NH NH - Maura Murray, 21, Haverhill, 9 Feb 2004 - #10

[Fireweed]

I do not necessarily think she planned on returning, in which case she would have made damn sure not to leave a trail. It has been my observation than women who are depressed, stressed, disappointed, and drinking a lot tend to be attractive to dirtbag men.

I can think of another scenario where Maura runs off with a man, maybe the kind of man her family would not approve of. Maybe he killed her. Maybe he killed her months later and a thousand miles away.

 

[scoops]

I do not necessarily think she planned on returning, in which case she would have made damn sure not to leave a trail. It has been my observation than women who are depressed, stressed, disappointed, and drinking a lot tend to be attractive to dirtbag men.

I can think of another scenario where Maura runs off with a man, maybe the kind of man her family would not approve of. Maybe he killed her. Maybe he killed her months later and a thousand miles away.

If you really want to not leave a trail, why not destroy your hard-drive or take your computer with you?

She left her computer behind. Which means even if she tried to be discreet and delete stuff on it, police would be able to uncover it anyways.

Obviously (IMO I guess) police didn't find any information (that was helpful) in pointing them to where Maura was going to be "Starting a new life" at.

You at least would think that if you were going to make a major life change and leave countries or move to a whole new state, you would at least put a few minutes of research about it on your computer before you made the bold move.

I understand people pick up and move, but I would like to think, they at least have done a smidge of research about where they are going to move to.

And why pack up your dorm? What purpose does that serve. if you are not returning, then you obviously don't want the stuff left behind in your dorm, so why pack it up to begin with, why not just bolt from the dorm and leave everything the way it was.

 

[Coffeelover]

I've been following this case for years, I've gone in circles temporarily believing all the different theories but at this point I'm back where I started. Maura was fit, she was able to jog further than anyone thought but ultimately she died from the elements somewhere in the wilderness of NH. Not suicide, just bad luck/decisions.

 

[Jerri Blank]

hard to believe it's been 10 years and still no answers. i can still remember that moment running into a mutual friend in my dorm who told me maura was missing. naivety led me to think it was nothing, i had certainly had a few moments that year myself where i just wanted to get away. shed be back soon, no big deal... :/

starting to believe we my never know the answer until someone in the know wants us to know...

 

[dogperson]

This may be a dumb question, since I've been out of college for over 20 years and have no kids, but were there other computers available to Maura that she could have used for searches (to create new identity/leave the country/etc)? Like a computer lab? That way LE would have found nothing of interest on her own hard drive.

 

[walkingdeadgirl]

Just wondering if by "death in the family", she meant her own????

I've wondered the same thing in the past.

 

[walkingdeadgirl]

If you really want to not leave a trail, why not destroy your hard-drive or take your computer with you?

She left her computer behind. Which means even if she tried to be discreet and delete stuff on it, police would be able to uncover it anyways.

Obviously (IMO I guess) police didn't find any information (that was helpful) in pointing them to where Maura was going to be "Starting a new life" at.

You at least would think that if you were going to make a major life change and leave countries or move to a whole new state, you would at least put a few minutes of research about it on your computer before you made the bold move.

I understand people pick up and move, but I would like to think, they at least have done a smidge of research about where they are going to move to.

And why pack up your dorm? What purpose does that serve. if you are not returning, then you obviously don't want the stuff left behind in your dorm, so why pack it up to begin with, why not just bolt from the dorm and leave everything the way it was.

If I knew deleted material could be retrieved, I would use a library computer. I might use one anyway, for an added feeling of privacy.

As far as packing, Maura seems to me to be strongly a type A personality. Packing her belongings so her family wouldn't be left with that responsibility seems like a logical choice for someone like that. Moo.

 

[scoops]

This may be a dumb question, since I've been out of college for over 20 years and have no kids, but were there other computers available to Maura that she could have used for searches (to create new identity/leave the country/etc)? Like a computer lab? That way LE would have found nothing of interest on her own hard drive.

It's possible she could've used a computer lab at school and had a secret cell phone and had a cooked up fake ID and carried on an on-going clandestine conversation with some "special friend" for months and secretly stashed clothes (probably going to need those, considering she barely took any of her own) at a location in New Hampshire she rendezvous upped to retrieve on the night she went missing.

But again we are talking about a 21 year old college student who got busted buying pizzas with someone's credit card number.

Jane Bond, she just doesn't appear to be to me (IMO).

 

[Gene S.]

And why pack up your dorm? What purpose does that serve. if you are not returning, then you obviously don't want the stuff left behind in your dorm, so why pack it up to begin with, why not just bolt from the dorm and leave everything the way it was.

To give people on the internet something to talk about for the next ten years?

 

[goldiegirl]

I have to confess something. I pulled something SOMEWHAT similar to Maura's "death in the family" when I was a freshman in college. My "major" crisis was that my boyfriend broke up with me. When you're 18 this can seem like a huge deal. So I ended up suddenly moving back home from campus and asking the school if I could finish some classes online and drop others. What I was doing and what I was saying made no sense, even to me. I remember telling one teacher that "I'm going through a divorce," and telling another teacher that "I have some personal things to take care of, and I need to leave campus." That teacher ended up thinking that I had a drug problem and was going to rehab. I told my parents that I just didn't like life in the dorms and wanted to move back home. Really, I was just in crisis (over something that turned out NOT to be a big deal) and not thinking clearly, and "I wasn't a liar but did lie". I didn't really care what anyone thought of the reasons I was giving, just that I got some time to sort things out and get them off my back. So, it happens at that age. Whether she said death or emergency, I think it was just a way to miss class. Why, I have no idea. I'm way on the fence about what I think happened to her, but my point is that I think we're reading too much into the words of a 21-yr-old college student who was obviously troubled. Trust me, at that age many of us go temporarily insane at least once : )

ETA: I also had a friend who got straight As and was a super overachiever and also "wasn't a liar but did lie". He got drunk and fell down the stairs and ended up missing glass due to a hangover and coming back with a big gash on his head. When he came back the next day he ended up telling the teacher he got in a car wreck, and she allowed him to make up a missed assignment. In college you do kind of have to justify absences in anything but a large lecture, and in many cases you are only allowed so many. Come to think of it I had TWO over-achieving male friends who had multiple "dead grandmas" (one who is now a lawyer - totally normal person), and boy did he feel like crap when he grandma really DID die in the middle of a semester and he couldn't get time off. It happens, guys. It's unfortunate, but we all have our moments.

This may be a dumb question, since I've been out of college for over 20 years and have no kids, but were there other computers available to Maura that she could have used for searches (to create new identity/leave the country/etc)? Like a computer lab? That way LE would have found nothing of interest on her own hard drive.

I was in college from 2005-2009, and we had libraries and labs all over but had to use a login provided to each of us by the school to get on the computers. This was so they could track behavior that was not in line with the terms of service (viewing of , for instance) and know who the user was. No idea what this situation was like at Maura's college at that time.

 

[Nordicpete]

While there is nothing to say RO's account wasn't as she detailed it, the other account about a red truck being spotted on Bradley Hill Rd. has been called out as a red herring.

As I understand it, it has never been substantiated that anyone saw a red truck sitting on Bradley Hill Rd. that night.

Scoops,

Well, LE has never confirmed this purported sighting on Bradley Hill Road.
The same goes for witness RO´s alleged observation of a lurking red pick-up truck in Swiftwater village.
Even so, I´m personally inclined to believe both of these alleged sightings, not least because LE did run several stops of red/reddish pick-up trucks on area roads during the night and early morning of February 10th 2004.

 

[Jane Birch]

I just find the likelihood of Maura running into a creep in that area at that moment to be astronomically low. I find the likelihood of Maura meeting up with someone she knew and being murdered by that person to be much higher.

Why do you think it's much more likely that Maura ran into someone she knew in a place 150 miles from home ands chool? She's somewhere unfamiliar.....and runs into someone she knows? From where?! Or am I misunderstanding you

 

[pokypuppy67]

I'd have to go with Jane Birch on this one. I'm much more inclined to think that Maura ran into an unknown creep than someone she knew so far away. There's certainly no shortage of strange creeps out there. If there was we wouldn't be investigating nearly as many missing persons.

A pretty, young, vulnerable girl alone on the side of the road after dark? Any freaky perv who happened to pass by might have decided that he could have his way with her and get away with it. They're all willing to take the chance because they always think they can get away with it. And unfortunately many of them actually do.

 

[poppygirl]

It was Maura's case that first brought me to websleuths. I thought at the time (hoped) that she was still alive sonmewhere...assumed a new identity, started a new life...

After several months here, I have to say I no longer think that. Time after time, people who are last seen walking or running down a street in cold weather or snowy conditions end up being found deceased from exposure. Sadly, I've come to believe that this is what happened to Maura. Alone, scared...and having been drinking at least some alcohol...I think she just took off running, as far as she could (which may have been a good distance given she was a runner), stopped to rest...and someday hikers or hunters will find her. I hope that's not the case, but fear the worst. The other possibility, though less likely I think, is that she encountered a nefarious stranger who harmed her.

 

[scoops]

I'd have to go with Jane Birch on this one. I'm much more inclined to think that Maura ran into an unknown creep than someone she knew so far away. There's certainly no shortage of strange creeps out there. If there was we wouldn't be investigating nearly as many missing persons.

A pretty, young, vulnerable girl alone on the side of the road after dark? Any freaky perv who happened to pass by might have decided that he could have his way with her and get away with it. They're all willing to take the chance because they always think they can get away with it. And unfortunately many of them actually do.

I would say this is very possible if it was daylight. A predator could see Maura from afar and decide to swoop in with some sort of ruse.

But, Try identifying someone (as being male or female) from your vehicle as you are driving 35MPH in the pitch dark. It isn't easy, especially if you aren't expecting to encounter someone walking alone (dressed in dark clothing) on a lonely road in the wilderness on a Monday night.

A pervert (IMO) would've had to take a chance and stop and engage the person walking before they could even begin to figure out if that person was worthy of being his next victim.

I just don't think (IMO) that perverts would go out of their way like that. They would have much better luck stalking someone in the afternoon or someone leaving a college campus or someone in a mall parking lot.

 

[Fireweed]

What I am working with is the fact that most people who are the victims of homicide, know their killer, and most women who are the victims of homicide, are killed by a "romantic" partner.

I do not think Maura just "ran into" someone she happened to know. I think she could have been meeting someone up there and been a victim of a criminal act by that person. Again, I do not know if this happened. I am merely pointing out that when young women are the victims of murder, it is more likely than not that the murderer is a boyfriend.

 

[goldiegirl]

I would say this is very possible if it was daylight. A predator could see Maura from afar and decide to swoop in with some sort of ruse.

But, Try identifying someone (as being male or female) from your vehicle as you are driving 35MPH in the pitch dark. It isn't easy, especially if you aren't expecting to encounter someone walking alone (dressed in dark clothing) on a lonely road in the wilderness on a Monday night.

A pervert (IMO) would've had to take a chance and stop and engage the person walking before they could even begin to figure out if that person was worthy of being his next victim.

I just don't think (IMO) that perverts would go out of their way like that. They would have much better luck stalking someone in the afternoon or someone leaving a college campus or someone in a mall parking lot.

But, why NOT take that chance? There's nothing to lose. If it turns out to be someone you aren't interested in then you play the good Samaritan, and nobody will be the wiser.

I know it's VERY unlikely for a cardholding creep to have happened to pass by. But the thing is, every "creep" has a first time, and I can see how this might seem like the ideal situation for somebody inexperienced to give it a try - not many people around to witness. It doesn't have to have been a hiding-behind-the-bushes serial rapist/murderer Chester the Molester type of boogeyman, just someone who was remotely curious and had some sick thoughts.

By the way, I'm very much on the fence with this case and am just playing devil's advocate. I am not saying this is necessarily the most likely scenario, but whenever I see people talk about how there's such a small chance of that type of person being up there, I just stop and think that it probably doesn't really work like that. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people have creepy sides to them that may or may not ever manifest and that it's not so cut and dried.

ETA: Or maybe someone even DID stop with the intentions of being a good Samaritan and things got out of hand. Maybe that's why we've never heard anyone come forward about picking her up, because if someone did maybe they ended up doing more than they had intended.

 

[Fireweed]

I agree that a random creep is certainly a possibility. I cannot see how anyone in this case could truly "know" anything one way or the other; all we can do is weigh out likelihoods and make arguments that a scenario happened or that it didn't.

So here is what I have been thinking about. Many argue that Maura got a ride with someone (a stranger). I concede that is a possibility, but I think when analyzing this possibility, we should keep in mind that Maura was "running from the cops" that night. She would not have been hitchhiking or even running in plain view at this point. If we believe Rick Forcier's account, then it fits in with this scenario. He came around a curve, and Maura rapidly ducked out of sight. This would be the logical thing for a person to do if they were in Maura's situation. She does not want to get into trouble, and any car in the dark could potentially be a cop car. This is why I do not think she got a ride with a stranger that night. She was purposefully avoiding cars that night. I think she may have jogged all the way to Lincoln that night and made a call from pay phone. To whom? No idea, but I think we all should keep in mind that Maura was a night owl. No only was she a night owl, but she received a call at midnight on Thursday, went to her dad's hotel at 3 am on Sunday, and called Billy at 2-3 am his time that night. Apparently a unusual number of people in Maura's life were either night owls, or did not seem to mind get late night phone calls. I think Maura would have had more confidence than the average person that a late night phone call would not go unanswered.

Heck, it may not have even been that late. I am not a runner, but as I understand a good runner could do 16 miles in 4 hours or so. The middle of nowhere is not the middle of nowhere to a conditioned runner.

 

[Jerri Blank]

I was in college from 2005-2009, and we had libraries and labs all over but had to use a login provided to each of us by the school to get on the computers. This was so they could track behavior that was not in line with the terms of service (viewing of , for instance) and know who the user was. No idea what this situation was like at Maura's college at that time.

i went to maura's college at the exact time she did, it was the same at UMass as far as library/computer lab computers. that being said, there were plenty of computers i had access to as part of my major (journalism) and my extracurriculars (newspaper, res life, etc) that i didnt log in to at all. maura may have had access to some computers like that? everything still would have gone through UMass' network and would have had to be attributed to some person/department on campus.

 

[Fireweed]

I constantly used the computers on campus when I was in college (graduated 04). Cell phones were just phones back then, and people were not in the habit of carrying around a lap top back then like they are now. I had a computer at my apartment with internet, but it was so much easier to just use the computers on campus, and no, I did not have to log in to use them.