Just saw the atm images of her (which I believe are supposed to be the last known images of Maura taken before she vanished) and though you can't really make much of a couple still photos but on the surface it definitely does look like a girl who wasn't in a great state of mind at the time.
NH NH - Maura Murray, 21, Haverhill, 9 Feb 2004 - #14
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leilarose68
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Nah, I think her expressions were pretty normal for someone at the ATM... most people would be the same way: concentrating, neutral.
missmargot
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Apologies if I’ve missed an obvious source, but how do we know for sure that Maura had been drinking whilst driving? Looking at the roads and the driving conditions I’d be amazed she made it as far as she did before having an accident had she been drinking.
She purchased about thirty to forty dollars worth of alcoholic beverages (can't remember which one it was) just as she was leaving for her trip. Given that she seemed to have had a history with being careless with how she handled alcohol it's not hard to put two and two together.
Anybody who needs to have alcohol with them for a road trip has drinking issues (especially if they are driving alone).
Just as a comparison when I was her age my group of friends and I would go out drinking several times a week. We acted irresponsibly in some ways (mainly in just how we tried to hook up with girls our age and we would at times befriend them just so they would do things for us). However when it came to drinking and driving all of us were very responsible even at that age. If we were going somewhere to party we made sure that we had a designated driver. Even at 19,20, or 21 we knew the dangers of getting behind that wheel while intoxicated. Which is why I have very little sympathy for how Maura acted. I consider her to have been an extremely irresponsible and immature individual. And I imagine she had a bit of a reckless personality that didn't give two squats about stuff that didn't fall in line with what she wanted to do.
Sailor Haumea
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She bought a couple of bottles of liquids, including vodka, that would amount to one cocktail. She bought the ingredients to make one.
Basically, she seems to have been wanting to make her own cocktail - and there was only enough for one drink anyway. The alcohol isn't significant IMO.
Sorry but no. It's perfectly fine to try to create scenarios that don't make Maura look bad when it comes to why she was out there in the woods. But don't be trying to give her an out when it came to her abuse of alcohol.
Sailor Haumea
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There wasn't an egregious amount of alcohol.
Again, the amount is what you use to make ONE cocktail.
She had a history of having trouble handling alcohol. She went to a liquor store prior to going on a long trip and spent forty dollars there. Don't try to tell me the girl wasn't drinking and driving.
SavageMarkIII
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I respectfully disagree. Not sure where you got your information, but she had a box of wine. The boxed wine was spilled in the car. She also had Bailey's and Vodka. The amount has been reported as more than 1 person could drink. I also believe it was reported that she had already mixed an alcoholic drink and was drinking and driving, because the mixed drink and the other alcohol was left behind in the car.
Maura drinking and driving very well may have been the catalyst for her disappearing in the first place. She probably knew she would be in a world of crap if she got caught driving while intoxicated and that likely was the reason she left the car and refused help. What happened after that is all speculation in rather she met with foul play or simply decided to hide out for a day or two to allow herself to sober up but succumbed to the elements while she was out there. But I think most of us could agree that her trying to avoid a dui was likely why she left the car and refused any help when she had the chance. If she sobered up before reappearing all she would have to do is deny everything and they couldn't prove that she was actually under the influence when she crashed.
Skigirl
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Errr... anyone who makes ONE cocktail with the amount of alcohol in her car really needs help, not to mention a cocktail mixing lesson.
Skigirl
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Well, for one, there was wine in an open diet coke can (I am pretty sure it was a can, but it could have been a bottle) in the car and wine splashed around the car.
Ibiz
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Skigirl, is that you riding the scooter in your aviator?
Skigirl
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If I were a 1920s suffragette, I like to think that's how I would have looked.
Ibiz
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LOL.. It is kinda sexy.
So I up to this point really just pay attention to a very limited number of threads on this site (mainly just cases that I came across while streaming youtube videos (which is pretty much my form of tv watching)) and I realize that in this Maura Murray case the chances of her still being alive somewhere and living under a different identity (and likely a completely different look) is practically zero at this point. But does that happen very often at all in these cases where they have been missing for a period of time where they either show up or are found alive? I realize there is the situation just a few years back of the Cleveland girls and handful of other situations over the last thirty to fifty years. But if you had to put a percentage on the the number of people that show up/found alive after a period of time after being missing is that percentage not going to be much higher than zero?
Ozoner
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Definitely not very far north of zero, except in certain circumstances (somebody who has ourstanding warrants or back child support due or who drifts back into drugs & prostitution, etc.).
A young person like Maura might take off for a few weeks but not for 14 years.
PaulR
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Lori Erica Ruff is an exception - left due to stress (her parent's divorcing - certainly Maura was under a lot of stress as well.) But she got her new identity pre-9/11 when this was very easy (find a kid who died very young, order a birth certificate, claim to be them and ask for a SS #.) Frankly we don't know how many people did this - if they didn't find the lockbox after Ruff committed suicide, how far would the family have looked at her past?
But I don't think Maura would have been able to do the birth certificate thing in 2004, it had already been closed up and everyone was a lot more careful about false identities. You can't live a comfortable but sheltered life anymore like Ruff or Chandler, 14 years is a long time to live off the grid.
Yeah. In order for someone to pull off something like that in this day and age would they basically have to be constantly moving around. Not put any money in the bank. And never hold on to any longterm relationships/friendships unless they are people who are helping you out with your secret?
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