred's initial reaction to hearing the news. He had a guilty conscience about the last time he talked with Maura. His reaction was that she was going to harm herself. Why would he think that? Because he knows what was said between them and it might not have been good.

I have some other Sharon Journal posts and direct comments from Sharon.

I will post them when I locate them. I know she references the soda bottle that was found under Maura's car, by noting that police found a licorice stick in the bottle. Maura was known to use licorice sticks as straws. But I didn't get the feeling that Sharon was certain of her information on that.

As to the vasi hit and run.

I am not sold on that theory (that Maura was involved) but I can't exactly say I am confident she wasn't involved. Everything seems to tie up very nicely that she was.

the real problem with the vasi hit and run angle is that no real investigation was ever done by police on what happened to him. Petrit doesn't want to ever find out if Maura was the person to hit him and it is pretty much an angle that will never find resolution.

Maura, apparently was pretty out of it that Thursday night. Her supervisor actually didn't want to escort her back to her dorm, she wanted to take Maura to a crisis center, but Maura refused.

Maura not only was out of it (ignoring everyone including people trying to get into the dorms, but when excused by the supervisor, she just sat there frozen at the desk.

The supervisor had to physically pack up Maura's stuff and grab her and lead her out.

 

[scoops]

Scoops I ask this in all earnestness: have you ever actually lived in a dorm and experienced the parking situation at midnight?

I am not saying that you are wrong, but your theory rests entirely on parking at the dorms being abundant and close to Maura's work place at midnight.

I hear what you are saying and I visited UMASS and got a first-hand look at the parking situation right at Maura's dorm (she lived in) and the neighboring dorm (she did her desk monitor job).

But, I am telling you, there is a parking lot right next to the door of the dorm (reserved for security).

I have always asked, would Maura be able to park her car in that lot (while she was working). It would seem to make sense, if she had breaks and wanted to grab a bite to eat, that she didn't have to use up her entire break just to walk to her car in a far away parking lot.

 

[Sutton]

Do we know if there were security cameras on the dorm entrances and exits?

 

[Fireweed]

I hear what you are saying and I visited UMASS and got a first-hand look at the parking situation right at Maura's dorm (she lived in) and the neighboring dorm (she did her desk monitor job).

But, I am telling you, there is a parking lot right next to the door of the dorm (reserved for security).

I have always asked, would Maura be able to park her car in that lot (while she was working). It would seem to make sense, if she had breaks and wanted to grab a bite to eat, that she didn't have to use up her entire break just to walk to her car in a far away parking lot.

I understand what you are saying but until you can prove to me that Maura had a parking space available in the reserved spot I simply cannot take it as fact that she was parked there. I completely believe that anyone parked there who was guaranteed a spot could have hit Vasi on break and then returned in the requisite amount of time. However, you have never shown that Maura was parked there that night in that spot.

 

[Caffeine]

The theory of Maura hitting Vasi... how does that ultimately tie into her disappearance? Guilt? Wanting to drink to excess over it? Became suicidal as a result?

Has Vasi ever commented on the matter?

 

[scoops]

I understand what you are saying but until you can prove to me that Maura had a parking space available in the reserved spot I simply cannot take it as fact that she was parked there. I completely believe that anyone parked there who was guaranteed a spot could have hit Vasi on break and then returned in the requisite amount of time. However, you have never shown that Maura was parked there that night in that spot.

In no way am I claiming it to be fact that Maura was parked there. I am just saying that would be a good way to prove to me whether or not Maura could've been involved in the hit and run or not involved. And no one to this date has ever given me a good answer one way or the other concerning this.

That parking lot I am referring to (reserved for security) had at least six or seven parking spaces, so this wasn't just one spot meant for one security guard.

 

[scoops]

The theory of Maura hitting Vasi... how does that ultimately tie into her disappearance? Guilt? Wanting to drink to excess over it? Became suicidal as a result?

Has Vasi ever commented on the matter?

I actually don't quite know how it fits, because I have never fully bought into the theory that she was involved. I would think she would be devastated if she knew she hit him and then left the scene, not knowing whether or not he survived the hit.

The campus newspaper account of the vasi hit and run came out on the very same day Maura fled the campus, but that could mean absolutely nothing.

Vasi has commented on message boards in the past.

He absolutely feels horrible that Marua could've been involved.

But he honestly doesn't have a clue who hit him and frankly has stated that he doesn't want to ever know.

Police waited two months (until Vasi woke up from his coma) to finally try and piece together what happened to him. There was no real investigation ever done and Vasi's mom has stated as much in newspaper interviews.

But Maura (if she was involved) would not know that no investigation was underway, let alone whether or not she killed someone.

I would say that would be very traumatic on a young person, and being in shock and frozen at her work desk would be natural reactions IMO. Not having that kind of reaction as described by her supervisor that night from having a spat with a boyfriend.


But nevertheless, I don't have any and have never uncovered any substantial proof that says Maura was involved in the hit and run. So who knows?

 

[Caffeine]

What do you guys think about the other alcohol she bought, the vodka, Kahlua etc...?

Renner says all of it (wine also) was present, but others have contested this and said the 5 or so bottles were gone.

Thoughts?

 

[scoops]

What do you guys think about the other alcohol she bought, the vodka, Kahlua etc...?

Renner says all of it (wine also) was present, but others have contested this and said the 5 or so bottles were gone.

Thoughts?

The box of Franzia wine was still in the car, it had exploded open and spilled out.

A soda bottle was found under Maura's car that the officer described as having a pink to reddish liquid and smell of alcohol.

A receipt was found in the car for alcohol and that included vodka and Kahlua. Those were not found with the car.

A six pack of seagrams supposedly had also been purchased, but good luck finding an answer on what was with the car still after the accident.

One reporter also mentioned Bailey's Irish Cream as well, but no clue on whether or not that was purchased or whether or not that was found in the car.

I believe Renner was mistaken.

The lead investigator (in an interview with Renner) actually stated that there were bottles of alcohol missing from the receipt that were not in the car.

Renner talked to a cop (not assigned to the case) who was looking up information about the case and told Renner that all alcohol was accounted for.

But that doesn't mean they scooped up a bunch of bottles of alcohol and stuck them in an evidence file somewhere. It likely means that they have the receipt and have it reported exactly how much alcohol that Maura is believed to have bought that day -- therefore making it all accounted for.

 

[SchoolgirlShamus]

I think that Maura wanted "witnesses" to her being in a bad state, and that her supervisor would have been the perfect person for that. So Maura sends her supervisor the "death in the family" email on Monday and of course that makes perfect sense to the supervisor, after all Maura had a catatonic breakdown on Thursday night where she did mumble something about a family member.

I thought the "death in the family" email was sent to her professors, not to the supervisor who assisted her the night she was upset, but I may be remembering wrong. Do we have a source detailing the recipients of that email?

 

[NCsleuther]

I thought the "death in the family" email was sent to her professors, not to the supervisor who assisted her the night she was upset, but I may be remembering wrong. Do we have a source detailing the recipients of that email?

Agreed. It was sent to her professors.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/maura-murray-cold-case-ten-years-article-1.1607013

 

[SchoolgirlShamus]

Almost three years later in October of 2006, another search with dogs took place around the accident scene. This search did not involve police.

It was a group of volunteers helping Fred and his family.

They brought out four dogs that were trained to find human remains.

They covered a five-mile radius around the accident location, but were limited to searching on public property and the dogs eventually turned up nothing.

That's an enormous area. Searching in a 5 mile radius means searching 78.54 square miles, or over 50,000 acres. I am not surprised this volunteer search didn't locate her, even if her remains are nearby. You would need a lot of people, a lot of time, and a lot of organization (grid system etc.) to thoroughly search even a part of that area.