NH NH - Maura Murray, 21, Haverhill, 9 Feb 2004 - # 6
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I remember the neighbors who had a slight view from their window and the wife claimed she saw a small red light by Maura's truck. There was speculation that someone was smoking a cigarette or it may have been a light from a cell phone. I don't remember who opened the trunk first.
I seem to recall the car sat at the impound lot for an extraordinary amount of time. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?
I was saddened to read of Maura's mother's passing.
nola
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If MM decided to continue her journey instead of being discovered -could she have hidden in her trunk to escape a DUI charge and police notifying her parents? If the trunk was opened at the site of the accident then my theory is a bust...but if she did get in the trunk ...a lot would be explained. Scent vanishing about 100 feet from car --once towed, she and her scent would disappear. I even think that she put the rag in the tail pipe to prevent anyone from driving off with her in the trunk. This escape route would give her ample time to catch a ride or take a bus to her preplanned destination -while no one even considers her as missing - Her family doesn't learn of the car accident until the next afternoon.
The stumbling block is why would she want to leave and never contact her family --would have to be something she considered unforgivable.
I know it has been 6 years, but I would love to think that she is still alive.
The stumbling block is why would she want to leave and never contact her family --would have to be something she considered unforgivable.
I know it has been 6 years, but I would love to think that she is still alive.
nola
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Wednesday, 13 May 2009 16:10
Laurie Anne (Mehrman) Murray, age 61, of Hanson, formerly of Weymouth, died Monday, May 4 after a long illness.
The daughter of Ruth C. (Sturrock) Mehrman of Weymouth and the late Frederick F. Mehrman, she was born in Quincy. She was raised in Weymouth and has lived in Hanson for over 30 years. She attended Weymouth schools and graduated from the Shepard Gill Nursing School at Mass General Hospital in Boston.
She was a nurse at Samuel Marcus Nursing Home in Weymouth. Prior to that, she worked at other nursing homes and hospitals on the South Shore.
She leaves her children Frederick Murray of Hanson, Kathleen Carpenter of Hanover, Julie Thompson of Abingdon, Maryland, Maura Murray of Hanson and Kurtis Murray of Hanson; a sister, Janis R. Panttila of Weymouth. She was sister of the late Frederick F. Mehrman Jr.
A private Funeral Service was held on Wednesday, May 6 at the Clancy-Lucid Funeral Home, Weymouth. If desired, donations may be made in her memory to the American Cancer Society, 5 Manley St., West Bridgewater, MA 02379.
I found the article about Maura's mom. Heartbreaking! You have to love this family's dedication to their missing daughter.
Laurie Anne (Mehrman) Murray, age 61, of Hanson, formerly of Weymouth, died Monday, May 4 after a long illness.
The daughter of Ruth C. (Sturrock) Mehrman of Weymouth and the late Frederick F. Mehrman, she was born in Quincy. She was raised in Weymouth and has lived in Hanson for over 30 years. She attended Weymouth schools and graduated from the Shepard Gill Nursing School at Mass General Hospital in Boston.
She was a nurse at Samuel Marcus Nursing Home in Weymouth. Prior to that, she worked at other nursing homes and hospitals on the South Shore.
She leaves her children Frederick Murray of Hanson, Kathleen Carpenter of Hanover, Julie Thompson of Abingdon, Maryland, Maura Murray of Hanson and Kurtis Murray of Hanson; a sister, Janis R. Panttila of Weymouth. She was sister of the late Frederick F. Mehrman Jr.
A private Funeral Service was held on Wednesday, May 6 at the Clancy-Lucid Funeral Home, Weymouth. If desired, donations may be made in her memory to the American Cancer Society, 5 Manley St., West Bridgewater, MA 02379.
I found the article about Maura's mom. Heartbreaking! You have to love this family's dedication to their missing daughter.
nola
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If MM decided to continue her journey instead of being discovered -could she have hidden in her trunk to escape a DUI charge and police notifying her parents? If the trunk was opened at the site of the accident then my theory is a bust...but if she did get in the trunk ...a lot would be explained. Scent vanishing about 100 feet from car --once towed, she and her scent would disappear. I even think that she put the rag in the tail pipe to prevent anyone from driving off with her in the trunk. This escape route would give her ample time to catch a ride or take a bus to her preplanned destination -while no one even considers her as missing - Her family doesn't learn of the car accident until the next afternoon.
The stumbling block is why would she want to leave and never contact her family --would have to be something she considered unforgivable.
I know it has been 6 years, but I would love to think that she is still alive.
The stumbling block is why would she want to leave and never contact her family --would have to be something she considered unforgivable.
I know it has been 6 years, but I would love to think that she is still alive.
White Rain
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I pretty much believe MM is still alive too, or at least set out to be that way, BUT...if she HAD hid in her trunk wouldn't the dogs/dog have homed in closer to it? Onced towed, yeah gone, but you would think her scent would lead up to the trunk...and really, in this day and age who would NOT check out every single area of a car especially a trunk?
I guess this all kinda ties back into the gloves they were scented off...MM wasn't known to wear gloves as I recall.
nola
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I may be wrong -- but I think that the dogs were brought in on Wednesday, maybe later - the Saturn was towed Monday night at around 8:30pm -the LE officially launched the search only at the urging of Fred - something like 36 hours after the accident. Not sure if the dogs ever had contact with the car.
nola
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Wonder if the car was ever processed for fingerprints (especially in the trunk); if she did hide in there - her prints would be on the interior release latch or lid where she would have pulled it shut --or her shoe impressions on the back side of the rear seats where she could have pushed through once at the tow lot. Where is the Saturn now? Anybody know?
White Rain
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IDK, gonna have to go back and do some searching...or maybe prayers for maura can answer?
nola
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Sadly - I think the search is focused in the wrong area...I would be more interested in Burlington, VT or the Berkshires. After 6 long years --who's gonna remember a young woman paying cash for a hotel stay one snowy night in Feb?
I'm very sad to hear about Maura's mom's passing.
I somehow doubt she'd get in the trunk but I'd like to think that it is possible that she went with a random passerby and that she is OK and living somewhere. At first maybe she just wanted to get away for the week; desperately needed a break, alone time, whatever. Perhaps she was far more rattled than anyone knew about the first accident and then she has a second! There was alcohol involved too. I can only imagine how she felt: that her family & military boyfriend would be ashamed and think she was a flake. That she couldn't even drive a car 3 days w/o crashing it, (not even to mention if she was responsible for the hit and run accident in Mass.) So maybe she decided to lie low for a while and the more time that passed the more she couldn't contact anyone. What the hell can she say after 6 years? "Surprise! here I am. Let's go back to normal now and forget about all this."
One reason I think this is an actual possibility, however slim, is that there was another episode of Disappeared about a woman who was missing for years and believed dead, she even left behind her beloved dogs. Nobody thought she could be alive but she was way across the country living in Oregon on a farm & working as a nanny or something. So I guess it is always possible.
Anyway, I wonder what they are testing now. Could it be that rag?
It looks like rags & flashlights are both a standard part of every roadside kit that comes up in a google search but even w/o knowing if hers was missing, it's pretty likely she left the car willingly since she locked it. She still could've been kidnapped after she left the vehicle, of course.
The rag in the tailpipe. I can think of no useful reason that Maura would have put it there. None of the standard reasons given for putting one there make sense for Maura to do:
*I am sure that even if she was super knowledgeable about auto mechanics, that she was not performing exhaust system diagnostics at that time, especially since the bus driver said she was shivering.
*Even if there was exhaust *pouring* out of her parked car (which no witness mentioned), why would she worry about it drawing attention to her since at least one of the witnesses said she'd had the emergency lights flashing and was trying to call attention to her car so other cars wouldn't crash into it?
And even if she was suicidal, would someone as intelligent as Maura think a rag in the tailpipe would work outdoors? I guess you cant 100% rule it out. (Most people don't think she was suicidal but if she wanted to end it and didn't want her family to know it was on purpose i.e., that she was a coward, then she may have been trying to make it look like an accident by crashing her car. This 'set up' would include: Drinking for bravery to crash, taking all her stuff so it looks like she was simply going away on a short trip, and NOT leaving a note. This scenario could include the prior accident as a first attempt. But none of this explains where she went.)
The only real reason I can think that she would have stuffed the rag there herself is if she opened the emergency kit (to get the flashlight maybe?) and used the rag (to clean wine off herself?) and then closed the trunk and needed someplace to stick the rag since she was in a hurry to leave and didn't want to reopen the trunk so she just stuffed it in the tailpipe as she left. I know it's far fetched but its really all I can come up with.
That leaves someone else putting it in the tailpipe which is very strange since it was the rag from her own emergency kit. Even someone with ill intent wouldn't have access to that right? Unless... they were helping her with her vehicle while she was stopped at a gas station or somewhere? If that were the case, why didn't they grab her right there rather than stuffing the tailpipe and following her? This would only make sense if they were in a crowded area and were hoping they could get her to stall somewhere more remote.
So I think she left the vehicle willingly, locked it, and walked a ways down the road, then she was either picked up by a random passerby or the evil rag-in-tailpipe perpetrator, or somehow hiked someplace very far/remote and succumbed. I think this is such a mystery because any of those 3 seem about equally likely.
I somehow doubt she'd get in the trunk but I'd like to think that it is possible that she went with a random passerby and that she is OK and living somewhere. At first maybe she just wanted to get away for the week; desperately needed a break, alone time, whatever. Perhaps she was far more rattled than anyone knew about the first accident and then she has a second! There was alcohol involved too. I can only imagine how she felt: that her family & military boyfriend would be ashamed and think she was a flake. That she couldn't even drive a car 3 days w/o crashing it, (not even to mention if she was responsible for the hit and run accident in Mass.) So maybe she decided to lie low for a while and the more time that passed the more she couldn't contact anyone. What the hell can she say after 6 years? "Surprise! here I am. Let's go back to normal now and forget about all this."
One reason I think this is an actual possibility, however slim, is that there was another episode of Disappeared about a woman who was missing for years and believed dead, she even left behind her beloved dogs. Nobody thought she could be alive but she was way across the country living in Oregon on a farm & working as a nanny or something. So I guess it is always possible.
Anyway, I wonder what they are testing now. Could it be that rag?
It looks like rags & flashlights are both a standard part of every roadside kit that comes up in a google search but even w/o knowing if hers was missing, it's pretty likely she left the car willingly since she locked it. She still could've been kidnapped after she left the vehicle, of course.
The rag in the tailpipe. I can think of no useful reason that Maura would have put it there. None of the standard reasons given for putting one there make sense for Maura to do:
*I am sure that even if she was super knowledgeable about auto mechanics, that she was not performing exhaust system diagnostics at that time, especially since the bus driver said she was shivering.
*Even if there was exhaust *pouring* out of her parked car (which no witness mentioned), why would she worry about it drawing attention to her since at least one of the witnesses said she'd had the emergency lights flashing and was trying to call attention to her car so other cars wouldn't crash into it?
And even if she was suicidal, would someone as intelligent as Maura think a rag in the tailpipe would work outdoors? I guess you cant 100% rule it out. (Most people don't think she was suicidal but if she wanted to end it and didn't want her family to know it was on purpose i.e., that she was a coward, then she may have been trying to make it look like an accident by crashing her car. This 'set up' would include: Drinking for bravery to crash, taking all her stuff so it looks like she was simply going away on a short trip, and NOT leaving a note. This scenario could include the prior accident as a first attempt. But none of this explains where she went.)
The only real reason I can think that she would have stuffed the rag there herself is if she opened the emergency kit (to get the flashlight maybe?) and used the rag (to clean wine off herself?) and then closed the trunk and needed someplace to stick the rag since she was in a hurry to leave and didn't want to reopen the trunk so she just stuffed it in the tailpipe as she left. I know it's far fetched but its really all I can come up with.
That leaves someone else putting it in the tailpipe which is very strange since it was the rag from her own emergency kit. Even someone with ill intent wouldn't have access to that right? Unless... they were helping her with her vehicle while she was stopped at a gas station or somewhere? If that were the case, why didn't they grab her right there rather than stuffing the tailpipe and following her? This would only make sense if they were in a crowded area and were hoping they could get her to stall somewhere more remote.
So I think she left the vehicle willingly, locked it, and walked a ways down the road, then she was either picked up by a random passerby or the evil rag-in-tailpipe perpetrator, or somehow hiked someplace very far/remote and succumbed. I think this is such a mystery because any of those 3 seem about equally likely.
Okay, the other day I saw Maura's Dissappeared episode on ID. I thought it was pretty interesting but hadn't thought much more about it until I had a bizarre dream about her last night. I just thought that was odd. Saw it on tv earlier this week, then bam, it pops into my dream randomly. So today, I spent several hours reading about this case because I just couldn't seem to get it out of my head. After all that, I decided I should type it out here. Here's my basic timeline from what I've read:
Thursday, February 5 - Maura was working at a campus security desk at Melville Dorm. At 10:20pm, she got a call on her cell phone from her sister, Kathleen, who had wanted to vent about a fight she had with her fiance. At 1:00am, Maura started crying and her supervisor suggested she go on home, and walked her back to Kennedy Dorm.
Interpretation: Maura had something serious on her mind. Her sister said nothing in their conversation would have upset Maura to that extent. I think that maybe listening to her sister made Maura think about her own relationship with her boyfriend, and how that might be affected by whatever was going on in her life.
Friday, February 6 - Unknown.
Saturday, February 7 - Maura's dad, Fred, arrived in Amherst to take Maura used car shopping. They found a car they liked and made plans to go pick it up the next weekend. Maura and Fred then went to the Amherst Brewing Company for dinner. Maura's friend, Kate, joined them later and the three of them had drinks. Fred told Maura she could borrow his new car for the night and bring it back in the morning, so she dropped him off at his hotel and she and Kate went back to campus for a party. At the party, Maura told her friends that she wanted to take her dad's car back to his hotel that night, instead of in the morning. At 2:30am, Maura told her friends she was going home to go to bed, but instead, she decided to drive to her father's hotel. On the way, she accidentally hit a guardrail and caused significant damage to the car. Police came to the scene and gave Maura a ride to her father's hotel. When she got there, she was shaken up and apologetic, but her dad told her insurance would cover it, and it wasn't a big deal. At 4:49am, Maura called her boyfriend, Billy, and told him what happened. Billy also told her it wasn't that big of a deal, and thought that she seemed so overly upset about it that there might be something else wrong.
Interpretation: It is surprising to me that she felt like going to a party. On Thursday, she was so upset, she had to leave work early. Maybe she was feeling more upbeat about the prospect of getting a new car soon, so she decided to try to go out and have a good time. According to her friends, there didn't seem to be anything obvious bothering her. Then she suddenly decided she wanted to take the car back to her dad that night, after she'd been drinking, even though her dad wasn't expecting her to bring it back until the next day. Her friends thought that was strange, and must have tried to convince her to wait until the morning, because when she did leave the party, she told them she was just going back to her dorm. It doesn't make sense that she really just wanted to return the car, so she must have had a real reason for wanting to go see her father at 2:30am. I think this indicates that she wanted to talk to her dad about whatever was going on with her. She had been drinking, so maybe she felt courageous enough to share it with him. Obviously, after the car accident, she changed her mind. I think her frantic call to Billy at 4:49am to tell him about the accident and his surprise of how upset she was about it shows her frustration over this. She thought she was about to get it off her chest and then she wrecked his car, so she obviously didn't feel like it was a good time to admit or confess something else.
Sunday, February 8 - Fred called his insurance company to file a claim for his car. He had to be in Connecticut for work, so he rented a car, took Maura back to her dorm, and left. At 11:30pm, he called Maura to remind her to pick up the accident report from the Registry of Motor Vehicles so they could fill them out for the insurance company. Maura said she would, and that she would call him back at 8:00pm the next night to go over the forms together. After midnight, Maura Mapquested driving directions to Burlington and Stowe, Vermont.
Interpretation: According to her dad, Maura was still upset about the accident, but it seems that after he had talked to the insurance company and discussed the forms with her, she probably would have been getting over it. Very late that night, her dad talked to her and apparently, she seemed at least okay. Obviously, at this time, she was already planning on going somewhere.
Monday, February 9 - At 1:00pm, Maura called Dominic and Linda Salamone about a condo they had available for rent at the Attitash Resort in Bartlett, New Hampshire. She was unable to rent the condo because the owners told her that reservations must be made farther in advance. The Salamones may have suggested other places Maura could call for a place to stay. At 1:13pm, Maura called another student, possibly to make arrangements to return a pair of scrubs she'd borrowed earlier. At 2:05, Maura called GO STOWE, a reservations hotline for hotels in Stowe, but the system was down, so although she could listen to recordings, she could not book over the phone. Maura then sent an email to Billy that said "I love you more stud. I got your messages but honestly, I didn't feel like talking to much of anyone, I promise to call today though. Love you, Maura." At 2:18, she called Billy's phone and left a voicemail that said that she loved him, missed him, and wanted to talk, and would call back later if she hadn't heard from him. Maura also sent an email to her professors saying that she would be absent from class for the week because of a death in the family. Sometime during the day, Maura went to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to pick up the forms as her father had asked, or she may have downloaded and printed them from the website. At some point, Maura packed up her entire dorm room and left the boxes stacked in the room, and also left a note for her boyfriend. She then packed some clothes, toiletries (floss, toothbrush, makeup, birthcontrol), her backpack with her textbooks, her cell phone wall charger and car charger, a stuffed animal from her father, one of her favorite books, and a diamond necklace her boyfriend had given her. At 3:30, Maura packed her car and left campus. At 3:40, she stopped at an ATM and withdrew $280 from her account, which almost emptied the account. She then went directly to a liquor store and spent $40 on bottles of Bailey's, Kahlua, vodka, and a box of red wine. At 4:00, she got on Route 116 out of Amherst and drove to Route 91 N. She checked her voicemail at 4:37pm and did not use her cell again. She exited Route 302 and then turned on to Route 112. At 7:00pm, Maura was driving east on Wild Ammonoosuc Road/Route 112 in Woodville, New Hampshire. A few minutes later, she skidded off the road at a sharp left-hand curve in the road, hit a tree on the driver's side front-end, and spun around to face the opposite way in the lane. At 7:27, a neighbor, who had heard the accident and saw Maura's car on the side of the road, called the police to report a car had gone off the road into a ditch. Maura may have tried to make a call on her cell phone, and she also may have tried to back her car up on to the road. Another neighbor, a school bus driver, stopped to see if she needed help. He said she was not bleeding, but she looked shook up and was shivering in the cold. He said when he drove up, she was trying to get out of the driver's side of the car, but the door was hitting a high snowbank. After she got out, he asked her if she wanted him to call the police, and she told him not to bother because she had already called AAA. He offered for her to wait at his house until AAA arrived but she said she wanted to stay with her car. The neighbor then continued to his house, and called the police, knowing that it was not likely she would have cell phone coverage there. Other neighbors said they saw Maura turn on the interior lights of her car and appear to be hurrying around inside and around the trunk. At 7:43, the neighbor was able to get through to the police and alert them of the accident. As the neighbor was talking to police, he said he noticed a few cars pass by. At 7:46, a police officer arrived at the scene. The car was locked and there were footprints leading to the road, but none on the road. The box of wine had been damaged in the crash and splattered around the inside of the car. An empty coke bottle containing a red alcoholic liquid was found poured out on the road. Maura left most of her belongings (AAA card, gloves, clothes, makeup, directions for Burlington and Stowe, her textbooks) in her locked car, but apparently used her backpack to take the bottles of alcohol, her cell phone, wallet, and cash with her. Before she left, she apparently took out a rag she had in her emergency roadside kit and stuffed it in her tailpipe. A police officer and a neighbor searched westward on Route 112 and on the streets around Mountain Lake. At 8:00, a neighbor coming home from work said he saw Maura running east on Route 112 about 4-5 miles from the accident. At 8:02, EMS cleared the accident scene and at 8:49, Maura's car was towed to an auto care center. Police dogs tracked Maura's scent 100 yards east of the accident to the middle of the road.
Interpretation: Based on the route she took from Amherst, it seems that her dad was correct in his assumption that Maura was headed to Bartlett that night. Police dogs tracked her scent down Wild Ammonoosuc Road to near where it intersects Bradley Hill Rd. Since the dogs lost her scent in the road, she almost surely got into a vehicle at that point. Maura obviously didn't want anyone to know where she was, and I think there's a good chance that she knew the police would be called and wanted to quickly pack her backpack and get away from the scene of the accident. She might have assumed that if she left her car where it was, she could come back and get it later, and she might have hoped that if the police showed up and she wasn't there, they would assume she had been helped and leave. She may not have realized they would tow her car and call her father. As for the rag in the tailpipe, I think her dad's explanation that she tried to plug it up because it was smoking and she thought it would attract more attention is the most likely. Although a neighbor reported she thought she saw a man smoking in the car, I think her husband's explanation that it was Maura trying to use her cell phone is most likely. One neighbor said it looked like she tried to reverse her car at one point, so it's possible that she was trying to arrange her car to make it look like she had just parked there, rather than crashed. I think she probably thought if she could get away from the car, she could hitch a ride with someone who didn't know she had just crashed it, go on her way, and quietly come back to it later with someone who could help her, she could possibly avoid getting in trouble. Another resident of Ammonoosuc Road said he saw Maura running on the road 4-5 miles east of the accident around 8pm, so she apparently had the first driver drop her off somewhere around there. Not only does that support the evidence that she got a ride at Bradley Hill Rd, where the dogs lost her scent, but it also makes sense with the timeline. Unless Maura had gotten a ride at some point, it would be unlikely she would have been able to make it 5 miles down the road in the period of time after she left her vehicle and the neighbor saw her running east on the road. That would mean she probably made it to near the intersection of 112 & 116. Whether she kept running or hitched another ride, she would have turned left to go up 116, or she would have curved to the right on 112. Which ever road she continued on, she would have eventually hit 93. If she were still headed to Bartlett, she would probably have stayed on 112. I think it is most likely she was meeting someone there, or somewhere nearby. Being that she left her clothes, makeup, and everything else in her locked car, I assume she was thinking if she could get to an area where she could call the person she was meeting, maybe the person would go back and get her stuff for her. Maybe she took her alcohol thinking she could relax and have some drinks while her companion went back to get her things, or maybe she knew there would be another female she could borrow clothing and toiletries from until the next day when they could go back and get her things. We also know that she had been drinking, so perhaps her judgement was not at its most logical.
So what happened to her? I think at this point, it's pretty obvious that she was eventually murdered, either intentionally or accidentally. If she was wearing jeans and a dark jacket, a motorist flying down 112 in the dark with no street lights who certainly didn't expect someone to be jogging down the road on a cold February night could have accidentally hit her and been too scared to report it. We don't know how far she ran or when she hitched another ride, or how many rides she got in total, but we do know that she apparently never made it to Bartlett. Although the chances that she was picked up by a murderer in one of the two or three cars that passed by while the neighbor was calling the cops are pretty small, the odds she was picked up by someone who might harm her at some point on her journey down Route 112 to Bartlett are quite a bit higher, and get higher as she approached the interstate. Her dad said at one point that if the person who picked her up was trying to help her, the person would have already come forward. I don't think that's necessarily true, and think it's actually more likely they wouldn't come forward out of fear they would be suspected. Even the bus driver neighbor who stopped to offer her help and ended up calling the police was hesitant to report that he had talked to her, and has said that he always felt as though people suspected him of being involved, simply because he was the last known person to speak to her. So, someone who had given a ride to a young woman who was never seen again might decide to keep their silence. Either way, I do believe the neighbor who thought he saw her running down the road miles away did indeed see her. Being accustomed to running 5-6 miles regularly and being somewhat familiar with the area, Maura may have figured she could run and hitch rides into the next town, where she could call the person she was meeting to come get her. Also, her comfort level with the area might have made her more inclined to accept rides from strangers and run down roads in the dark, which are things most young women would intuitively avoid. So if Maura was meeting someone, who was it? I think the key to that might be somewhere in her laptop. And again, possibly the reason that person hasn't come forward is out of fear they will be implicated. I find it hard to believe that a 21-year-old student is going to take off in secret and rent a place for a week to stay all by herself. And how did she plan to pay for it? As far as we know, she wasn't even able to rent a place, so perhaps the person she was meeting ended up taking care of it. I also don't think she would have left her wrecked car and continued on her way just to be alone. I think she probably had no idea what to do about her car, and figured that the person she was meeting would, so if she could just get ahold of this person, everything would be okay. Alternatively, and I find this less likely, if she wasn't meeting someone else, she was obviously trying to get away to be alone and sort things out, which is the theory her family seems to believe. In this case, something must have happened to her recently that was causing her a lot of anguish. Maybe something horrible had happened to her on campus or maybe she had done something she deeply regretted that she thought would have consequences, perhaps after drinking too much. I do think she was moving out of her dorm, and her letter to her boyfriend might have been an explanation as to why. She may have written it after not being able to get ahold of him on the phone. Maybe because of whatever happened, she felt like she could no longer be there and had plans to transfer to another university. According to her school, she wasn't having any problems with grades or in any other kind of trouble, and if she had any legal issues, they would have come to light by now. I think her close friends probably have a few unshared hints as to why Maura might have left, but they might either be thinking that thei detail they know is either irrelevant to finding her or might hurt her family, which they might feel isn't necessary at this point in time. I think that based on Maura's behavior on Monday, she felt as though she were doing something wrong. Not only did she not tell anyone where she was going or why, but she seemed desperate to avoid police and locals who might question her. I think it's quite likely that Maura made it closer to her destination than was originally thought, and multiple people may have come into contact with her, but are afraid to mention anything to investigators because they are afraid of being suspected themselves. I do think whatever end she met, happened that night, because I believe she would have called her father as planned whenever she got to a location where it was possible, since she would not have wanted him to worry and start looking for her - or the wrecked car.
Thursday, February 5 - Maura was working at a campus security desk at Melville Dorm. At 10:20pm, she got a call on her cell phone from her sister, Kathleen, who had wanted to vent about a fight she had with her fiance. At 1:00am, Maura started crying and her supervisor suggested she go on home, and walked her back to Kennedy Dorm.
Interpretation: Maura had something serious on her mind. Her sister said nothing in their conversation would have upset Maura to that extent. I think that maybe listening to her sister made Maura think about her own relationship with her boyfriend, and how that might be affected by whatever was going on in her life.
Friday, February 6 - Unknown.
Saturday, February 7 - Maura's dad, Fred, arrived in Amherst to take Maura used car shopping. They found a car they liked and made plans to go pick it up the next weekend. Maura and Fred then went to the Amherst Brewing Company for dinner. Maura's friend, Kate, joined them later and the three of them had drinks. Fred told Maura she could borrow his new car for the night and bring it back in the morning, so she dropped him off at his hotel and she and Kate went back to campus for a party. At the party, Maura told her friends that she wanted to take her dad's car back to his hotel that night, instead of in the morning. At 2:30am, Maura told her friends she was going home to go to bed, but instead, she decided to drive to her father's hotel. On the way, she accidentally hit a guardrail and caused significant damage to the car. Police came to the scene and gave Maura a ride to her father's hotel. When she got there, she was shaken up and apologetic, but her dad told her insurance would cover it, and it wasn't a big deal. At 4:49am, Maura called her boyfriend, Billy, and told him what happened. Billy also told her it wasn't that big of a deal, and thought that she seemed so overly upset about it that there might be something else wrong.
Interpretation: It is surprising to me that she felt like going to a party. On Thursday, she was so upset, she had to leave work early. Maybe she was feeling more upbeat about the prospect of getting a new car soon, so she decided to try to go out and have a good time. According to her friends, there didn't seem to be anything obvious bothering her. Then she suddenly decided she wanted to take the car back to her dad that night, after she'd been drinking, even though her dad wasn't expecting her to bring it back until the next day. Her friends thought that was strange, and must have tried to convince her to wait until the morning, because when she did leave the party, she told them she was just going back to her dorm. It doesn't make sense that she really just wanted to return the car, so she must have had a real reason for wanting to go see her father at 2:30am. I think this indicates that she wanted to talk to her dad about whatever was going on with her. She had been drinking, so maybe she felt courageous enough to share it with him. Obviously, after the car accident, she changed her mind. I think her frantic call to Billy at 4:49am to tell him about the accident and his surprise of how upset she was about it shows her frustration over this. She thought she was about to get it off her chest and then she wrecked his car, so she obviously didn't feel like it was a good time to admit or confess something else.
Sunday, February 8 - Fred called his insurance company to file a claim for his car. He had to be in Connecticut for work, so he rented a car, took Maura back to her dorm, and left. At 11:30pm, he called Maura to remind her to pick up the accident report from the Registry of Motor Vehicles so they could fill them out for the insurance company. Maura said she would, and that she would call him back at 8:00pm the next night to go over the forms together. After midnight, Maura Mapquested driving directions to Burlington and Stowe, Vermont.
Interpretation: According to her dad, Maura was still upset about the accident, but it seems that after he had talked to the insurance company and discussed the forms with her, she probably would have been getting over it. Very late that night, her dad talked to her and apparently, she seemed at least okay. Obviously, at this time, she was already planning on going somewhere.
Monday, February 9 - At 1:00pm, Maura called Dominic and Linda Salamone about a condo they had available for rent at the Attitash Resort in Bartlett, New Hampshire. She was unable to rent the condo because the owners told her that reservations must be made farther in advance. The Salamones may have suggested other places Maura could call for a place to stay. At 1:13pm, Maura called another student, possibly to make arrangements to return a pair of scrubs she'd borrowed earlier. At 2:05, Maura called GO STOWE, a reservations hotline for hotels in Stowe, but the system was down, so although she could listen to recordings, she could not book over the phone. Maura then sent an email to Billy that said "I love you more stud. I got your messages but honestly, I didn't feel like talking to much of anyone, I promise to call today though. Love you, Maura." At 2:18, she called Billy's phone and left a voicemail that said that she loved him, missed him, and wanted to talk, and would call back later if she hadn't heard from him. Maura also sent an email to her professors saying that she would be absent from class for the week because of a death in the family. Sometime during the day, Maura went to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to pick up the forms as her father had asked, or she may have downloaded and printed them from the website. At some point, Maura packed up her entire dorm room and left the boxes stacked in the room, and also left a note for her boyfriend. She then packed some clothes, toiletries (floss, toothbrush, makeup, birthcontrol), her backpack with her textbooks, her cell phone wall charger and car charger, a stuffed animal from her father, one of her favorite books, and a diamond necklace her boyfriend had given her. At 3:30, Maura packed her car and left campus. At 3:40, she stopped at an ATM and withdrew $280 from her account, which almost emptied the account. She then went directly to a liquor store and spent $40 on bottles of Bailey's, Kahlua, vodka, and a box of red wine. At 4:00, she got on Route 116 out of Amherst and drove to Route 91 N. She checked her voicemail at 4:37pm and did not use her cell again. She exited Route 302 and then turned on to Route 112. At 7:00pm, Maura was driving east on Wild Ammonoosuc Road/Route 112 in Woodville, New Hampshire. A few minutes later, she skidded off the road at a sharp left-hand curve in the road, hit a tree on the driver's side front-end, and spun around to face the opposite way in the lane. At 7:27, a neighbor, who had heard the accident and saw Maura's car on the side of the road, called the police to report a car had gone off the road into a ditch. Maura may have tried to make a call on her cell phone, and she also may have tried to back her car up on to the road. Another neighbor, a school bus driver, stopped to see if she needed help. He said she was not bleeding, but she looked shook up and was shivering in the cold. He said when he drove up, she was trying to get out of the driver's side of the car, but the door was hitting a high snowbank. After she got out, he asked her if she wanted him to call the police, and she told him not to bother because she had already called AAA. He offered for her to wait at his house until AAA arrived but she said she wanted to stay with her car. The neighbor then continued to his house, and called the police, knowing that it was not likely she would have cell phone coverage there. Other neighbors said they saw Maura turn on the interior lights of her car and appear to be hurrying around inside and around the trunk. At 7:43, the neighbor was able to get through to the police and alert them of the accident. As the neighbor was talking to police, he said he noticed a few cars pass by. At 7:46, a police officer arrived at the scene. The car was locked and there were footprints leading to the road, but none on the road. The box of wine had been damaged in the crash and splattered around the inside of the car. An empty coke bottle containing a red alcoholic liquid was found poured out on the road. Maura left most of her belongings (AAA card, gloves, clothes, makeup, directions for Burlington and Stowe, her textbooks) in her locked car, but apparently used her backpack to take the bottles of alcohol, her cell phone, wallet, and cash with her. Before she left, she apparently took out a rag she had in her emergency roadside kit and stuffed it in her tailpipe. A police officer and a neighbor searched westward on Route 112 and on the streets around Mountain Lake. At 8:00, a neighbor coming home from work said he saw Maura running east on Route 112 about 4-5 miles from the accident. At 8:02, EMS cleared the accident scene and at 8:49, Maura's car was towed to an auto care center. Police dogs tracked Maura's scent 100 yards east of the accident to the middle of the road.
Interpretation: Based on the route she took from Amherst, it seems that her dad was correct in his assumption that Maura was headed to Bartlett that night. Police dogs tracked her scent down Wild Ammonoosuc Road to near where it intersects Bradley Hill Rd. Since the dogs lost her scent in the road, she almost surely got into a vehicle at that point. Maura obviously didn't want anyone to know where she was, and I think there's a good chance that she knew the police would be called and wanted to quickly pack her backpack and get away from the scene of the accident. She might have assumed that if she left her car where it was, she could come back and get it later, and she might have hoped that if the police showed up and she wasn't there, they would assume she had been helped and leave. She may not have realized they would tow her car and call her father. As for the rag in the tailpipe, I think her dad's explanation that she tried to plug it up because it was smoking and she thought it would attract more attention is the most likely. Although a neighbor reported she thought she saw a man smoking in the car, I think her husband's explanation that it was Maura trying to use her cell phone is most likely. One neighbor said it looked like she tried to reverse her car at one point, so it's possible that she was trying to arrange her car to make it look like she had just parked there, rather than crashed. I think she probably thought if she could get away from the car, she could hitch a ride with someone who didn't know she had just crashed it, go on her way, and quietly come back to it later with someone who could help her, she could possibly avoid getting in trouble. Another resident of Ammonoosuc Road said he saw Maura running on the road 4-5 miles east of the accident around 8pm, so she apparently had the first driver drop her off somewhere around there. Not only does that support the evidence that she got a ride at Bradley Hill Rd, where the dogs lost her scent, but it also makes sense with the timeline. Unless Maura had gotten a ride at some point, it would be unlikely she would have been able to make it 5 miles down the road in the period of time after she left her vehicle and the neighbor saw her running east on the road. That would mean she probably made it to near the intersection of 112 & 116. Whether she kept running or hitched another ride, she would have turned left to go up 116, or she would have curved to the right on 112. Which ever road she continued on, she would have eventually hit 93. If she were still headed to Bartlett, she would probably have stayed on 112. I think it is most likely she was meeting someone there, or somewhere nearby. Being that she left her clothes, makeup, and everything else in her locked car, I assume she was thinking if she could get to an area where she could call the person she was meeting, maybe the person would go back and get her stuff for her. Maybe she took her alcohol thinking she could relax and have some drinks while her companion went back to get her things, or maybe she knew there would be another female she could borrow clothing and toiletries from until the next day when they could go back and get her things. We also know that she had been drinking, so perhaps her judgement was not at its most logical.
So what happened to her? I think at this point, it's pretty obvious that she was eventually murdered, either intentionally or accidentally. If she was wearing jeans and a dark jacket, a motorist flying down 112 in the dark with no street lights who certainly didn't expect someone to be jogging down the road on a cold February night could have accidentally hit her and been too scared to report it. We don't know how far she ran or when she hitched another ride, or how many rides she got in total, but we do know that she apparently never made it to Bartlett. Although the chances that she was picked up by a murderer in one of the two or three cars that passed by while the neighbor was calling the cops are pretty small, the odds she was picked up by someone who might harm her at some point on her journey down Route 112 to Bartlett are quite a bit higher, and get higher as she approached the interstate. Her dad said at one point that if the person who picked her up was trying to help her, the person would have already come forward. I don't think that's necessarily true, and think it's actually more likely they wouldn't come forward out of fear they would be suspected. Even the bus driver neighbor who stopped to offer her help and ended up calling the police was hesitant to report that he had talked to her, and has said that he always felt as though people suspected him of being involved, simply because he was the last known person to speak to her. So, someone who had given a ride to a young woman who was never seen again might decide to keep their silence. Either way, I do believe the neighbor who thought he saw her running down the road miles away did indeed see her. Being accustomed to running 5-6 miles regularly and being somewhat familiar with the area, Maura may have figured she could run and hitch rides into the next town, where she could call the person she was meeting to come get her. Also, her comfort level with the area might have made her more inclined to accept rides from strangers and run down roads in the dark, which are things most young women would intuitively avoid. So if Maura was meeting someone, who was it? I think the key to that might be somewhere in her laptop. And again, possibly the reason that person hasn't come forward is out of fear they will be implicated. I find it hard to believe that a 21-year-old student is going to take off in secret and rent a place for a week to stay all by herself. And how did she plan to pay for it? As far as we know, she wasn't even able to rent a place, so perhaps the person she was meeting ended up taking care of it. I also don't think she would have left her wrecked car and continued on her way just to be alone. I think she probably had no idea what to do about her car, and figured that the person she was meeting would, so if she could just get ahold of this person, everything would be okay. Alternatively, and I find this less likely, if she wasn't meeting someone else, she was obviously trying to get away to be alone and sort things out, which is the theory her family seems to believe. In this case, something must have happened to her recently that was causing her a lot of anguish. Maybe something horrible had happened to her on campus or maybe she had done something she deeply regretted that she thought would have consequences, perhaps after drinking too much. I do think she was moving out of her dorm, and her letter to her boyfriend might have been an explanation as to why. She may have written it after not being able to get ahold of him on the phone. Maybe because of whatever happened, she felt like she could no longer be there and had plans to transfer to another university. According to her school, she wasn't having any problems with grades or in any other kind of trouble, and if she had any legal issues, they would have come to light by now. I think her close friends probably have a few unshared hints as to why Maura might have left, but they might either be thinking that thei detail they know is either irrelevant to finding her or might hurt her family, which they might feel isn't necessary at this point in time. I think that based on Maura's behavior on Monday, she felt as though she were doing something wrong. Not only did she not tell anyone where she was going or why, but she seemed desperate to avoid police and locals who might question her. I think it's quite likely that Maura made it closer to her destination than was originally thought, and multiple people may have come into contact with her, but are afraid to mention anything to investigators because they are afraid of being suspected themselves. I do think whatever end she met, happened that night, because I believe she would have called her father as planned whenever she got to a location where it was possible, since she would not have wanted him to worry and start looking for her - or the wrecked car.
nola
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Wonder if MM did cause the hit and run near U-Mass campus that Thursday night. What time did she go to her security job that night? Where was she prior to that? What if she was as typical burning the candle at both ends (long days, little sleep, and distracted) and hit Vasi earlier in the evening --but wasn't really sure what she had hit...then later that night, when Vasi was found --someone could have called campus security to inform them of a student victim of a hit and run --this confirmed MM's fears - and that's when she flipped out. She probably assumed he would die. Vasi's head injuries were very serious -- he was hospitalized for a month.
Damage to her car was thought to be more serious than the minor accident on Monday night would have caused...could this be explained by the hit and run?
Could this be why Maura became suicidal? Couldn't bear to think she might have killed someone --and the guilt of leaving the scene would be awful...
If discovered, her entire life and her family's life would be altered --she doesn't seem like the kind of girl that could just bury this type of event and act like it didn't happen or the type that would want her family to have to go through this sort of scandal --surely, there would be charges.
Whatever caused this all American girl to act out of character in the days that followed Thursday night must have been something that she didn't want to face or share with anyone. Her choice was to run.
I also wonder if she sent the e-mails to her professors and boss to give her time to do whatever she had planned without anyone immediately searching for her.
Either way -suicide or abduction - Maura was loved by so many people - it is sad to imagine what she must have been going through that would have put her on a dark desolate road without anyone to help her that night.
Damage to her car was thought to be more serious than the minor accident on Monday night would have caused...could this be explained by the hit and run?
Could this be why Maura became suicidal? Couldn't bear to think she might have killed someone --and the guilt of leaving the scene would be awful...
If discovered, her entire life and her family's life would be altered --she doesn't seem like the kind of girl that could just bury this type of event and act like it didn't happen or the type that would want her family to have to go through this sort of scandal --surely, there would be charges.
Whatever caused this all American girl to act out of character in the days that followed Thursday night must have been something that she didn't want to face or share with anyone. Her choice was to run.
I also wonder if she sent the e-mails to her professors and boss to give her time to do whatever she had planned without anyone immediately searching for her.
Either way -suicide or abduction - Maura was loved by so many people - it is sad to imagine what she must have been going through that would have put her on a dark desolate road without anyone to help her that night.
IWannaKnow
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A few items:
Allegedly, Mr. Murray told Maura to put the rag in the tailpipe. The car was only running on 3 cylinders and the belief was that the rag would help the car to run. The only mention of this was in a very early news article, I believe the Hanson Paper. I would never be able to find the link now, but saw it in black and white with my own eyes. True? You decide.
The Saturn is still in the impound lot at Troop F, at least as of about 2 months ago, still sitting in the same place. Maybe it has moved now that they are investigating again? Never saw any mention of fingerprints taken from the trunk.
snipped for space: jesintx - That is quite a summary! Must have taken awhile. Good job! But one question....where did you see that there were footprints leading from the car? That has been a major bone of contention from what I know and would be interested if they have found new information. Thanks.
Allegedly, Mr. Murray told Maura to put the rag in the tailpipe. The car was only running on 3 cylinders and the belief was that the rag would help the car to run. The only mention of this was in a very early news article, I believe the Hanson Paper. I would never be able to find the link now, but saw it in black and white with my own eyes. True? You decide.
The Saturn is still in the impound lot at Troop F, at least as of about 2 months ago, still sitting in the same place. Maybe it has moved now that they are investigating again? Never saw any mention of fingerprints taken from the trunk.
snipped for space: jesintx - That is quite a summary! Must have taken awhile. Good job! But one question....where did you see that there were footprints leading from the car? That has been a major bone of contention from what I know and would be interested if they have found new information. Thanks.
pittsburghgirl
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This information has had some life on the internet, but I have seen it refuted in credible sources. I will search and come back with a link.
pittsburghgirl
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OK. Here is a quotation from a website that state, erroneously, that Maura left a note for her boyfriend:
http://someoneismissing.com/massachusetts/maura-murray.htm
Apparently, as we see below, the website may be correctly quoting Lt. Scarinza, but what he said isn't accurate. according to the Murray family and the boyfriend. Peabody, a WS poster who is an expert on the case, cites The Daily Collegian as a source for this statement about a letter TO the boyfriend.
In the same post, Peabody reveals the contradictory statement made by Lt. Scarinza:
This example illustrates why all research, but internet research in particular, is fraught with peril in terms of knowing what is accurate and true information. The person who put together the "someone is missing" website, as well as our poster, relied on a statement made by LE, but that statement was not true. It was a misstatement. And then our poster repeats it here, and someone picks it up from there....
Peabody's original posted 2/9/2005. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19255
http://someoneismissing.com/massachusetts/maura-murray.htm
Apparently, as we see below, the website may be correctly quoting Lt. Scarinza, but what he said isn't accurate. according to the Murray family and the boyfriend. Peabody, a WS poster who is an expert on the case, cites The Daily Collegian as a source for this statement about a letter TO the boyfriend.
In the same post, Peabody reveals the contradictory statement made by Lt. Scarinza:
This example illustrates why all research, but internet research in particular, is fraught with peril in terms of knowing what is accurate and true information. The person who put together the "someone is missing" website, as well as our poster, relied on a statement made by LE, but that statement was not true. It was a misstatement. And then our poster repeats it here, and someone picks it up from there....
Peabody's original posted 2/9/2005. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19255
nola
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Good to know - thank you for that post...Well, I think that Troop F should see if they find Maura's fingerprints inside the trunk - I'm sure they are wanting my advice (LOL). But if they are... take a close look at places that normally wouldn't be touched...Like on the inside lid and on the interior latch release. If she hid and got to a busier traffic area (route 10) - she could have continued her trek to ???? okay, I don't know where -- but I do know that she vanished in a span of 10-15 minutes on a rural road that according to Mr Atwood only had about 3-4 cars pass while he sat in his bus just 200 or so yards from MM's car accident. Something odd happened that night -- and so much of what it was starts with MM's reason for leaving Amherst. Just hard to believe that of the 3 or 4 cars driving by, she got in the one driven by a predator. In my mind there is much more to this than we have learned from U-Mass.
If she did hide - then the LE in the little village of Woodsville can broaden their search and.... learn a lot more about what was motivating Maura that night.
I've known about this case for only 7 days and know that this will haunt me until she's found. I went to sleep last night still asking myself, "What happened to Maura?" ...but I realized really I only want to know -- if it's good. Heartbreaking and very scary possibilities.
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