NH NH - Maura Murray, 21, Haverhill, 9 Feb 2004 - #13

[Caffeine]

http://mauramurray.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/lance-tim-speak-to-ag-in-new-podcast.html

James Renner's last podcast featured Marley Davis, who works as a public defender's office in Massachusetts. The focus of the episode is a series of answers the New Hampshire Attorney General's office. Apparently they are considering releasing the ATM surveillance video in the near future, taken when Maura withdrew $280 from her account just before leaving Massachusetts.

Asking about when in time did foul play become the prevailing theory in the case, the NH attorney general stated that ''foul play is dominant among several theories, we do not know whether her disappearance is voluntary or involuntary or if she was a victim of a crime.''

It's interesting they are considering the release of the video. I don't really think there is anything of value on the tape, so as far as a clue I think it will be a bit underwhelming in that regard. But to simply satisfy our curiosity at this point, that isn't a bad thing.

What is odd to me is the varying quotes from the NH AG, and state police over the years. It seems generally they lament that they simply have no idea what happened but then infer whatever inclination they have at the time. For instance I remember reading at one point they said something along the lines of "we don't know what happened to her, but we are treating it like a possible criminal case" or something along those lines.

I think state investigators are just as stumped as we are.

 

[ruined detroit]

Do people go out into the woods during the non-winter months and search?

 

[Aleph]

I would, if I lived closer. But I suppose it's probably all private land, so you'd probably need permission from someone.


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[Caffeine]

Do people go out into the woods during the non-winter months and search?

I think there's been several searches over the years. I think the most resources were put into the initial search but if I recall correctly there has been searches years later in the summer done by volunteers, I think a few private investigators spearheaded the effort, as there's been pro Bono work done on the case.

Fred Murray himself has said to spent countless hours looking as well, perhaps with others. In fact I think there was one instance where he was asked to leave private property.

I'd like to hear more about the searches, there's very little specifically mentioned about them. I know Lt. Scarinza basically led the effort and NH Fish & Game Dept. was involved. Conditions were favorable (ie no new snow) during the early attempts but nothing was ever found.

I'd like to think they considered various directions of travel when starting from the accident site and focused on a broad area. By Scarinza's comments it seemingly was well organized and it didn't appear to be some inept search party. But honestly we really don't know the focus or the tactics considered when they did this.

In the end, they likely covered wide area, and still found nothing. I don't think she's out there, at least not on public property within the radius of the crash.

 

[staybeautiful]

i'm wondering if she tried to follow the river. she had survival training, and the river runs right beside the road. it would be a great way to get at least part of the way to where she was going, while staying out of sight.

i think she could very well be in the nearby woods. i've read dozens of cases where people are found years later, in places that were searched before.

 

[Caffeine]

Yeah that's the unusual thing with this case, because in many instances areas were searched and then 3 to 8 years later they find a body right in the same search vicinity. But we're 12 years into this now and we've found nothing so that adds another layer of mystery to it. I don't think at this point she is in that general area of where she crashed on Route 112, at least not on public land (private property is a different story). However, the river that runs parallel to the road I don't know many details about. I've traveled through the area before, while living in NH, but I don't know the specifics of the terrain as well as a true local there. I'm not sure if it has a current or would be frozen that time of year, but generally when I've read local people comment on it, it didn't seem like a probability, so I'm guessing it was likely frozen at the time.

On a site note, I was recently reading about a case that reminded me a bit of the circumstances of this one. In 2000, Arizona native and mother of 5, Betty Lee was missing after a night out with friends. Her two female friends said they were at a bar that night, where they met two males, whom they wanted to leave with. Betty was upset, and felt left out but the two companions left with the men anyway, leaving Betty with no ride home in the early morning. Upset and angry, she walked to an adjacent convenience store to use the pay phone and tried to call a family member, who didn't answer. A store clerk saw a woman using the phone briefly, but she was gone shortly after. Subsequently, Betty was found murdered in a remote area of desert.

Her case was eventually solved. Despite being 'seen one minute, gone the next' and vanishing in a short time frame, Betty walked away from the pay phone and almost immediately a car pulled up, 2 men offered her a ride home but, instead the strangers took her to the desert and killed her. Maybe because of the fact she had no other options, or because she had been drinking, she didn't think twice about taking a ride at night with people she didn't know.

 

[ATheLibrarian]

Nothing new here really, but she's #2 on this story.

http://www.bustle.com/articles/163081-4-haunting-missing-persons-cases-of-the-2000s

 

[snowblossom2]

Anyone read JR's book?

The epilogue and the info on BR was pretty damning and does give more insight into the type of relationship MM and BR had before she disappeared.

 

[ZooSleuth]

Anyone read JR's book?

The epilogue and the info on BR was pretty damning and does give more insight into the type of relationship MM and BR had before she disappeared.

I haven't read it, but know generally what the epilogue is about. Is it damning in relation to Maura's disappearance or just damning that he was a controlling boyfriend and a sleazeball?

 

[snowblossom2]

I haven't read it, but know generally what the epilogue is about. Is it damning in relation to Maura's disappearance or just damning that he was a controlling boyfriend and a sleazeball?

The latter - that he was controlling and a sleezebag

 

[Caffeine]

I doubt I'll read the book but the revelation about Billy, to me, isn't necessarily indicative that she conclusively ran away and left her former life behind.

All the points made that she did that could apply to a suicide outcome, or even the reasoning that she took an impromptu break and headed north and perhaps crossed paths with the wrong person.

Sure, it's a possibility that she hasn't been found because she's alive and doesn't want to be discovered. But it's also possible she hasn't been found because someone went to great lengths to hide her remains.

I won't rule anything out with this case, but time and time again we tend to find that people disappeared because of the intervention of another person.

 

[JamesRenner]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone from Websleuths who picked up a copy of True Crime Addict, my book on the Maura Murray case, last week. It sold out briefly in the bookstores around Boston but they're stocked again, now. The first editions will last another week or so. I also wanted to invite you out to my first public reading for this book at Trident Booksellers in Boston, June 15 at 7 p.m. I'll also be signing books at the Barnes & Noble in Hadley, Mass on June 16 at 7 pm. Hope to see you there!

 

[RPsleuth]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone from Websleuths who picked up a copy of True Crime Addict, my book on the Maura Murray case, last week. It sold out briefly in the bookstores around Boston but they're stocked again, now. The first editions will last another week or so. I also wanted to invite you out to my first public reading for this book at Trident Booksellers in Boston, June 15 at 7 p.m. I'll also be signing books at the Barnes & Noble in Hadley, Mass on June 16 at 7 pm. Hope to see you there!

Your book is excellent James! Come down to Baltimore/DC for a book signing. Would love to meet you.


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[mogirl09]

This case really vexes me, because I honestly think she is still alive. I looked at how close to Canada she was and it occurred to me that she could have been traveling through Canada to get to Alaska (Granted it would take 72 hours of driving) but Alaska folk can be super off the grid . I really have a hard time understanding the $4000, the trip to get a car and yet no car. What she was so upset about. Why her dad let her drive his car when she was drinking and was planning to drink more-- further why she did not get a DWI. She seems to take somewhat reckless of actions, not thinking of the possible consequences. The credit card theft, where she was to stay out of trouble for however long and then she wrecks his car, I cannot imagine how she escaped that but I believe she did get cited for it. Which makes me think she was very good at getting out of things... But if she got into any further criminal problems that credit card charge would stick to her arrest record.. Theft is one of the worst things one can have on your record, nobody wants to hire someone who has a history of theft. Furthermore, her scholarship and potential nursing career would be in serious jeopardy. I think that when she wrecked the car she had to come up with a plan B, quickly. The neighbor who retracted her statement about the men smoking a cigarette, saying it was probably her cell phone but it's been clearly laid out that there is no cell phone service out there.
I wish the people who are close to this who have been silent for so long would just come out with it.. give everyone some closure! That's my .02 I just joined but have been following this for a while.

 

[leep]

This case really vexes me, because I honestly think she is still alive. I looked at how close to Canada she was and it occurred to me that she could have been traveling through Canada to get to Alaska (Granted it would take 72 hours of driving) but Alaska folk can be super off the grid . I really have a hard time understanding the $4000, the trip to get a car and yet no car. What she was so upset about. Why her dad let her drive his car when she was drinking and was planning to drink more-- further why she did not get a DWI. She seems to take somewhat reckless of actions, not thinking of the possible consequences. The credit card theft, where she was to stay out of trouble for however long and then she wrecks his car, I cannot imagine how she escaped that but I believe she did get cited for it. Which makes me think she was very good at getting out of things... But if she got into any further criminal problems that credit card charge would stick to her arrest record.. Theft is one of the worst things one can have on your record, nobody wants to hire someone who has a history of theft. Furthermore, her scholarship and potential nursing career would be in serious jeopardy. I think that when she wrecked the car she had to come up with a plan B, quickly. The neighbor who retracted her statement about the men smoking a cigarette, saying it was probably her cell phone but it's been clearly laid out that there is no cell phone service out there.
I wish the people who are close to this who have been silent for so long would just come out with it.. give everyone some closure! That's my .02 I just joined but have been following this for a while.

:wagon:and thanks for your post, this case vexes me too ;-)

 

[Caffeine]

She seems to take somewhat reckless of actions, not thinking of the possible consequences.

For that reason I've always leaned to her no longer being alive. Her actions prior to the disappearance suggest she was perhaps having a tough time with her personal life, things were getting a bit of hand. But these were all poor decisions on her part: drinking, crashing cars, theft etc. Not to say she was a bad person, but she obviously had some personal struggles.

To me all the reckless behavior led to her going missing. But, with actions like this I don't she she did so voluntarily. With her running away I think the same problems would have followed and in turn she would have been in trouble for one thing or another. Disappearing for 12 years isn't some easy feet. It happens but, this is a fairly well known case. Unless she is a full blown recluse I think she would have been found or made contact by now.

I never really found the basis of her running away under these circumstances to make sense. She wasn't facing any criminal or federal charges. I don't get it.



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[italianangel2411]

Hauntingly, yet beautifully written.

there are so many similiarities. I do believe that Maura had that symbolic book just like she did for a reason. I think Maura was having a lot of personal troubles and maybe she didn't want to be found after taking her life.

 

[Coffeelover]

I've been following this case for years and one of the questions I still have is, how much of the surrounding area was thoroughly searched? I'm under the impression (not sure where I got this) that only about a one mile radius was searched, and not particularly thoroughly at that. No grid searches, not private land, etc. I think she's in the woods somewhere not too far away from the accident site. Does anyone have any info on the search area?

 

[Caffeine]

I've been following this case for years and one of the questions I still have is, how much of the surrounding area was thoroughly searched? I'm under the impression (not sure where I got this) that only about a one mile radius was searched, and not particularly thoroughly at that. No grid searches, not private land, etc. I think she's in the woods somewhere not too far away from the accident site. Does anyone have any info on the search area?

I don't think there was ever information released regarding the exact radius in which they searched. They did utilize a helicopter and heat seeking technology but as far as how methodical and the distance they covered, I doubt we'll ever know.

Going into the woods, possibly unprepared, at 7 pm in February in NH is not a simple task. First off, it's pitch black. We don't even have an indication she had a flashlight. She would essentially be running blind, with a little moonlight in some places. Her shoes and clothing are another aspect of this. You can't comfortably venture out in the woods in a pair of running shoes and cotton socks. Once your feet get wet they will become frigid, and then numb. Same with the rest of her body, once it gets wet, it's a huge disadvantage in the cold, and even if it was 30 degrees at 7 pm, it's only going to get colder.

If she managed to get outside of a reasonable radius of the crash it was either due to her having much more gear than we originally assumed....or she went by car.

 

[Steleheart]

I don't think there was ever information released regarding the exact radius in which they searched. They did utilize a helicopter and heat seeking technology but as far as how methodical and the distance they covered, I doubt we'll ever know.

Going into the woods, possibly unprepared, at 7 pm in February in NH is not a simple task. First off, it's pitch black. We don't even have an indication she had a flashlight. She would essentially be running blind, with a little moonlight in some places. Her shoes and clothing are another aspect of this. You can't comfortably venture out in the woods in a pair of running shoes and cotton socks. Once your feet get wet they will become frigid, and then numb. Same with the rest of her body, once it gets wet, it's a huge disadvantage in the cold, and even if it was 30 degrees at 7 pm, it's only going to get colder.

If she managed to get outside of a reasonable radius of the crash it was either due to her having much more gear than we originally assumed....or she went by car.

Like snow shoes or xc skis. No one but no one can run through 2 feet of snow after about 100 yards IMO.

She didn't as far as we know.