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

[Moggie73]

I was just listening to an interview of Fred Maurray and it hit me, he has a very recognizable voice, I may not recognize him if I saw him on the street, I am AWFUL at recognizing people. That got me wondering if there are any videos of Maura. I'm sure she also has a recagnosable voice, maybe even a slight Boston accent. It is easy to change the way you look, but to change your voice, or your speech pattern is much harder. What are you thoughts?

 

[Fireweed]

I was just listening to an interview of Fred Maurray and it hit me, he has a very recognizable voice, I may not recognize him if I saw him on the street, I am AWFUL at recognizing people. That got me wondering if there are any videos of Maura. I'm sure she also has a recagnosable voice, maybe even a slight Boston accent. It is easy to change the way you look, but to change your voice, or your speech pattern is much harder. What are you thoughts?

I think many have speculated as to whether Maura has a "wicked" accent. Her sister Kathleen does not seem to have one, or if she does it is not that strong. I suspect that Maura's accent was/is not strong like her father's.

 

[Tarik]

There are a few family clips from Maura where you see her talking and laughing with Bill, they were shown in the Disappeared episode. Other than that, I don't recall any other footage of Maura that was made public. I'm curious, what exactly is Fred's accent? I'm not familiar with all the accents within the US.

 

[Moggie73]

For me, it isn't his accent that is strong, I live in the Boston area, but grew up about an hour south of where Maura's accident. His voice is just unique, his inflection in certain words... I can't explain it. Like I said, I may not notice him in the grocery store, but if I heard him talk, I'd know it was him. I didn't hear Maura's voice in the disappeared episode. Did I miss something? I saw pictures.

 

[Tarik]

For me, it isn't his accent that is strong, I live in the Boston area, but grew up about an hour south of where Maura's accident. His voice is just unique, his inflection in certain words... I can't explain it. Like I said, I may not notice him in the grocery store, but if I heard him talk, I'd know it was him. I didn't hear Maura's voice in the disappeared episode. Did I miss something? I saw pictures.

I don't think you hear her voice per se in the Disappeared episode because it's narrated over but there is some footage of Maura that was given to news media, that much I know. Whether that can be found somewhere online with Maura's voice being heard on it, I don't know, I haven't checked. But with the amount of information available online about this case, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a footage with Maura and her voice somewhere in the deep Web.

 

[bessie]

ADMIN NOTE: The thread is open for posting again.

The subject of the thread is Maura Murray, not authors, bloggers, nor WS members. A few of you have an inability to make a distinction between ideas and individuals. If you refuse to post like a mature adult, you won't be allowed to post at all.

If you have a problem with something you've read on a blog, post your complaints there. Don't bring them here.

There will be no more warnings, and the thread won't be closed again. Instead, the offending posters will be issued immediate and lengthy time outs, no questions asked.

Bessie

 

[Moggie73]

I just rewatched the Chronicle episode, at the 26 second mark they show a damaged tree, is that tree really at the accident scene? Or are they using a "poetic license"?

 

[Moggie73]

Oops. Didn't show that it posted.

 

[Caffeine]

I just rewatched the Chronicle episode, at the 26 second mark they show a damaged tree, is that tree really at the accident scene? Or are they using a "poetic license"?

The tree is kind of a contested point; some (like Tim Westman) say she hit the tree, whereas others tend to think she impacted the snow bank only.

In any case I don't know if that particular detail makes a difference in what ultimately happened to her, but who knows.

 

[Steleheart]

The tree is kind of a contested point; some (like Tim Westman) say she hit the tree, whereas others tend to think she impacted the snow bank only.

In any case I don't know if that particular detail makes a difference in what ultimately happened to her, but who knows.

So there is where I get confused. Was she backward on the opposite side of the road or backward next to the snow bank? Need to review, Can anyone clarify that?

 

[Moggie73]

My understanding is her drivers side was against the snow bank.

I had had heard that none of the trees in that area showed damage and her vehicle didn't have damage consistent with a tree strike, BUT the chronicle show CLEARLY showed a tree with recent damage, that was at an angle that COULD have caused the damage, I've never seen this tree before, I'm wondering if it is really at this location, or if Chronicle used a little "poetic license"

 

[Moggie73]

 

[Moggie73]

I KNOW the photo is awful! But it was the best I could do, this is a screen shot from the Chronicle show that I blew up...

 

[BillNH]

What do you think are the chances Maura Murray is still alive? I've got it between slim and none.

Just catching up after being absent for many months...

Without applying any preconceived notions, statistics or personal feelings, taking the information we have and only the information we have, it has to be 51% alive and 49% deceased. Nothing that we know about her disappearance rules out her being alive so i have to give that the nod of a slightly higher percentage. There is no evidence of foul play anywhere. The police will not say a crime was committed even though they are treating it as a criminal investigation, that's a sidestep of a definitive answer from them, they don't know for sure either. It cannot be anything but 51/49.

 

[BillNH]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the "running away to Canada" theory is just a convenient theory with very little substance to it that someone put out there to try and give a plausible explanation for Maura's disappearance. It's convenient because Canada happens to be "close" to where she went missing. You see these things all the time. If someone goes missing in Arizona, California or Texas, some people will claim they ran away to Mexico because it's convenient due to the area where the person was last seen. The fact of the matter is, given the state in which the US was back in 2004 (3 years after 9/11), there is absolutely no way in my mind that she could have crossed the border unnoticed. Also, the Canadian border is about 90 miles or 2 hour drive from the spot where Maura went missing. The closest border crossing is at Lac-Wallace in Québec. Unless Maura had incredible acting skills, a detailed premeditated plan and Oscar-award worthy preparations, she couldn't have disappeared in the woods and then driven with someone all the way up to Canada without being caught or seen by anyone even at night. And if she was smuggled to Canada, the border patrol would have noticed something suspicious. I live in Canada about 2 hours from the US border and trust me both the US and Canadian border agents are pretty strict about who they let in, especially in Canada. Whenever I go to the US and back home in Canada, even as a Canadian Citizen, my car gets thoroughly inspected and processed at the border. I don't think this was any different in 2004, if anything they were even more strict about who they let in. So yeah, all in all, it doesn't seem at all feasable to me that she ran away to Canada where she's been hiding for 12 years.

In 2005, 2006,2007 I went through the crossing at Lac-Wallace a dozen times and only showed a driver license on 3 or 4 occasions. She could have easily made it across the border with ID alone or possibly not at all, since no one was actually looking for her that night.

 

[BillNH]

I believe the description of how her room looked when they entered was told to reporters by the investigator that actually entered her room.

 

[BillNH]

Fair enough but what does the fact that they potentially no longer have sexual/intimate access to young, pretty women have to do with them wanting to come out of this as heroes?? I just don't understand the connection and I don't feel like John Smith would act any different if Maura happened to be a man. Hell, if a disappearance happened 15 miles from my house and stayed unsolved for years, I too would want to get in and find out what happened, regardless of the potential victim being male or female.

Case in point....

A young man disappeared without a trace in Woodsville (3 miles from MM accident scene) right around the time MM disappeared. John smith talks about Brianna Maitland and Maura, has never mentioned this young man at all that I know of. It's anecdotal, but relevant. John Smith is a bit of an old cook, and is a conspiracy theorist. He should not be held as the gold standard of unbiased investigating.

 

[BillNH]

That's just your personal opinion not supported by concrete evidence but based on what he said on the podcast I personally am inclined to believe him. I'm not saying his opinions are the absolute truth but most of them make sense and add up. He debunked many theories that were completely false (Maura's car hitting a tree, for instance), he asked the right questions and he's already answered back to his accusators multiple times. Oh and Fred Murray, who has not exactly been very open to the locals in NH since 2004, trusts him completely. That should tell you something.

I don't believe he has debunked anything as far as the car crash goes. He has a theory, like others. One thing that throws a wrench into his version is how do we know any of the damage to the car wasn't done a week before the accident, or 2 months before? Got pictures of the Saturn from January 9 2004? I am not suggesting the Petri Vasi link but what I am suggesting that his reconstruction is after the fact. There is no evidence the dent in the hood that John Smith attributes to the HPD SUV was not there a week before the car was in Haverhill, NH. Someone could have backed into the Saturn at UMASS. Yet he wants to implicate all LE in NH in a coverup.

 

[BillNH]

I'm not sure that I'd agree there was sloppy/careless police work, at least on the night of the accident. If anyone is guilty of being careless it's Maura. I think the question that needs to be asked did the police do what is reasonable the night of the accident, and I think they did.
1. Maura was offered help by Butch Atwood which she refused. I can see how she'd be hesitant if he was driving along in a pickup truck, but he was in a school bus.
2. Maura could've walked to the Westman's and she chose not to.
3. Cecil Smith's notes matches dispatch logs from the best I can tell. His notes stated he arrived at the scene approximately 7:46 PM noted the accident and interviewed witnesses. He radioed in to dispatch and at 7:54 PM Rhonda Marsh advised per Cecil Smith that all fire units bol for a female about 5'7" on foot, victim of a crash.
4. According to the police report Cecil assisted by Fire, EMS and a local resident searched the area of the accident without success.
5. Road conditions were dry (not icy or slippery or wet) there's noway to determine how far she could've made it on foot and no real way of knowing for certain whether or not she saw the police and chose to evade them which is rational considering her past history. People may choose to see Maura as a damsel in distress, but she's far from it!

I think what was done is reasonable considering she refused help, could've gone to the Westman's, could've stayed at the accident site, Cecil, fire, ems and local resident conducted a search of the area.

People want to criticize police by saying they should've/could've done this or that but Maura should've accepted help or could've stayed at the site or could've gone to the Westman's. I can't think of anything the police would want to cover up or hide. It seems to me what they did the night of the accident was reasonable.

I totally agree and I am glad someone on here finally decided to say so. There have been many similar cases all over the country of someone having a minor accident and disappearing without any sign of struggle or distress at the scene and in most cases, police treated it exactly the same way as they did in Haverhill. If they treated it differently it was because they found reason to. That reason was missing in this case and I believe the Haverhill PD did what the scene and situation dictated.

 

[BillNH]

I too believe she killed herself accidentally or on purpose but just because I can't prove it doesn't mean it shouldn't be looked at or mentioned at all just because some people have a hard time accepting that we can disagree. Thanks for your insight scoops or rather Mr. Harding.

I'm still asking the question : if we assume that all these people we've named have done more harm than good and have mostly spread misinformation, who can we actually trust at this point to provide us with good and credible information about this case going forward?

Here's the rub...There is no one that can supply us that information except MM herself. I wont go as far to say they have done more harm than good in regards to finding out what happened to MM, only because they, we, us, the general public haven't really affected the official investigation very much. We don't know how much of what JR, JS or the general public has passed on to LE they already knew about. We get no confirmation that the tip was a new one. They don't return calls to let you know they followed up on your email. There is no fully trustworthy 100% credible source to go to. That person does not exist because we all exist outside of the the official investigation and those that are most public and are willing to tell you what they "know", all have an agenda.