This is from Wikipedia and other readings I did. I have added my commentary in BLUE.
Thursday, February 5, 2004
10:20 PM - Maura talks on the phone with her older sister during a slow time during Maura's work (UMass Student Security). The two talk about guy problems (what kind of guy problems?) in what is described as a normal sisterly conversation. Maura's sister observes nothing abnormal in Maura.
Friday, February 6, 2004
1:00 AM - Maura receives a phone call at work, becomes upset early in the morning and is escorted back to her dorm room by her supervisor. Was this phone call traced?
Saturday, February 7, 2004
Time unknown - Accompanied with her father Fred, Maura goes used car shopping. She has not used her black 1996 Saturn much recently due to mechanical problems and has instead been getting rides from friends.
Time unknown - Maura and her father are joined by one of her female friends for dinner at an Amherst restaurant.
Time unknown - Maura drops her father off at his hotel room, and then borrows his brand new Toyota Corolla and goes back to the UMass campus to a dorm party with her friend.
Sunday, February 8, 2004
2:30 AM - Maura leaves her friend's dorm and heads to her father's hotel room.
3:30 AM - Maura hits a guardrail while driving her father's Corolla on Route 9 in Hadley. No charges are filed by the police. Damages total $8,000. Her father observes that she is shaken up and apologetic. [2] Was she intoxicated from the dorm party? Or did she simply lose control of the car in the snow (again?)
4:49 AM - Maura calls her boyfriend, who is stationed in Oklahoma, from her father's cell phone. What did they discuss?
Time unknown - Fred makes some telephone calls and informs Maura that his auto insurance should cover the damages.
Time unknown - Fred rents a car, drops Maura off at UMass, and heads to Connecticut for work.
8:30 PM - Maura checks her cellphone voice messages, most likely via her cellphone.
11:26 PM - Maura talks to her father and agrees to get the necessary forms pertaining to the accident from the registry on Monday. They agree to discuss the forms via telephone Monday night.
Time unknown - Maura searches for directions to Burlington, Vermont. (From New Hampshire State Police Troop F Commander Lt. John Scarinza's inspection of Maura's computer hard drive).
Time unknown - Maura searches for information on the Berkshires. (Source unknown).
Monday, February 9, 2004
12:55 PM - Maura calls for information about a condominium in Bartlett, New Hampshire that her family is familiar with. The call lasts for three minutes. No condominium is rented.
1:00 PM - Maura sends her boyfriend an e-mail, briefly stating she hasn't felt like talking to anyone, but that she will call him later in the day. was this email turned over to the police?
1:13 PM - Maura calls another student and leaves a voicemail. No significant information.
2:05 PM - Maura calls 800-GOSTOWE for approximately 5 minutes. Later research shows this number was out of order on this day and that only recordings were available for listening.
2:18 PM - Maura calls her boyfriend for approximately 1 minute. did they speak or did she leave a voicemail?
4:00 PM or earlier - Maura e-mails one of her bosses and some of her teachers to inform them that there has been a death in her family and that she would be out of town for several days. There is no death in her family. (What an odd thing to say, commenting on a "death in her family", perhaps a subliminal message as to how she was feeling? Where are these emails?)
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM - A dorm mate reportedly sees Maura leave the UMass Amherst campus.
4:00 PM or earlier - Maura goes to an ATM and withdraws $280 from her account. Video surveillance footage shows her to be alone. Her bank account is left nearly empty. She is due to receive paychecks from her job in the coming days.
4:00 PM or earlier - Maura purchases $35-$40 in alcohol while still in Amherst, Massachusetts. Video surveillance footage shows her to be alone. That's a lot of alcohol, certainly more than one box of Franzia wine
4:00 PM or later - Maura apparently leaves Amherst, Massachusetts and likely heads up Interstate 91 north.
4:37 PM - Maura checks her cellphone voice messages.
7:29 PM - Dispatch receives a call from a Woodsville, NH area resident who reports an accident near her house on Route 112.
7:43 PM - Dispatch receives a call from another Woodsville, NH area resident who reports a black Saturn partially in the road.
7:46 PM - First known police officer (Haverhill Police) arrives on the scene. The girl who was seen by second caller is nowhere to be found. The officer notes the car is facing westbound in the eastbound lane, with a cracked windshield and two deployed airbags. A damaged box of Franzia wine is found on the passengers seat. Other items found in the car include her AAA card, the insurance forms she retrieved for her earlier accident, her gloves, music CDs, her makeup, directions for Burlington, Vermont and Stowe, Vermont, and the Nicholas Howe book, Not Without Peril.(she's reading a book about people who have come into danger in the mountains where she was headed) A rag from Maura's emergency roadside kit was discovered stuffed into the Saturn's muffler pipe. (you can do this for two reasons, one is a misdirected suicide attampt, the other is to get the engine to shut off if you can't do so by any other means)
7:56 PM - EMS arrives on scene.
7:57 PM - A fire truck arrives on scene.
7:57 PM - 8:49 PM - At some point, Maura's car is towed to a local auto repair garage.
8:02 PM - EMS clears the scene.
9:27 PM - The first known police officer to arrive on scene is dispatched to another call.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
12:36 PM - A BOL (Be On the Lookout) for Maura Murray is issued to Grafton, Littleton, Haverhill, and Lisbon.
3:20 PM - A voicemail is left on Maura's father's (Fred Murray's) home answering machine stating that his car (the Saturn Maura drove) was found abandoned near Woodsville, New Hampshire. Fred is at work out of state and does not receive this call until later in the day.
5:00 PM - 5:30 PM - Maura's older sister contacts Fred and tells him that Maura's car has been found abandoned.
5:44 PM - Fred Murray contacts the Haverhill, New Hampshire Police Department and begs them to start a search for Maura. The Police Department declines, citing that they do not start searches late in the day. The Police Department informs Fred that if Maura is not reported safe by the following morning, New Hampshire Fish and Game Service will start a search.
6:46 PM - Maura's family members contact the University of Massachusetts Police Department and request that her dormitory room be checked.
[edit] Timeline of Search Efforts
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Time unknown - Maura's father Fred Murray arrives before dawn in Haverhill, New Hampshire to beg police to start a search for his daughter.
8:00 AM - New Hampshire Fish and Game Service, the Murrays, and others begin to search for Maura, over 36 hours after her disappearance.
Time unknown - A police canine in the investigation tracks the scent from one of Maura's (rarely used) black leather gloves. The dog follows the scent 100 yards east from the location of where the vehicle, in the direction of a resident's house. It is not known if this was in fact Maura walking, being dragged, or a belonging of hers being dragged. It is implied that she or the item may have been picked up or placed in a vehicle at the end of the scent trail. It is also possible that the scent had vanished due to the incident happening nearly two days earlier. that is the most likely. Search dogs often lose the trail and sometimes miss it altogether
5:00 PM - Maura's boyfriend and his parents arrive at the Haverhill, New Hampshire Police Department from Oklahoma and Ohio. Her boyfriend is interrogated in private, and then joined by his parents for questioning.
7:00 PM - The police report to both Maura's and her boyfriend's families that they believe Maura came to the area to either run away or commit suicide. The family does not believe this to be likely.
Time unknown - Maura's boyfriend receives a voicemail message that he believes is the sound of Maura sobbing. His cellphone had been turned off so that he could pass through airport security on his way to help search for Maura. A New Hampshire State Police investigation traced the call to a calling card issued to the American Red Cross. Many believe this call was actually from Maura, not the American Red Cross, as it is unknown how the Red Cross would have his mobile number or why they would leave a voicemail with no actual message. The voicemail has since been deleted. This is incredulous. First of all, the ARC issued phone cards to people who need help and ask for them so it seems likely it was Maura. The fact that no one else heard the message and it has been deleted it unbelievable
I know this is a long post but I just wanted to post a factual timeline. It seems very clear to me that Maura was having boyfriend problems, had a drinking problem and wanted to get away for awhile (maybe permanently). I know it is difficult to accept for the family but honestly, this seems the most plausible. If she wandered off in the snow, after having been drinking, she could have easily succumbed to the elements. There are some unanswered questions but even so, in my opinion, she walked away into the winter night and has passed on.
