NH NH - Maura Murray, 21, Haverhill, 9 Feb 2004 - # 5

[cuk]

Hi, Is there any new information on the new evidence?

 

[future criminologist]

Well, if "it" is being tested, it's forensic. That suggests fingerprints, DNA, human remains, etc., or they've gone back to the car or the items therein and found something. But the article says that work is based on new "leads." Wow. Wonder what?

Let's hope this case is going somewhere now.

I really hope it's the knife that was handed to Mr. Murray by a local years ago, claiming it was the murder weapon. LE had never tested it for any DNA - can you believe that? It supposedly sat in storage. (LE also returned all of Maura's 'personal items' to her family, thereby disrupting the chain of custody of evidence and compromising anything that could have been tested. Unbelievable).

from the Whitman-Hanson Express (which has an EXCELLENT writeup on her case):

http://www.whitmanhansonexpress.com...ing-part-iv-the-aftermath&catid=912&Itemid=83

"In late 2004, a man came forward to Fred with a stained, rusty jackknife. The stains were a reddish-brown color, Fred said. The man told Fred he thought his brother may have been connected to Maura's disappearance. At the time of Maura's accident the brother was living less than a mile away, the man related. He described his brother as having a record of violence and said that his brother's live-in girlfriend began acting strange around the time of Maura's disappearance.

Fred tried to turn the knife over to police but did not get beyond the plate glass window at state police headquarters, "I have what could be evidence in a capital crime," he recalled saying to the dispatcher, but the dispatcher said no one was available at headquarters to accept such evidence. Fred was told to come back during regular work hours. Fred then mailed the knife to state police along with all the information he received on the suspect. A few days later Fred received a proof of receipt that his package had reached the police but was never contacted by police regarding the knife or the possible suspect.

The man who came forward with the rusted jackknife died earlier this year. Efforts to reach his brother were unsuccessful.

The brother's identity and the identity of the man who approached Fred are not being disclosed because there is no evidence he is considered a suspect in Maura's disappearance. Police refused comment when asked about the knife."


In this case, it appears that LE incorrectly used deductive reasoning - they established a theory to begin with and tried to fit all the evidence discovered into that one theory, instead of being open to possibility and letting the evidence lead them to a theory or conclusion.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

The knife would certainly be a possibility, if we are casting about for potential evidence to be "tested." And sad to say, yes I can believe the LE would be handed potential evidence and find it unworthy of consideration. Police work is subject to the same "human error" factor as driving a car or (in my case) cooking something.

I still want to know what the new lead is.

 

[gnomony]

Does anyone have any idea why she was interested in Burlington, Vermont and searched for directions there before she left? Is it known that she had any friends there or had stayed there in the past?

 

[pittsburghgirl]

She had been there on family trips before. If you are interested in the case, the official Maura Murray website has links to local newspaper articles that provide this kind of information on the case. (There are probably links on earlier Maura WS threads; I don't have the link handy as I am leaving work right now!).

 

[PI_Baker]

Does anyone know if she kept a flashlight in her car e.g., in the glove compartment or in her roadside emergency kit and if so was it missing from the car when it was found? This would at least indicate she willingly left the car on foot.

 

[PI_Baker]

Does anyone know if she kept a flashlight in her car e.g., in the glove compartment or in her roadside emergency kit and if so was it missing from the car when it was found? This would at least indicate she willingly left the car on foot.

 

[nola]

Any updates on what the new evidence may be? Could it be the carpet from the A-frame house that the cadaver dogs reacted to some time back? Was that lead ever explored?

Does anyone know if the trunk of Maura's Saturn was opened at the scene of the accident? Is there any way that Maura hid inside after she put the rag in her exhaust pipe? If she was determined to leave without her family's knowledge and wanting to avoid a DUI...maybe she took advantage of hiding in plain sight (so to speak) --she had just witnessed how a car is treated when towed that previous Sunday morning when she crashed her dad's car...once she arrived at the tow center (back on Route 10) she would have been closer to busier streets or maybe a bus stop...

just trying to figure out a way that Maura could still be alive...

 

[nola]

Do recall that Maura had an emergency kit in the trunk - it should have had a flashlight in it (most do) - not sure that any details have been released about its contents - except to say that a rag that according to her dad was part of the kit was found in her exhaust pipe ---

 

[Darkness]

Any updates on what the new evidence may be? Could it be the carpet from the A-frame house that the cadaver dogs reacted to some time back? Was that lead ever explored?

Does anyone know if the trunk of Maura's Saturn was opened at the scene of the accident? Is there any way that Maura hid inside after she put the rag in her exhaust pipe? If she was determined to leave without her family's knowledge and wanting to avoid a DUI...maybe she took advantage of hiding in plain sight (so to speak) --she had just witnessed how a car is treated when towed that previous Sunday morning when she crashed her dad's car...once she arrived at the tow center (back on Route 10) she would have been closer to busier streets or maybe a bus stop...

just trying to figure out a way that Maura could still be alive...

Wow, Nola I never thought she could have hid in the trunk! That's one way to leave the scene.

Why did she put the rag in tail pipe? I always thought a bad guy did, and just waited for her to stall.

 

[nola]

There was an emergency kit in her trunk - could have held a flashlight. She did leave her gloves in the car - if she were leaving the car for any length of time she would have put her gloves on.

 

[nola]

My theory is that she didn't want anyone to attempt to move or drive the car after it was towed and while she was still in the trunk---so putting the rag in the pipe would make it stall, right ---
What if she wanted to get back into Haverhill (route 10) where she could get to a bus stop or use her calling card (cell doesn't work) to arrange for someone to pick her up. She could have left the car in route to Lavoie's or once the car was deposited on the lot. Remember her family didn't find out about the abandoned car until late in the day on Tuesday --Maura had lots of time to leave the area without notice. I really think that she wanted to escape her life --something drove her out of Amherst that day --something that she hid from her family. ...again just wishful thinking.

 

[Darkness]

Nola, I hope your right............But its been a long time.......I don't know

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Does anyone know what upset Maura so bad that she cried that day and wanted to get away? I mean, any friends of hers have ANY theories?

Was she pregnant perhaps?
Guess she wouldn't be drinking if she was pregnant though.

Any possibility she was failing a class? Any family troubles?
Was she diagnosed with an illness of any sort?

 

[nola]

I just learned of Maura's story this week...so I am still stuck at square one-- it just seems to me that something happened at U-Mass the previous Thursday that started a domino effect in Maura's behavior and life. What have her U-Mass friends offered?--the ones she hung out with Saturday night prior to crashing her dad's car (why did she want to see her dad in the middle of the night?)-I have not seen any details about or interviews with those college friends.

If the investigation could only uncover why she left Amherst, we would know if the hope that she is still alive is reasonable.
Leaving the accident scene undetected without being abducted is only possible if she did stay with the car in my mind. Does anyone know how her car was processed? Was her Saturn ever really processed for prints - if she was in the trunk - her finger prints would be on the release latch and lid...Wonder where the car is now?

 

[White Rain]

There was an emergency kit in her trunk - could have held a flashlight. She did leave her gloves in the car - if she were leaving the car for any length of time she would have put her gloves on.

I am kinda sketchy on this but I think it was said that she did NOT like wearing gloves, and that Sharon had bought her gloves hoping to get her to start wearing them. So leaving them behind doesn't seem odd to me.
I think there was even a pic of her hiking with her dad in the snow and it showed her bare hands in her pockets, bringing about the glove talk that I kinda/sorta remember.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[nola]

Any body remember why the locals didn't walk out to wait with the young girl that night? Small town America --just seems odd. Nothing against these people -- I am sure they wished they had. Hard to believe that someone could vanish in the span of 16 minutes with little traffic (I think, I recall that Mr Atwood said maybe 3-4 vehicles passed by while he was sitting in his bus doing paper work) and with neighbors watching on and off from their homes. Makes you think that if anyone did abduct Maura - they were taking a big risk of being noticed. Since this was a rural route - most traffic would be locals.
The interviews that the police conducted with each neighbor would be telling --wonder if any neighbor avoided being interviewed?

 

[Masterj]

I am kinda sketchy on this but I think it was said that she did NOT like wearing gloves, and that Sharon had bought her gloves hoping to get her to start wearing them. So leaving them behind doesn't seem odd to me.
I think there was even a pic of her hiking with her dad in the snow and it showed her bare hands in her pockets, bringing about the glove talk that I kinda/sorta remember.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I sort of remember something like that too. And the Dad was upset that the dogs sniffed the gloves b/c the gloves were new and she didn't wear them frequently. He thought the dogs should have been given something else.

I find it hard to believe that Maura was going away alone and purchased all that alcohol just for herself. That seems odd to me. But it is difficult to imagine that someone who appeared so close to her family would just up and disappear. I don't want to think something bad happened to her, but I can't fathom her just willfully disappearing and hurting her family like that.

Maura and her family are often in my thoughts. Last summer I drove the Kancamagus Highway and while it is such a beautiful ride, Maura is all I could think about. I would NEVER want to break down on that road in the winter. It is way too desolate.

 

[nola]

I sort of remember something like that too. And the Dad was upset that the dogs sniffed the gloves b/c the gloves were new and she didn't wear them frequently. He thought the dogs should have been given something else.

I find it hard to believe that Maura was going away alone and purchased all that alcohol just for herself. That seems odd to me. But it is difficult to imagine that someone who appeared so close to her family would just up and disappear. I don't want to think something bad happened to her, but I can't fathom her just willfully disappearing and hurting her family like that.

Maura and her family are often in my thoughts. Last summer I drove the Kancamagus Highway and while it is such a beautiful ride, Maura is all I could think about. I would NEVER want to break down on that road in the winter. It is way too desolate.

That is such a great point...why would MM take the risk of breaking down on that rural route - her car was not reliable-- and had broken down three weeks earlier. Her dad had instructed her to park it. Whatever made her leave U-Mass was pretty serious. And something she didn't share with anyone. Her only explanation was "family emergency and death in the family" -- what made her take such a high risk drive?

 

[nola]

Did anyone open the trunk of MM's Saturn at the accident site? Accident report does not indicate...