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

[amber1]

That is true, especially starting college, you really do have a brand new set of friends. I have read the place Maura was headed to was one she went to often before she was in college. I've heard so many different rumors, and pushing them all aside, who's to say she had this "big" idea or scheme to run away to or with someone or hurt herself?
I think she just wanted to get away, maybe a sense of nostalgia hit her, and she wanted to go back someplace that gave her comfort to sort things out. I know she was going to graduate soon, which is exciting, but at the same time nerve racking because that chapter of your life is done, and a new one is about to begin. Humans are creatures of routine. Change is nice, but it takes us out of our comfort zones. Sometimes we want to reminisce of how things once were. Maybe Maura did as well?

 

[McSpy]

Maybe the Police know where Maura is? If in fact they have located her, would they make it public or tell her father if she didn't want them to? I doubt it. Perhaps that's why she's not on the FBI's Missing/Wanted list. Perhaps this is why they absolutely refuse to give Maura's Father any information regarding her case? She does have the right to privacy. I'm not sure if I quite believe this, but is it possible?? They would have to label her case as INACTIVE, right?

LE would tell her family that she was located, but they may not disclose her whereabouts if if that is her wish. LE is not obliged to keep secrets for Maura, but they will honor not disclosing her location. Since she is still on NH's cold case list as well as Namus, this indicates she has not been found. JMO

 

[McSpy]

Maura was obviously making a planned getaway unless the email she sent the school and the calls she made about getting a room aren't true. People keep saying that she told no one, but she did. Also, by sending the school that email it shows tha she intended to be gone long enough to miss some classes. How many times have any of us at Maura's age just got into a car and planned on taking a planned trip with no intentions of meeting anyone? I'm sure it happens, but IMO I'm willing to bet that she was meeting someone and that it was a guy. If everyone thought that Maura was dating Billy then she would IMO be very careful as to who she told and even more so if that man was possibly married. As far as the stuffed animal from Billy that could have been in her car for a long time. Unless someone can tell me that they know for sure she had it in her room the day she left.

I think not too many options as far as what happened to Maura. Either she froze to death and somehow no one has ever seen her body and I don't think this likely. I can't see someone walking too far into the woods at night. Second she did take a ride from someone and was murdered. If she was seen by Fournier (sp?) the it tells me that she was staying close to the road and that she wasn't looking for a ride since he mentioned that she ran when she saw his car approach.

One thing that I have not heard mentioned before and I think that may be likely is that Maura did finally meet up with whom ever she was planning on meeting and something bad happened between the two and she was murdered either on purpose or accidentally. Think about it, what better chance is someone going to have to kill someone when not a soul knows where you are? The reasons don't matter as much as the possibility.

BBM

IMO, Maura was dealing with a personal issue and wanted to work it out by herself. I don't think she wanted to share it with anyone. She even told her boyfriend on the phone that she didn't feel like talking. I think her problem was a secret (eating disorder?) and it wasn't something she felt ready to discuss with some guy. The cc fraud situation may have been embarrassing for her as well. I don't think she was happy with herself. I could be wrong, but I don't think it was just the car accident at UMass that made her take the trip to NH. JMO

 

[hmg]

Maybe the Police know where Maura is? If in fact they have located her, would they make it public or tell her father if she didn't want them to? I doubt it. Perhaps that's why she's not on the FBI's Missing/Wanted list. Perhaps this is why they absolutely refuse to give Maura's Father any information regarding her case? She does have the right to privacy. I'm not sure if I quite believe this, but is it possible?? They would have to label her case as INACTIVE, right?

There's tons of missing people not listed there, it doesn't mean a thing. It's important to note that MM is still on NH State Police's website as a missing person: http://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/nhsp/missingpersons/mpmurray.html

If she were to be found alive the police would notify the family but not disclose her location.

 

[telemag]

BBM

IMO, Maura was dealing with a personal issue and wanted to work it out by herself. I don't think she wanted to share it with anyone. She even told her boyfriend on the phone that she didn't feel like talking. I think her problem was a secret (eating disorder?) and it wasn't something she felt ready to discuss with some guy. The cc fraud situation may have been embarrassing for her as well. I don't think she was happy with herself. I could be wrong, but I don't think it was just the car accident at UMass that made her take the trip to NH. JMO

She told her teacher correct?

 

[Skigirl]

She told her teacher correct?

She sort of had to tell her professors by way of explaining why she wouldn't be in class. And at that, what she told them -- that she had a death in the family -- was not true. That doesn't undermine the possibility that she didn't want to tell people what was going on in her mind and life.

 

[Valen]

I've always wondered what happened after the crash where she disappeared. It sounds like her vehicle was damaged and not driveable since the air bags had deployed. She lied about calling AAA and didn't want assistance from the man that stopped to help and also didn't want the police involved. I am curious as to what her plan would have been since it must have been very cold in February and not wanting help from the police or AAA and not having cell phone coverage just seems very strange.

If she refused help from one person it seems unlikely that she would then accept help from a different person. I supposed it could be a forced abduction but you would think there might be some evidence to support that. Also I doubt she would have gone walking on her own when it was that cold unless she intentionally wanted to.

I watched a video of her last route posted on youtube and it seems like there are enough houses/buildings on that route where she could have gotten help if she wanted to. I can post that if people want but it may already be posted here somewhere. Also not sure what the linking policy is here since I am new.

I sincerely hope that Maura will be found.

 

[scoops]

I've always wondered what happened after the crash where she disappeared. It sounds like her vehicle was damaged and not driveable since the air bags had deployed. She lied about calling AAA and didn't want assistance from the man that stopped to help and also didn't want the police involved. I am curious as to what her plan would have been since it must have been very cold in February and not wanting help from the police or AAA and not having cell phone coverage just seems very strange.

If she refused help from one person it seems unlikely that she would then accept help from a different person. I supposed it could be a forced abduction but you would think there might be some evidence to support that. Also I doubt she would have gone walking on her own when it was that cold unless she intentionally wanted to.

I watched a video of her last route posted on youtube and it seems like there are enough houses/buildings on that route where she could have gotten help if she wanted to. I can post that if people want but it may already be posted here somewhere. Also not sure what the linking policy is here since I am new.

I sincerely hope that Maura will be found.

It wasn't all that cold that evening. that has been discussed and proven on this site a while back. The temp was in the 30's that night that maura had the accident. You can get that info from places such as farmer's almanac.

IMO, Maura didn't want help and she wasn't afraid of a man driving a school bus.

If maura truly was in a "I want help mode", the gas station/convienence store she passed minutes before crashing would've been a logical place to go seek help from. A public place with likely a public phone. It wouldn't take her long at all on foot to back-track to the store which was open.


Maura was just a few 100 feet away from a driveway to a house on the same side of the road as where her car ended up. They were watching her out their window. You can't have any more good luck on your side if you were just a stranded motorist needing help.

 

[scoops]

here is the weather link again. Notice I punched in Feb 10 instead of Feb 9, 2004 because I wanted the lowest tempature for the late evening/early morning hours (Monday night into tuesday morning). You can see that the low was 28 degrees. It never dropped below that from Monday to tuesday. So for that time of the year, that is not that cold.


On February 10th, 2004, the closest available weather station to Bath, NH (SAINT JOHNSBURY, VT), reported the following conditions:




High Temp:

35.6F



Low Temp:

28.4F



Average Temp:

32.8F



Dewpoint:

24.4F



Wind Speed:

2 Knots



Precipitation Amount:

0 Inches



Snow Depth:

n/a



Observations:

n/a

 

[Valen]

Ahh that's interesting to note that the temp wasn't that bad. Obviously if you stayed out in 30 degree weather for a long time then you'd still have problems but I just wonder what her plan was? She wasn't close to anyone she knew when the crash happened, she didn't want help, and her vehicle wasn't driveable. It just seems like all you can do in that case is either sit there doing nothing or start walking somewhere. While I don't think she was necessarily panicked and really needing immediate help she would have had to do something to get help from the situation she was in, unless she didn't want help in anyway, but that leads me back to my first question.

I wonder if she may have just walked off, i read that police thought she might have been suicidal originally although the family disagreed. If it was 30 degrees she probably could have gotten pretty far, but you'd think searches would have found her. The fact that she didn't seem to want any help might make it seem more believable but I just don't know.

Also I thought I read that one of the bottles of alcohol she purchased was missing from the car but I can't recall for sure if that's correct. That might also leave a clue.

 

[scoops]

Ahh that's interesting to note that the temp wasn't that bad. Obviously if you stayed out in 30 degree weather for a long time then you'd still have problems but I just wonder what her plan was? She wasn't close to anyone she knew when the crash happened, she didn't want help, and her vehicle wasn't driveable. It just seems like all you can do in that case is either sit there doing nothing or start walking somewhere. While I don't think she was necessarily panicked and really needing immediate help she would have had to do something to get help from the situation she was in, unless she didn't want help in anyway, but that leads me back to my first question.

I wonder if she may have just walked off, i read that police thought she might have been suicidal originally although the family disagreed. If it was 30 degrees she probably could have gotten pretty far, but you'd think searches would have found her. The fact that she didn't seem to want any help might make it seem more believable but I just don't know.

Also I thought I read that one of the bottles of alcohol she purchased was missing from the car but I can't recall for sure if that's correct. That might also leave a clue.

A bottle was missing, from what they found on a receipt in maura's car.

No matter how they try and twist the info. the family initally brought up suicide as a potential motive to investigators not the other way around. The investigators didn't know maura or know anything more than a young woman smashed up her car and can't be found. They would have no working theory to go off and would have to rely upon what family tells them. (Not the other way around). IMO.

 

[telemag]

She sort of had to tell her professors by way of explaining why she wouldn't be in class. And at that, what she told them -- that she had a death in the family -- was not true. That doesn't undermine the possibility that she didn't want to tell people what was going on in her mind and life.

The only reason that she had to IMO is so when she came back she wasn't in trouble. If she didn't plan on coming back then why tell them? Of course she could have done it to buy time, but I don't think that many teachers get too concerned when students don't show up unless of course they are gone for days.

 

[scoops]

The only reason that she had to IMO is so when she came back she wasn't in trouble. If she didn't plan on coming back then why tell them? Of course she could have done it to buy time, but I don't think that many teachers get too concerned when students don't show up unless of course they are gone for days.

She sent an email (that went to the faculty of her nursing program as well as her two employers) that stated she would be gone for a week.

Had maura not shown up for work for just one day, that would've started the ball rolling in people trying to locate her IMO. Either her art gallery boss or security monitor supervisor would want to know why she was a no-show and would be getting a hold of anyone that knows maura, which would very likely get back to maura's family, which is lilkely exactly whom maura wasn't wanting to let in on her plans.

Therefore she safely buys a week for herself and no family finds out she isn't at her campus either.


All of this except for the first sentence iis my opinion.

 

[CastlesBurning]

I've long been checking in on this case, as Maura was just a few years younger than me and it seemed like such an odd situation. I haven't revisited this thread in a good half year, though, so I've forgotten some of the details.

Did they ever log where her cell phone was last used? I can't recall specifically, since technology is constantly changing and improving, and you tend to forget what happened when. But were they even able to chart pings off cell towers back then?

I don't know about the specifics of Maura's area, but I do recall that even in a populated area, you weren't always guaranteed a signal in 2004, especially if you had a lot of woods as NH tends to have. So even if Maura chose to walk off for whatever reason and THEN regretted it or found herself in trouble, she might not have been able to get in touch with anyone.

 

[amber1]

Valen,
You bring up a good point about all the options Maura had if she truly wanted some help. This is part of what makes me lean towards the fact that Maura was not abducted, unless forced, but went off in the woods, and possibly got lost. I know it was not below freezing or anything, but with so much vegetation, and possibly not being in the right state of mind (not saying she was drunk, but obviously something was going on in her head), this all adds up to be a disaster.
I think Maura did not ask for help because all these precipitating factors got to her. IMO, I do not think she was suicidal either, but if she had gotten lost or injured out there, it does not seem to me she would have the will and motivation to persevere at this point.
Her story just makes me feel for her, because I feel like in a way we all can relate to Maura, she was just in a rough spot.

 

[CastlesBurning]

I've spent the past half hour going through some of the many older threads, refreshing my memory on what was known to be certain (unfortunately, precious little) and the questions/speculations raised by WS members.

One thing I don't think I've seen asked is why the supervisor that told Maura to leave work early didn't seem to have asked WHY she was in such a state. While I can certainly understand respecting someone's privacy, I also can't imagine encountering one of my co-workers so distraught and NOT asking what's going on or how can you help. That part just seems really bizarre to me.

Another thing - according to the Wiki summarized timeline, it says Maura sent Billy an email at 1 p.m. saying she hadn't felt like talking but would call him later in the day. but then she called him at 2:18 for "one minute." That seems odds to me on several levels, the first being why email him if you planning to call such a short time afterward? She could simply have waited a little and made the call. The second thing is what does that "one minute" actually mean? Did she get VM? Busy line? Actually GET Billy and for whatever reason hang up?

Also, the Wiki clarifies my question from above -- there WASN'T cell phone reception in that area, as I suspected. So even if Maura walked off somewhere of her own volition, then got into trouble, she might not have been able to use her phone to call for help.

A small but possibly important detail is listed there which I don't recall ever hearing is that a rag from Maura's emergency roadside kit was found stuffed in the muffler pipe. I wonder if Maura herself did that or was it another person? If so, was it done prior or after the accident? Another blog I Googled says the mechanic who towed the car said Fred Murray had told Maura to do that because the car was giving her trouble. WTF?? That seems even more bizarre than anything to me.

 

[scoops]

I've spent the past half hour going through some of the many older threads, refreshing my memory on what was known to be certain (unfortunately, precious little) and the questions/speculations raised by WS members.

One thing I don't think I've seen asked is why the supervisor that told Maura to leave work early didn't seem to have asked WHY she was in such a state. While I can certainly understand respecting someone's privacy, I also can't imagine encountering one of my co-workers so distraught and NOT asking what's going on or how can you help. That part just seems really bizarre to me.

Another thing - according to the Wiki summarized timeline, it says Maura sent Billy an email at 1 p.m. saying she hadn't felt like talking but would call him later in the day. but then she called him at 2:18 for "one minute." That seems odds to me on several levels, the first being why email him if you planning to call such a short time afterward? She could simply have waited a little and made the call. The second thing is what does that "one minute" actually mean? Did she get VM? Busy line? Actually GET Billy and for whatever reason hang up?

Also, the Wiki clarifies my question from above -- there WASN'T cell phone reception in that area, as I suspected. So even if Maura walked off somewhere of her own volition, then got into trouble, she might not have been able to use her phone to call for help.

A small but possibly important detail is listed there which I don't recall ever hearing is that a rag from Maura's emergency roadside kit was found stuffed in the muffler pipe. I wonder if Maura herself did that or was it another person? If so, was it done prior or after the accident? Another blog I Googled says the mechanic who towed the car said Fred Murray had told Maura to do that because the car was giving her trouble. WTF?? That seems even more bizarre than anything to me.

One possible theory concerning the rag is that it was a failed makeshift (do it before police arrive) suicide attempt at the scene of the accident. This theory came from the Troop F Commander and investigator into Maura Murray.

 

[OldSteve]

One possible theory concerning the rag is that it was a failed makeshift (do it before police arrive) suicide attempt at the scene of the accident. This theory came from the Troop F Commander and investigator into Maura Murray.

Don't know how they came up with that.... would need some way for car exhaust to get into car for that to work.... hole in car floor and hole(s) in exhaust and even not sure how well that work in an open area...
Normally, car would simply stall if exhaust were blocked.
The rag in exhaust makes no sense, as I previously mentioned...

 

[OldSteve]

In reading recent posts - one thing that bugs me a bit is the taking for gospel anything she supposedly did or said that cannot be verified by more than one person.

In all the cases I follow I always question anything the last person to have had contact with a victim says the victim may have said or acted, unless verified by someone else who is impartial to the case.

So I discount everything the SBD said, and everything Rick F. said, as they cannot be verified. I do not know if she had actually been drinking while driving, only that there was open alcohol in the vehicle. This leaves me only knowing the time when she crashed, and that shortly thereafter she vanished.

 

[scoops]

Don't know how they came up with that.... would need some way for car exhaust to get into car for that to work.... hole in car floor and hole(s) in exhaust and even not sure how well that work in an open area...
Normally, car would simply stall if exhaust were blocked.
The rag in exhaust makes no sense, as I previously mentioned...

I agree. That method would not work in taking your own life.

But would Maura know that?

I don't know how car savvy and street-smart she was.

I gathered from the Commanders statement that he didn't believe fred's statement at all (about the rag being something he advised her to stick in the tailpipe).


I believe from my own interpretation that this particular F Troop Commander was very skeptical of Fred Murray and how Fred changed his tune with him personally concerning maura and why she would end up in new hampshire in the middle of nowhere on a Monday night.