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

[dawkins87]

Yeah, the Disappeared show definitely left out some important information about Maura (perhaps to assure her father's cooperation with the show), such as her arrest for credit card theft. This doesn't make her any less sympathetic, but it does offer further insight into her possible frame of mind and her growing depression.

 

[Ibiz]

I couldn't agree more. People have tried to find a more sensational, horror movie-like explanation for this case, when seems simply that a somewhat disturbed young woman with perhaps an alcohol problem had car accident while intoxicated, worried when the passing motorist said he would call the police, tried to flee while both under the influence an disoriented from the accident and got lost in the very dense woods. Alcohol counters the feeling of being cold, therefore she didn't realize the risk she was putting herself in by heading further out into the freezing night.

Wouldn't they have found her footprints in the snow?

 

[dawkins87]

To believe the 'abductor theory', you have to believe that a serial killer/sexual predator, rather than cruise the streets of L.A. or some other big city (or even small town), would be driving through a very, sparsely populated portion of the northeast (in the middle of a very dense forest) in the middle of a cold, winter night and just be lucky enough to find an attractive, young woman immobilized by a car accident and intoxicated available for the taking. Again, the mundane (a troubled young woman fleeing the seen of a DWI) is often the most likely explanation.

 

[Steleheart]

To believe the 'abductor theory', you have to believe that a serial killer/sexual predator, rather than cruise the streets of L.A. or some other big city (or even small town), would be driving through a very, sparsely populated portion of the northeast (in the middle of a very dense forest) in the middle of a cold, winter night and just be lucky enough to find an attractive, young woman immobilized by a car accident and intoxicated available for the taking. Again, the mundane (a troubled young woman fleeing the seen of a DWI) is often the most likely explanation.

Someone can be abducted by someone they know. AFAIK there has been no SK in that area.

IMHO I still go with unknown baby daddy who met up with her and did not like her decision to keep the child. Unknown.
(Possibly from New years.)

:cow:

 

[Pettibon Junction]

AFAIK there has been no SK in that area.

FYI there have been no fewer than three unidentified serial killers in New Hampshire in the past 30 years.

 

[Ibiz]

Why would it had to have been a serial killer?

 

[Caffeine]

Why would it had to have been a serial killer?

It doesn't.

And it doesn't necessarily have to make sense.

I forget the exact details but about 10 years ago a few kids broke into a residence late one night in NH (maybe Woodsville area?) and murdered a woman, and probably would have murdered her daughter given the chance...for no good reason.

People tend to rule out situations like this because they so rarely happen, but regardless of the odds they still occur.

 

[missgulfsouth]

It's no wonder there are so many rabbit trails in this case, Maura was behaving very strangely and had lots or secrets. Details I find most bizarre:

The phone call with her sister Kathleen that left her in tears, her supervisor found her staring into space / zoned out, mumbling something about "my sister".

Stealing credit cards.

Cheating on her BF.

Drinking and drinking and drinking.

Crashing cars.

Seemingly paranoid behavior.

Sneaking around, hiding things from even those closest to her.

Dorm full of packed boxes.

Why did this otherwise intelligent high achiever begin to display such disorganized, erratic behavior, and poor decision making?

Eating disorder.

Her "friends" refusing to talk.
****************************************

She decided to leave town to clear her head, but her budding alcoholism naturally muddied the situation even further, leading to another car crash. She panicked and fled. I did wonder if she may have learned she was pregnant (that will cause foggy thinking and cluttered headspace) but birth control pills were packed with her belongings. I think Maura's own secretive behaviors led to a downward spiral and have caused her case to remain unsolved, simply because there are too many possibilities. She seemed suicidal. She was not in a good place for a lot of reasons. Had she opened up more about what she was up to, perhaps her family would have answers.

Given -7 degree temps and heavy snow that night, combined with alcohol, I believe she succumbed to hypothermia. Maybe she hitched a ride. Either way, she is no longer alive. IMO

 

[shadowdancer]

Wouldn't they have found her footprints in the snow?

No. There are several different possible reasons for no footprints.

1) Maura escaped the scene by running in the centre of the road where there was no snow and then entered the woods where the undergrowth was very thick.

2) The ground was frozen, so no footprints were made.

3) The snowfall was very heavy that night, so perhaps this covered up Maura's footprints.

 

[DBinMA]

An alcohol problem complicated by mental illness.... or vice versa (many of which appear in the late teens early 20's) would explain all of those things.
====================================
It's no wonder there are so many rabbit trails in this case, Maura was behaving very strangely and had lots or secrets. Details I find most bizarre:

The phone call with her sister Kathleen that left her in tears, her supervisor found her staring into space / zoned out, mumbling something about "my sister".

Stealing credit cards.

Cheating on her BF.

Drinking and drinking and drinking.

Crashing cars.

Seemingly paranoid behavior.

Sneaking around, hiding things from even those closest to her.

Dorm full of packed boxes.

Why did this otherwise intelligent high achiever begin to display such disorganized, erratic behavior, and poor decision making?

Eating disorder.

 

[missgulfsouth]

I can no longer edit my post up there, but just had a lightbulb moment.

Searches on her computer about the effects of alcohol on a pregnancy ...
Her spaciness, emotional instability ...

Was she crashing cars on purpose, continuing to take birth control pills, and drinking so excessively, all in an effort to abort?

 

[Aleph]

I can no longer edit my post up there, but just had a lightbulb moment.

Searches on her computer about the effects of alcohol on a pregnancy ...
Her spaciness, emotional instability ...

Was she crashing cars on purpose, continuing to take birth control pills, and drinking so excessively, all in an effort to abort?

That's a really interesting thought.

 

[Steleheart]

I can no longer edit my post up there, but just had a lightbulb moment.

Searches on her computer about the effects of alcohol on a pregnancy ...
Her spaciness, emotional instability ...

Was she crashing cars on purpose, continuing to take birth control pills, and drinking so excessively, all in an effort to abort?

Maybe subconsciously? With alcoholism maybe she forgot her pill at the new years party but continued to take them afterward. Didn't Kathleen say she didn't talk to her the night of the "phone call"? Was it a doctor confirming her pregnancy?
IDK

 

[missgulfsouth]

R

Maybe subconsciously? With alcoholism maybe she forgot her pill at the new years party but continued to take them afterward. Didn't Kathleen say she didn't talk to her the night of the "phone call"? Was it a doctor confirming her pregnancy?
IDK

The "accidents", the alcohol, if you take a bunch of BC pills at once it acts as an abortive ... those details, combined with her search for lodging in Burlington where there was an abortion clinic ... it's a possibility.

 

[Brainy]

R

The "accidents", the alcohol, if you take a bunch of BC pills at once it acts as an abortive ... those details, combined with her search for lodging in Burlington where there was an abortion clinic ... it's a possibility.

I agree with you. Something must have happened to make this girl behave so erratically. For a 21 y/o college girl pregnancy (especially an unplanned) would be just the thing to push her over the edge. The combination of other things… like alcohol, excessive use of birth control pills, her irrational behavior of wanting to go away in such a hurry, numerous car accidents in a short amount of time… all point to that something life-changing happened to her. She was very likely embarrassed devastated, felt like she couldn’t trust anybody and decided to take the matters into her own hands and decided to go away to get rid of the baby in secret. Frankly, I don’t think Maura had a certain plan in mind. I think she had a vague idea of what she wanted to do, and considering that she was drinking heavily, there was no way that she could have had a decent plan to deal with the situation.
I think she was at a wrong place at a wrong time. Her last accident was the last thing that just made everything worse. She thought she’s going to get busted for a DUI, get a jail time/pay money, her secrets and going to get unraveled, and to her, that was the end of the world.

 

[Mtdesq]

I have been following the Maura Murray cases for many years and I still have mixed feelings about what really happened. I do not think that she ran away and is living somewhere under the radar. Why? I think that Maura would not have left her family. I do believe that she was in crisis at the time of her disappearance; the criminal charges, the drinking. And I do believe that she was planning on going up to the Mount Washington area for a quick getaway escape. I think that this was an abduction. I know the time line gives an impossibly narrow time for the abduction, but is entirely possible.


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[Brainy]

I have been following the Maura Murray cases for many years and I still have mixed feelings about what really happened. I do not think that she ran away and is living somewhere under the radar. Why? I think that Maura would not have left her family. I do believe that she was in crisis at the time of her disappearance; the criminal charges, the drinking. And I do believe that she was planning on going up to the Mount Washington area for a quick getaway escape. I think that this was an abduction. I know the time line gives an impossibly narrow time for the abduction, but is entirely possible.


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Yeah, anything is posible, however chances are astronomically high that she was not abducted.

 

[Vivette]

But the dogs tracked her scent to a busy? what's the English word again.. intersection?
So why and how did that happen then, and where did she go after the dogs lost her scent there?

 

[Brainy]

But the dogs tracked her scent to a busy? what's the English word again.. intersection?
So why and how did that happen then, and where did she go after the dogs lost her scent there?

Into the woods.

The reason her remains haven’t been discovered is because it is a very wild, remote and thick wooded area. It is very easy to miss something if you are looking for anything.

 

[Vivette]

Oh, I thought they tracked her to an intersection. Weird.