Maura Murray

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Maura Murray
Maura Murray in 2003
Born	Maura Murray May 4, 1982 Hanson, Massachusetts, USA
Nationality	American
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	120 pounds (54 kg)
Known for	Missing person
Parents	Frederick and Laurie Murray

Maura Murray (born May 4, 1982) is an American college student from Hanson, Massachusetts. She went missing on February 9, 2004, after a one-car accident on New Hampshire Route 112 in Haverhill, New Hampshire.

Murray, a nursing student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, left campus on the afternoon of her disappearance after e-mailing her professors and her work supervisor, telling them she was going to take a week off because of a family problem.

Contents 1 Events before her disappearance 1.1 Day of her disappearance 2 Disappearance 3 Search efforts 3.1 Early investigation 3.2 Ongoing investigation 3.3 Possible sightings 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Events before her disappearance

Maura went missing on Monday 9 February 2004. Four days prior to this, she made a phone call in the evening to her older sister while on a break from her work for University of Massachusetts Student Security, and she appeared normal to her sister. The next day, on 6 February, Maura received a phone call at work at 1:00 am, causing her to become upset and she was escorted back to her dorm room by her supervisor.

On the Saturday before she went missing, Maura went used car shopping with her father, Fred Murray, and they later went for dinner with a friend of Maura's. Maura dropped her father off at his hotel room, and then borrowed his Toyota Corolla, returning to the UMass campus to a dorm party with her friend. She left the party at 2:30 am, and drove to her father's hotel room, hitting a guardrail on Route 9 in Hadley, causing $8,000 of damage, which would be covered by the insurance. Her father says she was shaken up and apologetic.^[1] Maura called her boyfriend, who was stationed in Oklahoma, from her father's cell phone. Her father rented a car, dropped Maura off at UMass, and headed to Connecticut for work. In the evening, Maura agreed with her father that she would get the forms pertaining to the accident from the registry on Monday, and they would discuss the forms over the phone that evening. According to a later police search of her computer, Maura searched for directions to Burlington, Vermont.

[edit] Day of her disappearance

Maura sent her boyfriend an e-mail at 1 pm, saying that she hadn't felt like talking to anyone, but that she would call him later in the day.^[1] Maura made several calls between 12 pm and 3 pm, including asking about information on a condominium in Bartlett, New Hampshire that her family is familiar with, leaving a voicemail with another student, and a number giving recorded information about Stowe, Vermont for approximately 5 minutes. Maura called her boyfriend for approximately 1 minute at 2:18 pm. At about 4 pm, Maura e-mailed one of her work supervisors and some of her teachers to inform them that there had been a death in her family and that she would be out of town for several days, although there was actually no death in her family. Soon after, at 3:30–4:30 pm, a dorm mate says they saw Maura leave the UMass Amherst campus. Maura withdrew $280 from an ATM, and was alone as seen by CCTV footage. Her bank account was left nearly empty, with paychecks due from her job in the coming days. Maura then bought $35–$40 of alcohol, again while alone. Sometime after 4 pm, Maura left Amherst, probably heading up Interstate 91 north. She checked her cellphone messages at 4:37 pm.

[edit] Disappearance

At 7:29 pm, police dispatch received a call from a Woodsville, NH resident, who reported an accident near her house on Route 112. At 7:43 pm another Woodsville resident reported a black Saturn partially in the road. A bus driver says that he spoke to a girl he later identified as Maura, and asked if she wanted him to call the police. She told him not to bother, as she had called AAA, but AAA say no call was made to them. At 7:46 pm, an officer from Haverhill Police arrived on the scene. The girl who was seen by the second caller and the bus driver was not present. The car was facing westbound in the eastbound lane, with a cracked windshield and two deployed airbags. A damaged box of Franzia wine was found on the passenger seat. Other items found in the car include Maura's AAA card, the insurance forms she retrieved for her earlier accident, her gloves, music CDs, her makeup, directions for Burlington and Stowe, and the Nicholas Howe book, Not Without Peril. A rag from Maura's emergency roadside kit was discovered stuffed into the Saturn's muffler pipe.

The EMS and a fire truck arrived just before 8 pm, and quickly cleared the scene. Maura's car was towed to a local auto repair garage by 8:49 pm, and the police officer left to attend another call at about 9:30 pm.

A New Hampshire State Police Trooper stopped by the scene of the accident, but it is unknown at what time he arrived, if he was dispatched or if he stopped on his own accord.^[2][3]

[edit] Search efforts

[edit] Early investigation

The following day, Tuesday 10 February, a BOLO (Be On the LookOut) for Maura Murray was issued at 12:36 pm to Grafton, Littleton, Haverhill, and Lisbon. A voicemail was left on Maura's father's home answering machine at 3:20 pm stating that the car was found abandoned. He was at work out of state and did not receive this call until later in the day. At 5:00 pm, Maura's older sister contacted her father to tell him that Maura's car had been found abandoned. He contacted the Haverhill Police Department and was told that if Maura was not reported safe by the following morning, New Hampshire Fish and Game Service would start a search. Maura's family members contacted the University of Massachusetts Police Department at 6:46 pm, and requested that her dormitory room be checked.

On Wednesday 11 February 2004, Maura's father arrived before dawn in Haverhill, New Hampshire. At 8:00 am, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Service, the Murrays, and others began to search for Maura. A police dog tracked the scent from one of Maura's gloves 100 yards east from where the vehicle was discovered. At 5 pm, Maura's boyfriend and his parents arrived in Haverhill Police Department. He was interrogated in private, and then was joined by his parents for questioning. At 7 pm, the police said that they believed Maura came to the area to either run away or commit suicide, although her family believed that this was unlikely. That evening, Maura's boyfriend allegedly received a voicemail message, since deleted, that he believes was the sound of Maura sobbing. His cellphone had been turned off during his flight. The call was traced to a card issued to the American Red Cross.^[4]

Maura's father and her boyfriend held an evening press conference in Bethlehem, New Hampshire on 12 February, and the next day the first press coverage was published. The Haverhill Police Chief said that "Our concern is that she's upset or suicidal."^[5][6] Maura's family expanded their search into Vermont.

The next week, the FBI interviewed some of Maura's friends and family from Massachusetts,^{[7] [8]} and the Haverhill Police Chief disclosed that the search for Maura was now nationwide.^[9] Ten days after her disappearance, New Hampshire Fish and Game conducted a second ground and air search. Maura's older sister discovered a ripped white pair of women's underwear lying in the snow on a secluded trail near French Pond Road on 26 February,^[10] but DNA tests found that the underwear did not belong to Maura.^[11]

At the end of February, the police returned the items found in Maura's car to her family, and on 2 March Maura's siblings checked out of their motel, exhausted from the search, her father also checking out after three weeks of searching, returning nearly every weekend. In April, Haverhill Police inform him of complaints of trespassing on private property.^[12][13] In May, based on a tip, New Hampshire Fish and Game conduct a ground search near where a young person was seen running the night of Maura's disappearance, but no scent or leads were reported from the search. Her father petitioned New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson for help in the search.^[8][14]

[edit] Ongoing investigation

Towards the end of 2004, a man allegedly gave Maura's father a rusty, stained knife that belonged to the man's brother, who had a criminal past and lived less than a mile from where Maura's car was discovered. His brother and his brother's girlfriend were said to have acted strangely after Maura's disappearance.^[7]

On the anniversary of her disappearance, a service was held where Maura's car was found, and her father met briefly with New Hampshire Governor John Lynch. In June 2005, police dismissed any connection between Maura's case and that of Brianna Maitland, and retrieved the items found in Maura's vehicle from her family. In July, another search was conducted around the area in which Maura's car was discovered. In late 2005, Maura's father filed suit against several law enforcement agencies, and the New Hampshire League of Investigators, ten retired police officers and detectives, started working on Maura's case.^[7]

In October 2006, volunteers led a two-day search within a few miles of where Maura's vehicle was found. In the closet of an A-Frame house, cadaver dogs allegedly went "bonkers," identifying the possible presence of human remains. A sample of the carpet was sent to the New Hampshire State Police.^[7] In July 2008, volunteers lead another two day search through wooded areas in Haverhill. The group consisted of dog teams and licensed private investigators.^[15]

[edit] Possible sightings

There have been several reported sightings of Maura since her disappearance, but none have been confirmed.

• Monday, February 9, 2004. 8:00 - 8:30 PM - A Swiftwater, NH local reportedly saw a young person moving quickly on foot eastbound on Route 112, about 4 to 5 miles east of where Maura's vehicle was discovered. The young person was reported to have been wearing jeans, a dark coat, and a light colored hood. The witness reported that the person, upon being seen, quickly ran down a side dirt road. There have been inconsistencies in multiple interviews.^[7]

• June 2005. A girl with blonde hair resembling Maura was seen at a church in Barton, Vermont. A witness said that the girl said her name was "Raykel" and took off quickly when the minister started a Father's Day sermon.^[7]

• June 2006. A girl resembling Maura was seen at a Cumberland Farms store in Hillsboro, New Hampshire with an older male companion. The girl was reportedly mouthing "help me." There are no security tapes of the incident available. The sighting was not reported until a few months later when the witness saw photos of Maura on a television news program.^[7]

[edit] See also

• List of people who have mysteriously disappeared

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Maura's Profile at National Missing and Unidentified Persons System
• Maura Murray Missing
• Maura Murray Missing on MySpace
• Video from CNN's Nancy Grace show
• Maura is Missing Series, Part 1 - Whitman & Hanson Express
  • Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
• The All-American Girl, Part 1 - Project Jason-Voice for the Missing at Blogspot.com
  • Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5