NH NH - Maura Murray, 21, Haverhill, 9 Feb 2004 #15

[Springrain]

I really hope they have something, but I worry the remains were possibly eaten and scattered by scavengers to the point that they will be lucky to find anything. JMO. I hope I am wrong.

 

[NeoWise]

There were dogs that were brought in to track her scent....and this stopped in the middle of the road. That would indicate she got into another vehicle. Although these dogs aren't 100% reliable, they're pretty good.

But there are too many "ifs and ands" and strange coincidences and other odd happenings that anything could have happened. For me, there is no one leading theory. All of them are plausible.

MOO

That's another question I had: why concluding she got in another vehicle just because the dogs lost her scent after 100 yards? Could there be other reasons?

<modsnip - reddit is not an approved source>

The Oxygen program makes a big point of the live-scent dogs going 100 yards. I spoke with the dog handlers immediately following the search and here’s what they told me: “The scent was too weak and too old — the conditions, so much traffic, all the people that had been there, have destroyed the integrity of the scent.” They didn’t think the results could be depended on — the trail was cold and unreliable.

The search experts cited in the Oxygen documentary said trackable scent trails persist from 4 to 48 hours, with the obvious implication that the upper estimate would be under ideal circumstances. In Maura’s case, dogs arrived 36 hours after she vanished to track on a frozen stretch of highway that hundreds of vehicles had passed through in both directions. The chances the dogs actually detected Maura’s scent still resting on that highway are slim to none. "

 

[annpats]

This is my number 1 case I'd like to see solved. Even finding some remains or belongings would be getting closer to an answer.
At this point, anything would help.

 

[OddOneOut]

New article about a new search being conducted.

‘First crime mystery of the social media age' still unsolved

 

[Jorgiexo]

I've been searching but havent been able to find anything... does anyone know if anything new came of this recent search? Or what made them research this location? Praying for this family to finally find some closure

 

[tigerteeth]

I've been searching but havent been able to find anything... does anyone know if anything new came of this recent search? Or what made them research this location? Praying for this family to finally find some closure

Have not seen any updates.
Curious, though.

 

[Hoosgirl]

Very poignant interview with Maura's sister:

‘Is she being held captive against her will?’ Fears for Maura Murray

A promising young nursing student vanished in February 2004 after a minor car crash in New Hampshire; state authorities last week announced a new search in relation to the case. Her sister tells Sheila Flynn how the family has coped for 18 years with hints of hope and tips – and what their...

www.google.com

 

[tarnishedhalo]

The Disappeared episode of this case was aired again here in the UK the other day, it reaffirmed my thinking that dad was angry about her crashing his car and let her know it (who wouldn't, I would've been pretty pissed), I could see the discomfort in his voice and eyes when he spoke of it and I reckon he feels very guilty about it which adds more motivation to constantly search for her. My point being is she felt extremely bad for the crash and took off feeling terrible that she let him down, she bought booze-perhaps to numb her feelings-maybe she accepted a lift from the wrong person, her radar would've been impaired after all, or she wandered off in an inebriated state and got injured. Sorry if this has been discussed before, it's a long thread to read through! Hope she is found

 

[ilovewings]

The Disappeared episode of this case was aired again here in the UK the other day, it reaffirmed my thinking that dad was angry about her crashing his car and let her know it (who wouldn't, I would've been pretty pissed), I could see the discomfort in his voice and eyes when he spoke of it and I reckon he feels very guilty about it which adds more motivation to constantly search for her. My point being is she felt extremely bad for the crash and took off feeling terrible that she let him down, she bought booze-perhaps to numb her feelings-maybe she accepted a lift from the wrong person, her radar would've been impaired after all, or she wandered off in an inebriated state and got injured. Sorry if this has been discussed before, it's a long thread to read through! Hope she is found

I go along with your thought process in most ways- people are concocting all kinds of off the wall theories and conspiracies including pointing the finger at her poor father. Putting myself in her place, I am driving a long and I crash my car pretty badly ( why did she crash the car? was she high, that I don't know)-- anyway, she is in a strange place, freezing, perhaps somewhat disoriented and someone comes along and offers her a lift. she is very very desperate to get out of the cold. Perhaps this person told her he would take her to a gas station and help her out- If I were her, I would probably go with the first person that offered to help me in that situation. Sadly, the person who said he was going to help her
killed her and buried her body where it will never be found. She could also have wandered off and died from hypothermia, but under that circumstance you would think her body would have been found. I tend to go with the simplest explanation. It is interesting how this case has fascinated people for 18 years!!!

 

[Laughing]

I go along with your thought process in most ways- people are concocting all kinds of off the wall theories and conspiracies including pointing the finger at her poor father. Putting myself in her place, I am driving a long and I crash my car pretty badly ( why did she crash the car? was she high, that I don't know)-- anyway, she is in a strange place, freezing, perhaps somewhat disoriented and someone comes along and offers her a lift. she is very very desperate to get out of the cold. Perhaps this person told her he would take her to a gas station and help her out- If I were her, I would probably go with the first person that offered to help me in that situation. Sadly, the person who said he was going to help her
killed her and buried her body where it will never be found. She could also have wandered off and died from hypothermia, but under that circumstance you would think her body would have been found. I tend to go with the simplest explanation. It is interesting how this case has fascinated people for 18 years!!!

but -- she didn't go with the first person to offer help, as I understand it. The first person lived very close to the wreck site, a school bus driver, wife in the house IIRC.

So -- perhaps she went with the first person to offer escape?

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[OddOneOut]

Has any new information come out about the woman seen running down the road? Someone could have stopped and made her nervous so she ran. That person could have caught up with her.

 

[OddOneOut]

Did they ever find out what the phone call was that got her upset and who it was from?

 

[Laughing]

Did they ever find out what the phone call was that got her upset and who it was from?

IIRC, Maura indicated the call was from her sister, the sister had spoken with her that day IIRC but the conversation wouldn't have resulted in Maura's stunned reaction?

Hope someone can explain this better!

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[OddOneOut]

IIRC, Maura indicated the call was from her sister, the sister had spoken with her that day IIRC but the conversation wouldn't have resulted in Maura's stunned reaction?

Hope someone can explain this better!

jmho ymmv lrr

I hope so too. I knew about her talking to her sister that day; however, I got the impression that it wasn't the same call.

 

[White_Mountains]

Did they ever find out what the phone call was that got her upset and who it was from?

I’m not sure anyone knows 100% that it was a phone call that made Maura upset. It’s my understanding that she spoke to her sister, Kathleen, at 10:10 pm on 12/5 for 28 minutes. This was approximately 2 hours before she was found by her supervisor, Karen, to be in the catatonic state (or semi-catatonic state, can’t recall the exact wording).

Maura had spoken to Billy, her boyfriend/fiancé, for a few minutes just after midnight (12/6 from 12:07-12:14 am). Arguably, this could have been the last phone call before Maura was found so upset. While it’s possible that Maura received a phone call on the landline at the desk, I’m not sure if that info was made available.

 

[White_Mountains]

Has any new information come out about the woman seen running down the road? Someone could have stopped and made her nervous so she ran. That person could have caught up with her.

I haven’t seen any new info materialize about the report of being spotted running down the road or the latest search on 7/13.

I live in the area and think about MM often.

 

[Rtael]

IIRC, Maura indicated the call was from her sister, the sister had spoken with her that day IIRC but the conversation wouldn't have resulted in Maura's stunned reaction?

Hope someone can explain this better!

jmho ymmv lrr

As said above it looks like the call was a good bit before she was seen to be apparently in distress. I've seen it reported that the call was possibly upsetting though - I believe her sister had just gotten out of rehab, was picked up by her BF, and then went straight to the liquor store after.

 

[DEEA]

Did they ever did a 'reconstruction' at the crash site? (who could see what and when)
How well could Maura from her position near the car see people watching from their houses?
She clearly didn't want contact with police, and she likely didn't want to see people what direction she went.
The 'perfect timing' of her dissapearing could be as simple as she started running down the road when she saw nobody watching.

Another question:
Did they had cellphone service in Lincoln NH in 2004?

The New Hampshire League of Investigators came on side the case not sure of the timeline on that, and they did a complete accident reconstruction as well. They concluded that the accident site between the Weathered Barn and Bradley Hill Road on 112, was staged.
The question of cell phone service in Lincoln, I believe so, but not in the vicinity of where the Saturn was found.

 

[Rtael]

The New Hampshire League of Investigators came on side the case not sure of the timeline on that, and they did a complete accident reconstruction as well. They concluded that the accident site between the Weathered Barn and Bradley Hill Road on 112, was staged.
The question of cell phone service in Lincoln, I believe so, but not in the vicinity of where the Saturn was found.

Interesting, why did they think it was staged?

 

[Laughing]

Interesting, why did they think it was staged?

A friend of ours is a state trooper & teaches accident investigation & reconstruction at the highway patrol academy, but not in a New England state.

These investigators know how vehicles move & how they wreck, on dry roads, icy roads, snowy roads, rainy roads, rain on leaves on road, snow on leaves on road, etc etc etc.

In their combined professional training & experience, that model car would not end up in that off-road location under those conditions naturally.

ymmv lrr