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

[McSpy]

I've started rereading Maura's threads on here from the beginning, and it just reinforces how frustrating this case is! It's like the perfect storm of frustrating circumstances:

1) Questionable work by NH LE - I obviously don't know the details but it seems like a lot of people both in Maura's family and outside of her family are frustrated with how the case was handled. Rumors that witnesses were not interviewed, leads were not followed up, etc.

I believe they treated this as a possible DUI and thought the person just took off, BUT later would show up. They were mistaken about the "later show up" part. Their mistake was not noticing the fact her vehicle had Mass. registration and it was February (middle of winter). She wasn't a local. Also, one of the officers and the bus driver did a search in their vehicles west of the accident. Later it was found out by the dog scent search, Maura actually went east. I think the reason the officer and the bus driver searched west was because it was closer to civilization (stores, major roads, etc.). I attribute it to the fact that both men were locals. I think they assumed someone would go west---not east into the national forest. Maura wasn't a local. JMO

2) A small window of disappearance - TEN MINUTES?! In most disappearances, you can't pinpoint a timeframe and location of disappearance like that!

It was pitch dark. She could have accepted a lift, hid in the forest or ran down the road east (which no one searched that evening).

3) Conflicting stories/evidence - The red cross phone call, the letter from/to Billy, the phone call at work, etc.

I think all missing persons and crime cases are fluid at first, until they vet all the incoming information. I believe this is common.

4) Family "issues" - I'm not sure what's going on with Maura's family, and I don't really want to speculate because I don't know them and people respond differently to tragedy. That being said, there are some dynamics there that understandably attract attention.

Since she has been missing so long, people fill in the gaps with a lot of speculation. I do believe she was very emotional, but we are only guessing about the cause. Most familes aren't perfect. Some people are dragging up mud and are speculating, but it may have absolutely nothing to do with what happened to Maura.

5) Who is Maura?! She wanted to escape, but was she planning to escape for good? Unfortunately, I think there are some unflattering things about Maura and her family that will never come out and therefore we may never be able to grasp her intentions and her mindset that night. Uggggh! Frustrated!!!!

I believe she was very emotional, but maybe just a good nights sleep before she had made a decision to go up north may have changed the outcome. We have to keep in mind that she was only 21 years old. Sometimes, it takes time to sort things out and 20-somethings have the tendency to think it is the end of the world more so than someone older. All of this is just my opinion.

 

[Jerri Blank]

FACT:Vasi Hit and run was reported a block over from the Melville Dorm Maura worked at - at precisely 12:20 a.m.

FWIW, a "block" in amherst is not like a block in a city. in reality, it would have taken her several minutes to get to/from her car even if she scored the sweetest student parking space there is. also that accident was a several minute drive from the dorm.

i worked in res life at UMass and there is no way the RAs on duty on a thirsty thursday would have not noticed no security on rounds. and trust me, we heard from residents when the security was slacking!

 

[scoops]

FWIW, a "block" in amherst is not like a block in a city. in reality, it would have taken her several minutes to get to/from her car even if she scored the sweetest student parking space there is. also that accident was a several minute drive from the dorm.

It is false that it is a several minute drive. I know this for certain because I simulated this drive myself.

I parked my rental car in the reserved parking lot (I believe for security and UMASS Staff) that sits 10 seconds from the front doors of the dorm maura was working at.

I left the parking lot and was immediately on Massachusetts ave. to which I turned right onto N. Pleasant and I arrived at the spot of the hit and run in less than two minutes.

About the supervisors always checking up on maura:

Considering maura was on her cell phone almost every hour of her shift that night and cell phones were a big no-no for security monitors, I highly doubt that they were as strict and some are letting on.

I also have a printed out list of responsibilities for Area Supervisors at UMASS and one of their duties was to make sure their security staff got breaks throughout the night.

I would think maura working the second longest shift a security monitor can work in one night at UMASS, would get a break or two (10-15 minutes each) at some point during her six hour shift.

 

[hannah1988]

Thanks for the insight McSpy!

I believe they treated this as a possible DUI and thought the person just took off, BUT later would show up. They were mistaken about the "later show up" part.

I agree with your belief about the way night of the accident was handled, but I get the feeling that Maura's family was not just upset with the way the case was handled THAT night. It seems like they are frustrated with the entire investigation by NH LE.

I think all missing persons and crime cases are fluid at first, until they vet all the incoming information. I believe this is common.

I understand this, but it's just frustrating that I feel like we still don't know what is accurate after nearly TEN YEARS! Has the voicemail on her BF's phone been traced to a Red Cross worker? LE claims that it has, but Sharon R. and Billy still think it's Maura (unless I missed an update somewhere). Was there a note, an email, or note left in her room? Did she take the booze with her or was it all accounted for in the car? I understand that this is an open investigation, so this isn't necessarily public info, but people following the case, what info can we trust?

For what it's worth, I do think she either passed out in the woods and succumbed to the elements, or she met with foul play. I don't think her family is involved at all in her disappearance.

 

[McSpy]

Thanks for the insight McSpy!



I agree with your belief about the way night of the accident was handled, but I get the feeling that Maura's family was not just upset with the way the case was handled THAT night. It seems like they are frustrated with the entire investigation by NH LE.



I understand this, but it's just frustrating that I feel like we still don't know what is accurate after nearly TEN YEARS! Has the voicemail on her BF's phone been traced to a Red Cross worker? LE claims that it has, but Sharon R. and Billy still think it's Maura (unless I missed an update somewhere). Was there a note, an email, or note left in her room? Did she take the booze with her or was it all accounted for in the car? I understand that this is an open investigation, so this isn't necessarily public info, but people following the case, what info can we trust?

For what it's worth, I do think she either passed out in the woods and succumbed to the elements, or she met with foul play. I don't think her family is involved at all in her disappearance.

IIRC, LE did get a hold of the Red Cross card caller, but I'm just going on a vague recollection. Unfortunately, a lot of info on this case has not been updated for the public. We only have old news articles to work with. I'm pretty confident the new cold case unit looked into a lot of these pieces of possible evidence. JMO

 

[JamesRenner]

Orko/Clint/Scoops/Peter,

I actually told Karen to talk to you if she wanted.

I believe she decided not to because you were using different names on Facebook and because there seems to be little to verify your experience as a journalist online.

I don't care if other reporters look into the case. The more info, the better. But you have to be honest with your sources.

A couple other things to correct:
- The coffeeshop has never been verified.
- If Maura had gone on break, a supervisor or rotating security guard would have filled in. They don't just leave the dorm posts empty.

-James

 

[hannah1988]

I stumbled across a case today that seemed pretty similar to Maura's. Edwin was in a one-car accident and disappeared from the scene:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/shaw_alexander.html

After finding this, I did a little more searching and found a good number of cases where someone was involved in a car accident and went missing from the scene. Here are a few interesting ones:

Stanley Messex ran from the scene and his remains were later found in the woods nearby. (http://www.charleyproject.org/resolved/resolved12.html)

Joseph Kasak was in a one-car accident in New Hampshire and hasn't been seen since:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kasak_joseph.html.

Shane Fell called his brother after a one-car accident. He sounded okay on the phone, but when his brother arrived, Shane was gone:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/f/fell_shane.html.

These cases make me think that maybe Maura's injuries were more serious than we originally thought. She appeared to be thinking okay - locking the car, talking to the bus driver, pouring out the wine - but maybe she did have amnesia or a concussion from her head hitting the windshield. If so, she may have tried to flee but was disoriented and then got lost in the woods.

 

[OldSteve]

Based on all the cases I've followed, when all is said and done, the most likely thing that happened was that she was taken.
She might have gotten into got into a car willingly, thinking the person or persons were safe and it turned out she was wrong, or she was struck in the road and taken against her will. She might have sought shelter at someone's home locally which turned out to be mistake.
All other scenarios are more complicated, increasing the chance she would have been found IMO....

 

[Darcyline]

I really don't think she was involved with the Vasi incident especially after reading the Supervisor commentary about it on Mr. Renner's site. It makes a good story, but I just don't think it happened.

I am surprised we don't know exactly what left her so distraught. If she did just get off the phone with her boyfriend did he dump her? Tell her he cheated? I am trying to think of things that would have upset her a lot, but would have been sort of embarrassing so it wouldn't come out. I guess ultimately it doesn't matter, but I feel like what she was so upset about should have been one of the first things established in this case, but all I see is a lot of speculation about it and no real confirmation.

 

[hannah1988]

I am trying to think of things that would have upset her a lot, but would have been sort of embarrassing so it wouldn't come out.

Pregnancy would fit into this, especially if it wasn't clear who the father was. Here I am, just adding more speculation to fuel the fire!

 

[McSpy]

I really don't think she was involved with the Vasi incident especially after reading the Supervisor commentary about it on Mr. Renner's site. It makes a good story, but I just don't think it happened.

I am surprised we don't know exactly what left her so distraught. If she did just get off the phone with her boyfriend did he dump her? Tell her he cheated? I am trying to think of things that would have upset her a lot, but would have been sort of embarrassing so it wouldn't come out. I guess ultimately it doesn't matter, but I feel like what she was so upset about should have been one of the first things established in this case, but all I see is a lot of speculation about it and no real confirmation.

I know with myself, if something is bothering in a big way, I tend to not want to talk about it at the time. Eventually, I'm able to talk about it. Maybe Maura was the same way.

Just a possibility.

 

[Jerri Blank]

respectfully snipped

It is false that it is a several minute drive. I know this for certain because I simulated this drive myself.... I parked my rental car in the reserved parking lot (I believe for security and UMASS Staff) that sits 10 seconds from the front doors of the dorm maura was working at... I arrived at the spot of the hit and run in less than two minutes.... I also have a printed out list of responsibilities for Area Supervisors at UMASS and one of their duties was to make sure their security staff got breaks throughout the night. ... I would think maura... would get a break or two (10-15 minutes each) at some point during her six hour shift.

i appreciate that i have not read all the threads on all the theories surrounding maura's case. many here are much more up to snuff on that. but please trust that i am familiar with this area and with the policies of residential security circa 2004.

it's great that you had such luck with your test run, but as a person who lived in this exact area, at the exact time period in question, i am assuring you that, it would not take 2 minutes to get to that location and 2 minutes to get back.

i don't know where maura's car was parked that night, but i highly doubt it was parked in the lot in front of the dorm (in my day those were restricted to residential and university staff, no students whatsoever). and if it were parked there, and she hit vasi and fled the scene, she would have to be pretty stupid to park it right out front again. umass police [and even amherst police] regularly patrolled those lots and stopped in to check on security guards/res life staff. maybe this was only my experience, but as i was working in a dorm that very night only 2 buildings over, i doubt things were much different over there.

also if she had parked it out front again, and that was somehow allowed, it would have been towed probably immediately after her security shift ended. they did not mess around with parking in those lots, and her supervisor said she walked home after being told to take the rest of the night off.

i am guessing if she did hit him, she would stuff the car in the back of the student lot for which she had a permit. walking back from there would take enough time that her absence would be noticed.

as far as having breaks, she could have left during a break, but on a thursday night, in southwest, they would not have left a security post wide open for 15 minutes. the supervisor would have filled in. one of my closest friends worked security in 2004, and when we discussed the rules, she confirmed this was the case.

i can only speak to what i remember the area being like when maura went missing. i havent been there much since then and i know that there has been a lot of construction/changes to the campus that could affect things from year to year.

i know we all want to find maura, and really i am open to most theories about what happened to her, but this one doesnt sit right with me. if she werent working, or was noted to have been missing from her post for a chunk of time, i would be right there with you on the possibility that she may be tied to the hit and run.... but things being what they are, i think too much effort is being wasted on something that is highly unlikely to pan out.

 

[MysteryMaven]

This will be my final Maura Murray post.

Evidently a certain fiction writer named James Renner AKA Gnomony ... doesn't like me interviewing people he has interviewed, so he went crying like a little girl to them and begged them to stop cooperating.

I did mange to get four pages of quotes from maura's supervisor before the drama queen stepped in and intervened.

Here is the best I could do about the night maura had her meltdown at work.



FACT: Maura's offical job title was "Security Monitor"
FACT: Maura worked from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. the night of her meltdown at work.

FACT:Vasi Hit and run was reported a block over from the Melville Dorm Maura worked at - at precisely 12:20 a.m.

Fact:Maura's supervisor was told something was wrong with maura and she went to check on maura somewhere close to 1 a.m.

FACT:When Supervisor entered the dorm maura was working the front desk at and walked right up to maura and asked her what the matter was, maura was non-responsive and staring straight past the supervisor.

FACT:Two females entered the dorm (One a resident, the other a guest of the resident) and Maura did not acknowledge them or request that the guest be signed in and continued staring ahead blankly as allthewhile the supervisor was continuing to ask maura what was wrong and getting no response out of maura

FACT:Finally Maura GESTURED TO HER CELL PHONE and told the supervisor "My Sister" before immediately breaking down and beginning to cry.

FACT:Supervisor got permission to check maura out of work early (30 to 45 minutes before 2 a.m.) YET MAURA REMAINED AT THE DESK FROZEN, as the supervisor finally decided to go and pack up maura's textbooks and cell phone herself and carry maura's backpack for her as she headed for the front door which finally prompted maura to get up and exit the building.

FACT:Supervisor turned over a witness statement to police.

OPINION: Police read about maura pointing to her phone and saying "MY SISTER" and that is how they determined that a phone call that took place from 10:10 p.m. to 10:38 p.m. between maura and her sister, must be the source of maura's meltdown.

FACT:Maura actually was on her cell phone at 12:07 a.m. that same night and less than an hour before her meltdown.

OPINION:Maura was talking to her boyfriend from 12:07 a.m. to 12:14 a.m.

OBSERVATION:Why has this phone call not been talked about publically, yet we talk about the 10:10 phone call that was hours before maura's meltdown.

Good sleuthing Scoops! Thanks for sharing this.

 

[Darcyline]

I know with myself, if something is bothering in a big way, I tend to not want to talk about it at the time. Eventually, I'm able to talk about it. Maybe Maura was the same way.

Just a possibility.

I am assuming someone else had to be involved in this "something" though. She was apparently fine and then suddenly wasn't in the course of less than an hour. That makes me think something was said or happened that night. What could have happened in that short time period to upset her if it didn't involve anyone else who would still be here to say what it was? Like, if she was pregnant did she take a pregnancy test at work and then became shell-shocked? If it involved her boyfriend is there a reason he wouldn't mention what "it" was (perhaps not feeling it was relevant to the disappearance)? Did she look something up online and it upset her? Did she have the internet at the desk and, if so, did they check what she was searching?
It just seems weird to me that she became upset very suddenly to the point of being non-responsive that night and we really have no clue why. I can see why people do speculate about the Vasi accident. That would definitely explain her reaction and why no one else was involved who could talk about it. However, it just doesn't fit.

Ultimately, I am not sure it matters, but it bothers me. Since her meltdown happened right after she had a conversations with her boyfriend I am assuming that was the source of the meltdown that night and perhaps it is as simple as she was already on edge and a little fight pushed her over.

 

[hmg]

it's great that you had such luck with your test run, but as a person who lived in this exact area, at the exact time period in question, i am assuring you that, it would not take 2 minutes to get to that location and 2 minutes to get back.

As someone who also was constantly parking at UMass at the time in question I'd like to 100% backup what Jerri said. It is highly unlikely during that time period that Maura would have been parked in one of those spots. Those were for ACTUAL staff, never students who were assigned to specific lots. Unless there is some knowledge that Maura specifically parked in that spot, I'd assume she parked elsewhere.

If she had to walk to student parking, it's far less likely she'd have the time to hit Vasi. I'm not saying it's impossible, but very unlikely.

 

[Riot]

I forget the exact times, but in an earlier post I detailed my experience taking a walk from the dorm Maura was in, to her assigned parking lot, driving to the scene of the accident, and coming back. It was much longer than 2 minutes each way.

 

[Riot]

This was my original post.

Hopefully this is of interest to someone and not completely off-base:

In various places, I've read some put a connection between MM and the Vasi accident, proposing that her crying and needing to leave her security shift early in the early morning of Friday, February 6 was a result of this incident. As it only took a minimal investment of time, I timed myself taking a potential route of MM if this assertion were true. In this picture of Maura's car, linked on the Maura Murray Missing website, the parking decal shows that she was assigned to park in UMass Lot 12. (Today's parking decals look very similar to the one shown from 2003-2004.) A 2005 Parking Map verifies that Lot 12 hasn't moved. I feel that MM would have parked here prior to her shift, so as to avoid having to move the car before morning to avoid ticketing.

Here are my waypoints and travel times:

Walk from Southwest Residential Area to Closest Spot in Lot 12: 8:40.
Walk to where I had parked in Lot 12: 10:15.
(Walked fast, started from across Massachusetts Ave from dorms so as to negate waiting for traffic.)

Drive time back to start point: 2:15

Drive time from Southwest Residential Area to Mattoon Street 2:45
(No more than 10 seconds spent waiting at red lights.)

Now, using the given times, let's do some total travel time calculations, assuming that a person were to leave the dorm and do nothing other than drive to Mattoon Street and return:

Dorm-Mattoon-Dorm (assuming ability to park directly at dorm): 5:30
Dorm-Lot12(closest)-Mattoon-Dorm: 16:25
Dorm-Lot12(random)-Mattoon-Dorm: 18:00
Dorm-Lot12(closest)-Mattoon-Lot12(closest)-Dorm: 27:20
Dorm-Lot12(random)-Mattoon-Lot12(random)-Dorm: 30:30

While this is hardly a definitive analysis of what a timeline that has MM being the driver of that car would look like, I feel safe assuming that MM would have had to be missing from her position somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes, at minimum, if this were the case. Surely someone would have noticed her absence.

 

[McSpy]

Thanks guys for finally putting the Vasi incident to rest. To me, it looks like it is unlikely Maura was involved in the accident.

 

[justagirl247]

sorry if someone has already said this i havent read back threw everything but what about possible mental illness? the onset of things like that can be pretty hard to deal with and sometimes you find yourself extermly upset with no idea why..again sorry if this has already been said but thought maybe it could help in someway if not

 

[amber1]

sorry if someone has already said this i havent read back threw everything but what about possible mental illness? the onset of things like that can be pretty hard to deal with and sometimes you find yourself extermly upset with no idea why..again sorry if this has already been said but thought maybe it could help in someway if not

I agree with you, I have always thought something like depression, bipolar, anxiety or just a very upsetting situation was influential in Maura vanishing, there was def. something going on with her many did not know, or may not have come forward to say.