I've followed this case on numerous websites, seeing the area after a couple visits is an eye opener. I have hiked N.H. and some area in Haverhill, I have a few comments and theories.
Maura was obviously in a stressful state as this seemed to be her reason for taking a short hiatus from school and life. I do not feel the reason she left has anything to do with her ultimate disappearance. I think she may have been somewhat despondent and stressed out over the accident with her fathers car but I also think there were other issues, she was bulimic and and appeared to be an overachiever. people with bulimia usually have a self esteem issue which may account for the overachiever aspect. When she crashed her dads car she may well have seen this for much more than it was.
I do feel she intended for a temporary retreat as she was searching for lodging and researched maps. She also took books and other items that were found in the car.
Now she wants to get away, she leaves her phone off because she wants solitude to think and people will ask questions like what are you doing, where are you etc.
She obviously had some alcohol and it appears that she may have been short on rest, this never leads to good decision making. She gets to rt.112 and wrecks her car, she has now had 2 accidents in 3 days. She has been drinking and if not DUI she is still getting a citation for an open container.
As stated she is likely fatigued, stressed and has had alcohol. She is now worried because someone has stopped and she likely knows the police will be called, also she may have heard the cruiser running code in the distance. She panics and flees the scene, all the witness's stated they are sure NO vehicle came by before officer Smith arrived.
The red truck, this is a problem I read it was reported at a later date, then I read that red trucks were being stopped the same night. The truck may well have been just someone on Bradley hill stopped for a pee break. Also the red truck has been described as 2 different vehicles, in front of Swiftwater store its a Toyota type with wooden rails, and on Bradley hill as a Jeep?
The contractor, here's where I have concerns, he stated he was home watching TV at the time of the accident, then he says he saw someone running 4-5 miles away on rt.112 after reviewing work records, but didn't know about the accident, how could he miss the fire and police as well as the commotion when he lives not many yards away? Either he is one of those people who loses touch with dates and time, or he needs to be checked into more deeply.
The dogs, well dogs aren't perfect and neither are scent trails. The bigger issue I see is they used an air scent dog and not a ground scent dog. With this much passage of time and with all the people and traffic that transpired it doesn't surprise me they lost the scent. Then there's the issue of the glove, she may not have even worn it. We just saw a case of the N.H. woman found in Maine, the dogs lost her scent on the other side of the highway and they felt she too got a ride. Her body was found 1/4 mile away on the same side as her car and she died from hypothermia.
I feel Maura was not suicidal when she left Mass. then she's tired, upset and drinking, now she wrecks a second car, all bets are off on her mental state, she may well have felt like a total loser and had a total meltdown. She flees the scene, and has no phone reception, she may be avoiding traffic also. Maybe she went up a trail or logging road to try to get better reception and got lost. Maybe it was her running down the road and she got sweaty and when she slowed down she got cold and started to get hypothermia and with that delusion, irrational action and death.
She could well be just off the road somewhere, the woods there are very thick and steep in places and many hunters and hikers avoid these areas. Look at Chanda Levy, she was very close to a path in a park in DC that has thousands of jogger's hikers and tourist. Yet it took a year to find her even after a search of the area and it was only a fluke. A man was walking his dog and the dog brought him down to the area she was in and he saw some of her remains. Now picture trying to find Maura in the unforgiving remote wilderness of most of rt112. Sadly the initial search was only westerly on rt.112, perhaps an easterly search and we wouldn't be here speculating.
After 6 years I don't believe she ran off and started a new life and no trace of her, possible but not likely. A serial killer roaming deserted rt.112 looking for prey, not likely, a killer of opportunity, perhaps. The investigators have claimed she didn't go trek off the road as no tracks were found, well there are many side trails, roads and long driveways. Also if she was the jogger, by the time this all came about tracks could be washed out from the sun. The enormity of the area and the amount of possible places she could have walked from the road undetected, I think its absurd to say she absolutely didn't end up in the woods or far enough off the road not to be found.
The phone call to Billy, if it was Maura then she was alive almost 3 days later. Did she make her way to a phone? Are there any phones at the campgrounds or other area's off rt112 besides the Swiftwater store she may have gotten to? Sadly this call was never tested through forensics, if so it could have been a telling clue had it been Maura.
If Maura is no longer with us I prefer to believe she perished from the elements and not at the hands of a monster.