NH NH - Maura Murray, 21, Haverhill, 9 Feb 2004 - # 7

[pittsburghgirl]

If I recall correctly, the Wikipedia page was written by a student around Maura's age. I believe she also went to UMass Amherst. I'm not absolutely sure, but I do know that she was a young woman.

She actually did a pretty good job, but a pro would have known not to turn speculation and interpretation into a narrative. The links are good, though.

I do think she intended to move out of that room, but to where and why? She may have decided to leave school; perhaps being separated from her boyfriend was too hard. Or perhaps she just wanted out of the dorm. Maybe she hated her course of study; after leaving a military academy (and perhaps feeling like she failed and disappointed people) it might have been tough to quit another school and major. And earlier versions of this story as told by Scarinza are not so precise
as to the nature of the note, which was cast in the light of suicide.

I feel sure that some friend or relatives had some idea about her unhappiness, but cast in the light of potential suicide or running away and assuming a new identity, the complaints about her program or missing the boyfriend might have seemed too trivial to have explanatory power.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

The note business is notoriously incorrect. I am not at my desktop and won't be able to get to this until later, but there WAS NO NOTE written by Maura. Scarinza seems to want to imply "suicide note" by implying she wrote one. That's why I mistrust his comments. Will link later--itnwill take me a while to find what is out there. Meanwhile, I agree that the newbies should find the links on the older threads; that is important work because new eyes see new things. I will try to find what is where,

 

[telemag]

The note business is notoriously incorrect. I am not at my desktop and won't be able to get to this until later, but there WAS NO NOTE written by Maura. Scarinza seems to want to imply "suicide note" by implying she wrote one. That's why I mistrust his comments. Will link later--itnwill take me a while to find what is out there. Meanwhile, I agree that the newbies should find the links on the older threads; that is important work because new eyes see new things. I will try to find what is where,

So this guy clamied Maura wrote a note?

 

[scoops]

About the note that was on top of her neatly packed boxes on her bed:

The police say it was from her boyfriend and they also curiously mention that the two might have been having problems.

Maura's parents and friends say they have seen the note and that it was a note Maura had in her possession for a couple of years old and police are trying to make something out of nothing.

Someone is right and someone is wrong on this. I think it all comes down to who investigated Maura's room first, the family or the police.

If the police were first to investigate Maura's room, I have high doubts that they would leave the note they found laying around, but instead seize it for evidence.

And I also doubt they would ever release that to the family while an on-going investigation is underway.

If the family was first to the room to investigate, then I believe they are right about the note and the police are just making some wild theories

 

[goldiegirl]

If there were strong indicators of suicide, I doubt the investigators would have suggested to Maura's family and her boyfriend that she might have "run off with somebody else," which, we know from their own words on "Disappeared", is something the investigators did suggest. This doesn't mean that they had any reason to suspect that she did do this, but if they really thought it was a suicide I don't see why they'd go there.

ETA: I'm talking about her plans beforehand. There's no way to know if she might have spontaneously decided to commit suicide after the wreck.

 

[telemag]

About the note that was on top of her neatly packed boxes on her bed:

The police say it was from her boyfriend and they also curiously mention that the two might have been having problems.

Maura's parents and friends say they have seen the note and that it was a note Maura had in her possession for a couple of years old and police are trying to make something out of nothing.

Someone is right and someone is wrong on this. I think it all comes down to who investigated Maura's room first, the family or the police.

If the police were first to investigate Maura's room, I have high doubts that they would leave the note they found laying around, but instead seize it for evidence.

And I also doubt they would ever release that to the family while an on-going investigation is underway.

If the family was first to the room to investigate, then I believe they are right about the note and the police are just making some wild theories

I would wonder why a two year old note was kind of laying out in the open among some of her stuff? Maybe she had read it recently for some reason. How would anyone know it was and old note? The only person that would know would be her BF since he wrote it unless Maura had shown it to someone else which I doubt.

 

[scoops]

yes, I believe her boyfriend did at some point get a chance to see the note that was presented to him and he confirmed that it was not a recent note or exchange between them.

Again, Who knows who found what note?

Did the police find a note and then release it to the parents and boyfriend for confirmation. Doesn't seem likely, Police are pretty stingy with evidence in an on-going investigation.

Did parents/friends/boyfriend come across note before Police. Then they would know the legitimacy of the Lt's statement (hinting about relationship problems and her possibly being suicidal)

Or did the parents/friends/boyfriend get a hold of a separate note and are assuming this is the one the police are talking about when in fact it has no relevance on what was found on top of the packed boxes.

 

[I Care]

(Fred) Murray recalled that during the Disappeared" program the now-retired lieutenant John Scarinza of the New Hampshire State Police, who was assigned to the case in 2004, says Maura left a final note, hinting that it was her suicide note. Murray said the note Scarinza mentioned was actually a two-year-old letter written to Maura from her boyfriend and definitely not a suicide note.

SOCOmagazine.com Aprill 2011, page 80.

 

[OldSteve]

sniped from:

.......................................
She got a ride to the hotel from the tow truck driver. So that means she showed up around 3:30-4 to the quality inn with her dad's smashed up car right along with her.

What is so baffling, is that the drinking get-together Maura attended that night was AT HER OWN DORM. So her leaving that party and going to her dad's hotel in a neighboring town made no sense whatsoever and the father was not at all expecting her to come that night, wrecked car or no wrecked car.

I also think Maura had been drinking based on her friend's interviews as the friends also noted Maura as appearing very tired, but that she kept on saying how she wanted to take her dads car back to him. (they thought that was a very bad idea).
................................

Question after reading this - after she brought her dad's car to his hotel, where did she sleep that night?

 

[MLE]

From watching the Disappeared show, my theory is that she's either dead in the woods after getting lost and/or succumbing to the cold temperatures, or from hitching a ride with the wrong person.

The police said she had poured out a drink into the snow, so she had obviously been drinking, which may have actually caused the crash. But regardless, if she waited on the police to arrive, she was almost certain to get a DUI on her record. If I wrecked while drinking like that, in a wreck that didn't involve anyone else, I'm pretty sure I'd leave the scene long enough to sober up, and that may be what she decided to do.

She may have gone deep into the woods out of fear of the police finding her if she stayed in the woods close to the car. If I was in a situation like that, I would walk down the highway in the tire tracks and then enter the woods at a different point further away from the car so the police wouldn't be as likely to see the footprints in the snow going into the woods, as opposed to entering the woods there at the car. Perhaps, that's what she did. And, of course, she could've hitched a ride with one of the many opportunistic predators out there who smells blood in the water when he smells alcohol on a female.

 

[scoops]

sniped from:



Question after reading this - after she brought her dad's car to his hotel, where did she sleep that night?

I believe she stayed with her dad at the hotel and the tow truck driver went on with the dad's car.

Maura also called her boyfriend (somewhere around 4:45 a.m.), told him about the accident and the boyfriend has stated that he believed there was something else that was bothering Maura but she wouldn't say.

 

[scoops]

dad rented another car the next day, took maura back to her dorm and he went on his way back to work a few hours away

 

[McSpy]

Here you go. This is an official statement from Lt. John Scarinza F Troop Commander of the New Hampshire State Police concerning the findings of Maura's dorm room.


Lt. John Scarinza is the F Troop Commander of the New Hamsphire State Police. He and Detective Sgt. Bob Bruno also of Troop F, participated in the meeting. Lt. John Scarinza released the following synopsis of the Maura Murray Missing Person Investigation conducted by his department:

Maura Murray Missing Person Investigation
St Albans, Vermont
June 8, 2004



"On Monday, February 9th at approx 7:30 pm, Maura Murray, a University of Massachusetts College Student was involved in a single vehicle accident on Rt. 112 in the town of Haverhill, NH. When Haverhill Police arrived at the scene approx 8-10 minutes later they found the vehicle locked with no one around.

To date an extensive investigation has been conducted into the disappearance of Maura Murray.
The following information has been learned.

On Saturday Feb 7th Maura spent the evening out with her father and friends at a local brew pub. Later that evening, in the early morning hours of Sunday the 8th of February, Maura was involved in a single vehicle accident in the town of Hadley, Mass. She was driving her fathers new car at the time of the accident, and struck a set of guardrails causing approx 10,000 dollars damage
to the vehicle.

By Monday morning, Feb. 9th Maura had packed up all her belongings in her dorm room at U-Mass, putting everything neatly in boxes and putting all the boxes on her bed along with a personal note she had recently received from her boyfriend. She went on the Internet and
looked up directions and overnight accommodations in the Bartlett, NH area as well as Burlington, VT area. She withdrew most of her money from her personal bank account. She sent e-mails to her supervisor at work as well as a college professor saying she would be absent from work and school for a week due to a death in the family

(In my Opinion) Now to me, You don't have everything packed up on your bed for 10 days after coming back from a break. I think she may not have unpacked everything at the start of the semester but she wouldn't have left everything neatly stacked on her bed the whole time.

I think it an assumption that she neatly packed things before taking this trip north. Maybe, she
had gone through the boxes to get certain items for her trip, then left those boxes neatly stacked on her bed. I don't think anyone knows the real answer. The writer of this article worded it in a way to sound like something else, without knowing for sure.

I'm not sure it is unusual to not unpack everything the first day or week one moves in. It depends on a lot of factors. Maybe, she was busy with other priorities and she didn't need a lot of the stuff at the time (nicknaks, summer clothes, sentimental items, papers, sports equipment etc.) The more stuff you own, the more likely you don't NEED it all.
The reason why I'm saying this is that it has happened to me. As time goes on, you accumulate a lot of stuff, which you may not really need at the moment. When I moved into a house, it took me over 10 years to unpack everything. I still had boxes in the basement. Maybe, she packed EVERYTHING she owned and didn't leave much behind at her mom's house in storage.
Just a thought.

 

[McSpy]

From watching the Disappeared show, my theory is that she's either dead in the woods after getting lost and/or succumbing to the cold temperatures, or from hitching a ride with the wrong person.

The police said she had poured out a drink into the snow, so she had obviously been drinking, which may have actually caused the crash. But regardless, if she waited on the police to arrive, she was almost certain to get a DUI on her record. If I wrecked while drinking like that, in a wreck that didn't involve anyone else, I'm pretty sure I'd leave the scene long enough to sober up, and that may be what she decided to do.

She may have gone deep into the woods out of fear of the police finding her if she stayed in the woods close to the car. If I was in a situation like that, I would walk down the highway in the tire tracks and then enter the woods at a different point further away from the car so the police wouldn't be as likely to
see the footprints in the snow going into the woods, as opposed to entering the woods there at the car. Perhaps, that's what she did. And, of course, she could've hitched a ride with one of the many opportunistic predators out there who smells blood in the water when he smells alcohol on a female.

I picture someone coming along side her in a vehicle and asking her if she needed any help. It may have been a friendly clean cut guy. Even though she knew it was risky, she took his help, because he came across as a nice guy. For some reason, I don't picture her hitchhiking, but I could be wrong. Succumbing to the elements could have definitely happened. I had an experience with hypothermia and it can come on you very quickly. It is hard to get out of it without help, once it starts.

 

[McSpy]

yes, I believe her boyfriend did at some point get a chance to see the note that was presented to him and he confirmed that it was not a recent note or exchange between them.

Again, Who knows who found what note?

Did the police find a note and then release it to the parents and boyfriend for confirmation. Doesn't seem likely, Police are pretty stingy with evidence in an on-going investigation.

Did parents/friends/boyfriend come across note before Police. Then they would know the legitimacy of the Lt's statement (hinting about relationship problems and her possibly being suicidal)

Or did the parents/friends/boyfriend get a hold of a separate note and are
assuming this is the one the police are talking about when in fact it has no relevance on what was found on top of the packed boxes.

I would think, if the note was addressed to the boyfriend, LE would have shown him that particular note. LE has to confirm what they have before they can call it evidence.

 

[scoops]

I think it an assumption that she neatly packed things before taking this trip north. Maybe, she
had gone through the boxes to get certain items for her trip, then left those boxes neatly stacked on her bed. I don't think anyone knows the real answer. The writer of this article worded it in a way to sound like something else, without knowing for sure.

I'm not sure it is unusual to not unpack everything the first day or week one moves in. It depends on a lot of factors. Maybe, she was busy with other priorities and she didn't need a lot of the stuff at the time (nicknaks, summer clothes, sentimental items, papers, sports equipment etc.) The more stuff you own, the more likely you don't NEED it all.
The reason why I'm saying this is that it has happened to me. As time goes on, you accumulate a lot of stuff, which you may not really need at the moment. When I moved into a house, it took me over 10 years to unpack everything. I still had boxes in the basement. Maybe, she packed EVERYTHING she owned and didn't leave much behind at her mom's house in storage.
Just a thought.

McSpy,
I agree the wording of this statement is somewhat awkard, but I would contend that it also might just be the Lt. being careful with how he words certain things.

This was not a news article, but rather an official press release made by Lt. Scarinza. there is no opinion in this statement or is there an attempt to tie certain events. This was the Lt saying here is what we know to be fact about the case and he was laying it out.

How I understand it, this press release came out around the time they were trying to link Maura's case with the Briana Maitland case and the Police were getting some pressure, so they released a statement about the maitland case and then one about the maura case.

I can tell the Lt. is being careful with his words here because he starts out one paragraph stating "By Monday morning May 9, Maura had packed up all of her belongings"

He is taking the careful route of not trying to pinpoint a certain time that Maura packed up her room or he would've said instead "On Monday morning May 9, Maura packed up all her belongings"

 

[scoops]

I would think, if the note was addressed to the boyfriend, LE would have shown him that particular note. LE has to confirm what they have before they can call it evidence.

Mcspy,

I think we might slightly disagree there. If the police think the note yields to motive for Maura disappearing, then they will not let anyone see it while they are investigating.

If they were unclear of the note's meaning to the whole situation, then yes, I would think that they would contact the boyfriend and maybe even show him the note for clarification.

even a straight-up sucide note. I don't think the parents would see that, until a body is found, but that is just my honest opinion.

 

[gnomony]

Here you go. This is an official statement from Lt. John Scarinza F Troop Commander of the New Hampshire State Police concerning the findings of Maura's dorm room.


Lt. John Scarinza is the F Troop Commander of the New Hamsphire State Police. He and Detective Sgt. Bob Bruno also of Troop F, participated in the meeting. Lt. John Scarinza released the following synopsis of the Maura Murray Missing Person Investigation conducted by his department:

Maura Murray Missing Person Investigation
St Albans, Vermont
June 8, 2004

Does anyone know why this was issued out of St. Albans?

 

[OldSteve]

I believe she stayed with her dad at the hotel and the tow truck driver went on with the dad's car.

Maura also called her boyfriend (somewhere around 4:45 a.m.), told him about the accident and the boyfriend has stated that he believed there was something else that was bothering Maura but she wouldn't say.

Thanks for this info! It is odd (like you mentioned previously) - that she didn't stay at her dorm that night...

 

[McSpy]

McSpy,
I agree the wording of this statement is somewhat awkard, but I would contend that it also might just be the Lt. being careful with how he words certain things.

This was not a news article, but rather an official press release made by Lt. Scarinza. there is no opinion in this statement or is there an attempt to tie certain events. This was the Lt saying here is what we know to be fact about the case and he was laying it out.

How I understand it, this press release came out around the time they were trying to link Maura's case with the Briana Maitland case and the Police were getting some pressure, so they released a statement about the maitland case and then one about the maura case.

I can tell the Lt. is being careful with his words here because he starts out one paragraph stating "By Monday morning May 9, Maura had packed up all of her belongings"

He is taking the careful route of not trying to pinpoint a certain time that
Maura packed up her room or he would've said instead "On Monday morning May 9, Maura packed up all her belongings"

I think better wording would have been something like this, "packed boxes were found on her bed neatly stacked" instead of saying she packed them. The way LE worded it implies she packed them that day (Feb. 9th) or in vicinity of that day, which is a leap, because it was an assumption.