By Tyler from Pittsburgh
– February 6, 2004.
Maura Murray felt helpless. Her eating disorder was out of control, she had been committing petty crimes and her relationship with her longtime boyfriend was in shambles due to infidelity by both parties. To top it all off, her latest local flame had just dumped her. Her life was falling apart. At her job as desk security at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, she sat quiet; reflective. Maura began to break down. By the time her supervisor walked in, she was having a full-on panic attack. After mumbling an excuse as to why she had her cell phone with her against work regulations, Maura was relieved of her duties and escorted to her dorm room.
– February 7, 2004.
Maura’s father is in town for a visit. They spend time with each other and go shopping for a car. Maura picks out a vehicle she likes and her father agrees to the purchase. However, the price tag is a little more than he anticipated and they agree he will return to Amherst to buy the car at a later date.
– February 8, 2004.
Maura is feeling uncomfortable at a gathering of friends. It’s early in the morning, she isn’t in the mood to party and feels as if she may break down again. Her father had let her borrow his Toyota Corolla because Maura’s Saturn was in poor shape. Such bad shape in fact that she had recently shoved a rag deep into the tailpipe in order to prevent the vehicle from spewing smoke. As it were, her father felt safer letting her drive his car around for the weekend.
She attempts to excuse herself from the party several times explaining that she should return her father’s car. Her friends tell her it would be silly do so at such an hour. Eventually, Maura departs the group under the pretense that she will retire to her dorm room. In reality – she intends to follow through with her plan to drive to the hotel. Maura had been spending nights at her now ex-beau’s place since returning to school from winter break. And with her dorm still nearly entirely unpacked, dad’s hotel room is an inviting alternative.
It’s a short drive to the Quality Inn, but Maura is tired. She falls asleep; jolted awake just as the Corolla makes impact with a guard rail. The car is towed, and despite the possibility of alcohol in her system, the officer doesn’t arrest her. She appears to be a nice young girl who simply made a mistake. Maura is dropped off at her father’s hotel and spends the remainder of the morning there.
– February 9, 2004.
Throughout the day Maura spends time researching information on lodging in Vermont and New Hampshire. She tends to some personal calls and prints out directions to Burlington, Vermont. She feels like she needs to get away from it all for a while. Maura fabricates an excuse that will explain her absence in an email to professors. The trip up north will be a heavenly retreat from all the built-up stress which has climaxed in Amherst.
Maura embarks for Vermont. She stops at an ATM for some cash and purchases liquor — plenty of it. She’s enjoying the drive. Impulsively, she decides to take a detour towards an area she has always loved to visit — the White Mountains of New Hampshire; just for fun. She is driving well above the speed limit and drinking. Before she can realize the cause, she spins out, coming to rest facing the wrong direction in the wrong lane. Another accident. She can’t believe she has wrecked AGAIN. The weathered barn curve had come up on her so abruptly.
She fumbles around with her phone. Her boyfriend’s family had given her a AAA membership for Christmas. That will come in handy. Suddenly, Maura realizes that she has open alcohol in the vehicle. She knows what getting a DUI will mean for her future. She hurries out of the car and begins dumping the alcohol.
A bus pulls up. The driver asks if he can be of any assistance and mentions calling the police. Maura thanks him, but deceptively explains that she has already dialed AAA and sends him on his way. The bus driver continues to his residence just a short distance down the road. He parks his bus in an unusual manner in an attempt to get a better viewpoint of the accident. He informs his wife of the situation then returns to the bus. Nearby, several of his neighbors are also paying attention to the crash.
Maura makes quick work of the opened alcohol and tries to call AAA. No service. She walks around the Saturn in an attempt to get a signal. Nothing. She retrieves her backpack and puts the rest of the liquor and some other items inside, then begins walking towards the driveway where the bus driver had pulled in — she was going to need his help after all.
As Maura makes her way towards the man’s house, a vehicle rolls up next to her. She speaks with the stranger in the driver’s seat through his window and accepts his offer of a ride into town. It’s a godsend. She can handle the car tomorrow; after the buzz has worn off. Thanking him, Maura opens the passenger door and climbs inside — never to be seen again.
Police eventually obtain valuable information from local witnesses. Some of whom are instructed not to share their observations with the public.
– March 19, 2014.
Authorities believe foul play was involved in Maura Murray’s disappearance. But ten years later — she has not been located and no charges have been filed.
Not Without Peril | The Maura Murray Blog 
This is great. I agree with nearly all of it.
I found two explanations striking in their originality. First, the packed boxes. I had never considered that she might have been sleeping elsewhere. Second, Butch Atwood’s parking spot. It has often been noted that he parked in a different spot than usual. Your explanation, that he could better view the accident from the alternative spot, is highly plausible and something that I had never considered.
There were two points that I hope you might clarify.
First, what motivated her to drive to Fred’s hotel? The idea that she wished to excuse herself from the party on the pretense of returning the car makes sense to me. But why did she actually wish to go to the hotel?
Second, her impulsive decision to drive to the White Mountains. If it was during the day, I could see her wishing to make this detour. But it was dark and cold. So I hope you might clarify that aspect of your theory.
Good job.
Thanks, Sam.
“First, what motivated her to drive to Fred’s hotel? The idea that she wished to excuse herself from the party on the pretense of returning the car makes sense to me. But why did she actually wish to go to the hotel?”
From the post: ‘Maura had been spending nights at her now ex-beau’s place since returning to school from winter break. And with her dorm still nearly entirely unpacked, dad’s hotel room is an inviting alternative.’
My position is that the hotel room would have been a more suitable place to sleep than her dorm room.
“Second, her impulsive decision to drive to the White Mountains. If it was during the day, I could see her wishing to make this detour. But it was dark and cold. So I hope you might clarify that aspect of your theory.”
I struggled with this. Ultimately, I feel like Vermont was her final destination. However, I can see three scenarios why she may have headed towards the White Mountains.
1. I’m incorrect and she was headed to Bartlett or somewhere close to it after either having not been able to find a room in Burlington and Stowe or simply as an impulse decision during the drive.
2. She got off 91 to get gas or other supplies in the area.
3. Something of pleasure motivated her to take the detour.
I settled on the third option because it was the simplest explanation given my belief that she was headed to Vermont. Though, I think any of the three would apply to my overall theory.
You know, it’s interesting. I think that your theory, in effect, drew attention to the two strangest parts of the Maura Murray story. Why would she go to the hotel and why would she take 112?
Your explanations are better than anything that I could come up with. But I’m still not entirely convinced. Most women would not choose to sleep on the floor (or couch, perhaps) of their fathers’ hotel room. It’s hard for me to envision that being a choice when Maura had a place to sleep. I also can’t understand why she would want to take a forty-mile detour (eighty round-trip) so late in the day unless she either had to or she changed her plans.
I think that your theory simultaneously answers most of the questions and draws attention to the few that, at least for me, are truly mysterious.
Maybe the local boyfriend break up theory is flawed. Perhaps she was still with a local guy, or just staying at a friend’s place off campus. Maybe she was headed there and not the hotel.
I also considered her discomfort at the party (and in general) leading to an immediate emotional desire to be around her father. Hence, her heading to the hotel.
Maybe she has amnesia from hitting her head on windshield. Anyone checked around homeless people or shelters?
I think that there are many facets that.could(and should), be investigated. I just get the impression that now, it is cold case; however if time was put in investigating earlier details…that could reveal something important.
Great theory!
Does anyone know if she stopped at the gas station 1mi up the street? Your #2 scenario got me thinking about gas or supplies or even unexpected car-trouble.
Thanks again.
Hi Kola,
Thank you for your comment.
My gut has always told me the Stage Stop played some kind of role. But my gut has been wrong before.
Logically, I think it’s very plausible she may have stopped there. To my knowledge, no one knows this is a fact — but it would make logistical sense. The only flaw to the theory that she stopped here for supplies, in my opinion, is that after she would have departed the store she continued to travel east. That’s fine if you think she was going to Bartlett, but given my belief that she was headed to Vermont that doesn’t seem to fit.
She wouldn’t have continued east if she had merely stopped for supplies or, as Kola suggested, she had car trouble. But I still can’t imagine why she would choose to drive down that road at that hour, for pleasure.
I assume that the employees would have been questioned that night. Then again, the investigation was far from perfect. It’s a good question. I tend to agree with Tyler; she would have turned around had she merely gone to the Stage Shop for supplies or gas.
Hi Guys,
Tyler, I find the sticking point in your theory is how and why did she end up on rt 112 and why didn’t someone see Maura get into a vehicle.
First, I will address your theory that Maura was initially heading to Vermont and impulsively
went to NH. If Maura was was going to the Burlington or Stowe area , the route to take would have been Rt 89 and that is approx 45 minutes south of the Wells River/Woodsville exit. Is it possible that she just spaced the rt 89 exits and continued on? Yes, That area is a very confusing area for those familiar with it. Thinking out loud ( it makes no sense to be doing this alone in a crappy car at night in an area you don’t know).
Now, we really don’t know what exit Maura got off at. Lets assume that she got off at the Wells river exit. There is a Truck stop/Gas left of the off ramp and there . As you Maneuver towards Wells river and Woodsville it starts to get very tricky if you are not familiar with the area. There are several choices to make right/left and then a quick left of continue straight. Note: There is another gas station in Wells River across from the left to go to Woodsville. I think this station and or the truck stop would be stronger options to stop for gas and or directions than the stage shoppe.
Lets say Maura took an earlier exit because she knew that she missed the rt 89 exits. The exits are pretty far between. She may have taken the lake fairlee exit and looked at a map then and decided to take rt 5 N to 302. ( Maura either had a map or stopped for directions to know where she was at this point)
Now, The problem I have here is that Fred had said that Maura was not familiar with this stretch of 112 (the western part). If Maura did miss the rt 89 exit, I have a hard time believing that Maura was able to maneuver to Rt 112 without some sort of directions. Again, I guess its possible that she had a map/stopped for directions or had made this trip before and knew her way and Fred just wasn’t aware that she had been on that stretch before.
*****Maura getting into a car******
Although, I believe that she did go easterly because the first responders came from the west and the chances are higher that she would have been spotted, I also find it hard to wrap my head around the SBD not seeing her get into another vehicle ( His bus was parked facing the crash). SBD could have been inside at the time or he may have seen someone pick her up and was afraid to come forward. I would be curious to know what questions he failed on the Lie detect test.
Hi nhrider, thank you for your input. I will address a few of your points.
“Tyler, I find the sticking point in your theory is how and why did she end up on rt 112 and why didn’t someone see Maura get into a vehicle.”
I agree that why she ended up on 112 is a mystery. However, in my opinion the answer likely isn’t elaborate. I think she either was on that road to visit a place she had been before, purchase supplies or maybe she was simply lost.
Someone may have seen her get in a vehicle. We may just not know about it.
“f Maura was was going to the Burlington or Stowe area , the route to take would have been Rt 89 and that is approx 45 minutes south of the Wells River/Woodsville exit.”
You make a compelling argument overall that Maura may have been headed somewhere other than Vermont. I tend to still believe Vermont was her final destination, but I can see two other scenarios.
– Maura didn’t have a final destination in mind when she left Amherst. She saw route 112 which she knew lead towards Bartlett and decided to see if she could find a place to stay there.
– Maura was driving to somewhere in New Hampshire all along and took the directions with her when she departed the crash site; leaving the Burlington directions behind. This is a favorite idea of poster Adam’s and I think it’s plausible.
I tend to agree with Adam that she had some sort of directions to NH and took them with her aka a map or stopped at a rest area on rt 91and looked at a map there and poss asked for directions.
The Wells River exit does not give any indication of Rt 112 . The only sign I am aware of is in Woodsville just before the turn on 112.Either Maura had directions or stopped for them or it was excuse the expression shit luck or in this case bad luck.
Much of this is frightening. Clearly she just wanted to get away to think. I can almost bet she might have been listening to music (as I often do when I’m feeling blue). But at the same time as her driving, mix that with her depressive nature, and alcohol, you would almost have to think she was just driving for the hell of it regardless of where she was going and trying to kill the misery without trying to kill herself.
Watching the ID documentary really put tears in my eyes. Seemed like such a bright girl with a future. And then the idea that some maniac who roams this country probably stopped to pick this girl up…and more than likely with the intention to kill her really grills me.
Its absolutely nuts that this goes on. Women…buy mace, and also equip yourselves with a knife and lace the knife with raid or wd40 so you can really nail the assailant with an infection. Hehe.
Excellent post Tyler. I think the theory that Maura was sleeping somewhere else on a regular basis is very possible. Your post got me thinking about Fred’s comment about going car-shopping and making several ATM withdrawals to get money. That seems really odd to me.
My understanding is that the bank would not let him withdraw the amount that he wished to withdraw. So he made multiple smaller withdrawals. He most likely planned to continue doing that over the course of another week or two.
Thanks, Sharon.
I tend to buy the multiple ATM stops explanation. It definitely does seem odd at first but thinking about it outside the context of Maura’s case it seems less strange to me. I could envision myself doing something like that simply because I’d rather just use the convenience of an ATM once a day during my commute than I would spend ten minutes inside a bank once.
I find it odd also. Why not just put it on CC if they wanted to take the car that day or just put the difference on credit card.
They may not have had a credit card with that amount of credit left on it, or they may not have had a credit card at all. ATMs and banks have daily limits on how much you can withdraw. This is likely why he had multiple withdrawals over multiple days, and still didn’t have enough to pay for the new car. This is really not strange at all and I have done similar things when I need to get larger cash amounts out of the bank.
Couple things. Charlie project says “police do not suspect foul play was involved in her disappearance.” Second. You don’t explain her change of behavior with respect to the Saturn. Why do you believe she drove the Saturn?
Hi James,
Thanks for your comments.
Do you know when Charlie Project stated that? I strongly disagree at present.
I believe she drove the Saturn because she had to out of perceived necessity.
Ok. More to the point….two things…first…not many have tried to answer this question. So…its unfair to expect you should have to answer. Secondly…i forgot my second point…oh…no I didn’t.
Socraticly…Presume that the facts of the case were the same…except suppose that the Saturn careened off a cliff near the site undiscovered to this day.
What would we presume about Maura and the car? That she didn’t drive it and that the car was stolen, Maura being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
She didn’t drive the saturn to clinicals. Career depends on satisfying that requirement.
But when nothing is at steak but her career…she decides to drive the car?
Now the necessary mellodrama with some humor…
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I’m just a caveman. Your world frightens and confuses me. When an email arrives at my computer i ask myself did little demons type it? You see…my primitive mind can’t grasp these concepts.
But there is one thing I do know…when a young nurse refuses to drive her car to school….it makes no sense for her to drive it to a random location.
Thank You
Ref. Jor. Unf. Cvmn Lw vol 63 vide:
http://s117.photobucket.com/user/Hannah_Pittman/media/CavemanLawyer.mp4.html
Mr. Leone,
You posed this rhetorical question: “[Assume] that the facts of the case were the same[,]except suppose that the Saturn careened off a cliff near the site undiscovered to this day.
What would we presume about Maura and the car? That she didn’t drive it and that the car was stolen, Maura being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
I would suppose that she was carjacked up north. Her stops at the liquor store and ATM would suggest that she drove the car. The “Londonderry Ping,” I suppose, to the extent that it involved an actual ping, would place her further north. Then there’s the map to Vermont and attempts to find a place to stay in New Hampshire.
Im curious about the perceived necessity to drive to New Hampshire but not clinicals. I dunno whats more important to a past dean student than graduating.
Or maybe the stories about her refusing to drive the car were made up by Peabody at Websleuths. I vaguely recollect seeing a program on tv that verified her getting rides to clinicals whatever.
If you look at the bottom of Maura Murray page at the Charlie project THEY REPORT that THE POLICE SAID FOUL PLAY NOT SUSPECTED.
Londonderry. That was all about the location of someone trying to call her. If thats even true. Doesnt mean she would naturally be heading north. Or if the car was assumed stolen (wgat I proposed) that a carjacked car would go in any particular direction.
Point being there is no explanation for the change in behavior by Maura toward the car. Gives plenty of reason to suspect she didn’t drive the car there at all. Might have been a passenger.
Were holding an eyewitness account of what he saw on a pitch black night as Bible truth.
ALSO MY COMMENTS WERE ABOUT ATM DRAWS OF 4000 $ IN ONE DAY. DON’T THINK SO.
P.S. I think its a better start than Green’s.
Thanks, I would tend to agree.
I agree, as well. I also think it’s superior to the one that I had posted, in many ways.
I also must have gone to a second class bank, because the ATM limit was $300 a day. Ya had to walk in the bank to get more.
I believe it’s possible he made the withdraws over the course of several days.
It would take less than two weeks to get the $4,000 at $300 a day. It’s a plausible scenario.
Are you saying there is an alterior motive to the money withdrawal by her father? What would that be? On every show Ive seen over the years he seems genuinely devastated and heart broken. I followed this case here and there throughout the years and just came across your post so forgive me for the obvious delay in my post. It is a baffling case. Was anyone in the vincinity ever questioned or thought of as a person of interest? Appreciate any reply.
Some of you – including my fellow burgher who is the author- are slightly delusional or have a one track mind if the making multiple ATM withdraws makes sense… There is NO BANK UNDER THE SUN that will not allow someone to withdraw $4,000 from their account if they have said amount in their account.. Now if someone is trying to withdraw from a bank that is different than their primary bank there usually is a withdraw limit even with the proper ID. Fred showed up at Maura’s school with 4-grand, right? Or to get that 4-grand on the day they were car shopping he had to visit multiple ATM’s to acquire the 4-grand? If he acquired that 4-grand on the morning of car shopping he must have the best bank in America bc usually they have a certain limit for ATM withdraws within a 24hr period, and I doubt he had been staying in that hotel for a week.. Which would mean the next weekend would be the earliest that Maura would be getting a new ride since he was 2-dimes short. This just makes NO sense to me.. The other thing that doesn’t make sense is her Saturn.. If her dad wouldn’t let her drive a short distance from dinner back to school bc of the smoke, why on Gods green earth would she take a car that smokes so badly a hundred some miles away? I mean seriously. I’ve followed this case for like 5 years and there is no way that she is actually missing bc of someone else or there is no way that her car was in as bad of shape as her dad wants everyone to believe. Plus no moron shoves a rag in the tail pipe to lessen smoke.. You should shove a rag into your tail pipe and then drive your car around your neighborhood and see what happens bc chances are you’re not gonna get too far. The police are going to stop a car that is constantly smoking whether it’s 3am or 5pm, so this is another issue that makes this case stink.. If LE really says there is no foul play suspected it’s hard to disagree with them considering the shadiness around ATM withdraws – that resulted in nothing being purchased-, a car that was in horrible shape yet Maura felt comfortable enough to venture hours away from home by herself, and a father who publicly fights/argues/challenges everyone under the sun who disagrees with his view of what happened… LE should have been opening up every piece of mail that is/was sent to him since this case started bc if those two were as close as he claims they communicated at some point since all of this started.
I just dont understand why they didnt use the ATM card to purchase the car, why keep withdrawibg cash??
my therory is she panicked after spinning out and the bus driver showed up she took off to a different place to hide from cops so she wouldnt get in trouble till a tow truck showed up but ended up in the woods and sucumbed to the elements if she was injured and intoxicated she could of easaly got lost or more injured in the woods i did that once i went drank a little to much and ran out of gas called a tow and then hid incase acop showed up when tow showed up i came out from the woods and got a gallon of gas and left
Judging from your spelling and punctuation, Pat Roach, you were intoxicated when you left this comment.
I think you have to base what might have happened on the evidence at the crime scene. Since we are all relying on newspapers and blogs for information this becomes difficult to rely on. I am basing my conclusion on the wine box in Maura Murray’s car.
When the newspaper reporter wrote in his March 31, 2013 article that it was “near empty”, that must be a typo. Or there should be a very large stain underneath the wine box in her car or two spots in the snow. I have no way of knowing the truth to these questions. But I think it is very significant to her case even if others think it is not.
In terms of common sense she was going on a trip to somewhere. She cared enough about her job and her classes to let those people know she would be away when she wrote the family emergency email. She had her schoolbooks and her syllabus with her. I would like to write that I agree with most people and her family that she was the victim of foul play. Everything points to that except the wine box. If the newspaper article is a typo wrong information or if there is a large wine stain where the wine leaked out of the box I would agree she was going on a trip and was kidnapped. I would agree her intention was to go on a trip, not to run away. I think the best suspect is the bus driver.
Even the accident scene is strange if she drank all that alcohol. Alcohol slows reaction time and affects depth perception. Many times what happens is the person crashes head on. The fact that she made it around the curve and almost turned too early is another unique aspect of her case. You cannot base that on anything because every person is different. It just means her drunk driving accident was not what I would consider the norm.
It is like Maura Murray’s family life. Many times females tend to be closer to their mother than father. That is not always the case, but I have noticed that seems to be more common. So when Maura had all these problems, I would like to know how many times she called her mom. I find it kind of strange everyone focuses on her dad. I know her mom died, but I think you have to look at her whole family.
When she arrived at college that semester, did she give her mom a call to let her know she was ok? IF she had a fight with her father over wrecking his car, why would she not call the one woman who you would think would support her? The parents were divorced weren’t they?
I do not know what to think actually happened because even if you can prove her intentions you cannot prove what happened after the car crash or in the ensuing 10 years of her life. Whether she was trying to get away from a DUI or just running away and took a ride from a stranger, that part of the case will probably remain a mystery.
is there any interviews with Hadley Police Officer Mark Rudolph? Being a law enforcement officer he to me has a higher credibility than average person. He must of had conversation with her im guesing 45 minutes to an hour before he made a judgement to let her go with tow truck driver. Did she sit in cruiser with him? Was the interview on side of rode middle of winter? What was her conversation and demeanor? And this is not a bash on him or law enforcement , lord knows thats a difficult job in a college town. I could not find out much about him online or where he is now and his thoughts. Just something about that encounter : ” I cant let go”
I think that if she mo than spill half the box wine she aint comin back. She be like I just get some mo. knowhatimesayin? So she mustar be living tuhday.
If she had ovah haff a box wine tuh come back tuh and she deeint come back fo thaat hoooneey she was taaaken by an alcoholic with vewy good weflexes honeychile. Ummm hmmm. Someone want that ETOH mo tha her. Prolly some alcoholic fool typerope walkuh and works with clowns unfireaters.
Id die if my man was doindat. So she mustar met fowlplay if some nectuh wuz induh bawcs.
There is so much character language associated with Maura Murray’s case. When you look at the AAA card left in the car and what she said to the bus driver you realize she lied but she did not know she was lying. Maura lied but she was not a liar. When you look at her stealing credit card number, you realize she stole but she was not a thief. Look at the amount of people who support Maura because it was only about $70 dollars worth of food. I am not saying these people are wrong. Somewhere along the line all of us have stolen something even if we did not know we were stealing, lied without realizing it. There are various degrees associated with how we think of individuals and what they do.
I could debunk my own argument by saying that there is always the possibility Maura dumped the wine box in the snow or quickly punctured it. I read they found a trail of red liquid drops around the car. There would not even be a theory without the receipt because what matters is the amount of time she had to drink all that wine.
But there are still the gloves in the car. If Maura had on her gloves when she dumped the alcohol you would think something would be found on the gloves. Didn’t that Coke bottle spill all over the car? If she did not have on the gloves when she dumped the alcohol, I would wonder if when the airbags exploded she got corn starch or talcum powder on her hands. And then maybe she put the rag in the tailpipe after the accident? I think that would be important.
Maybe we could add to the character language, Maura drank but she is not an alcoholic. She only drank a little, not an entire box of wine. Since she was Irish, I think that would be ironic.
Come Watson!
Forgive the fact that I am commenting on this so many months after it was posted. I like the way you think, Tyler. Like so many others, there are many factors that draw me to this case. Based on everything I’ve read and watched, I’ve got a theory on most of the most commonly asked questions regarding this incident. Most of my theories are congruous with yours. I have eight years law enforcement experience on the east coast in the metropolitan area.
I believe that the sighting of the person walking eastbound on 112 made by a local resident is significant. I understand that a K9 unit reportedly lost the scent approximately 100 yards east of the crash site, but that track wasn’t done until approximately 36 hours after she was last seen, and the article of clothing they used was a pair of gloves that was only a month and a half old. Although I’m not a K9 handler, I’ve been on more tracks than I can count. Sometimes they’re good. Sometimes they’re not. It’s possible that she could have made it 4 miles down the road in an hour’s time. Maura accepting a ride further away from the crash site is more believable for me. Your thoughts?
I do not know what to think about what happened. With the family emergency email it is just common sense people do not care about work or school if they are leaving their old life behind. Most crimes and most criminals are simple. So putting something forward that simplistic that basically tells everyone she planned to come back was very clever if she ran away.
If there is one thing I disagree with everyone about it is that Maura Murray ever got into a vehicle IF she ran away.
I definitely think the only person that is involved is Maura Murray. In my opinion, she said so when she told the bus driver she called AAA. If there was a helper on the way why not tell the bus driver that person will be by shortly to give her a lift to a gas station and a phone. Nobody else knows who this helper is so why would the bus driver care. If the bus driver’s intentions are sincere, the only thing he cares about is that she is safe.
In my opinion, Maura Murray knows she cannot take a ride out at the accident scene. She cannot risk a witness because she knows her father will ask questions. If for example she got into a car with someone and they dropped her off at a motel in Bartlett and a few days passes before the person comes forward telling police they dropped her off at a motel, she knows the first thing her family will ask is why in the past few days has she not contacted them if a witness confirms that she was alive and well after the accident and that she was at a place where she could use a phone? What if the witness does not smell any alcohol?
I know people will say that this never happened because no witnesses ever came forward in the past 10 1/2 years. But my point about the bus driver and about taking a ride is this.
Maura Murray could not have known that.
I think John j Raven has hit the nail on the head.The scent for the dog would have been extremely weak by that time.I did not know that a witness had seen someone walking along that road.Where was she going to?She didn’t have that much money to survive on in the first place.Someone was driving along the road (probably male/s). The scenario:We’ll get away with this and it’s history I’m afraid.
Heard a story about the Loon Mtn employees who never showed up….they could have picked her up and then ????
I’m in agreement with Tyler. I wrote the same on Jim R’s site, he doesn’t agree. The packed dorm room does show that plans were made, and she wasn’t staying there, and/or was out of there. The map does show intent of a specific journey, or a ruse. I don’t believe her head was together enough to pull off a Claud Rains!(?) Given that she was stressed and medicated, a detour doesn’t seem that far out. If she was trying to “dissappear”, deviation on her part( if loved ones knew her intentions) would cause loved ones confusion.(Much like they act) This ends my story the same as Tylers . Except I wonder. As pointed out by most parties involved, the 8 year youtube crap was just a sick prank. My only question was why did the drawing of the “Maura” looking woman have a black eye? Given the accident, that would be a correct injury.(probable). Read his( the videoagrapher, I suppose!) postings, theye’re bizarre, ramblings at best. His points are not as clear as the video. More questions. My full version is somewhere in Renners site, but to me the trails ends in a warm vehichle with a bad man.
Early Feb…..she could have still had boxes packed from moving back INTO the dorm after a month long xmas break….just saying, it may be that she didnt pack to leave, she was packed to return from break
I believe this to be the most likely scenario, too.
I typically rule out suicide, abductions by friends/acquaintances and starting a new life because none of those ideas seem realistic to me. Certainly, her actions didn’t seem to imply suicide and why would she travel with people who would later kill her after a car accident? That seems too elaborate to me.
I think she was just a mistake prone young person, trying to figure out her life and made some poor decisions along the way like we all do.
She crashed while drunk, at least to some extent, and wanted to get the heck out of there before police arrived. She declined help when folks started offering to call the cops for her. Maura was probably nervous now, witnesses to the accident, police en route, no cell service. She probably was willing to take a ride from anyone at that point, and likely did.
However, I’m more apt to think she remained at the car for the next few minutes. I believe someone would be more likely to stop for a crashed motorist versus someone simply walking down the street. Sure, its cold and snowy in NH but its not unheard to be briefly walking at that point. Plus it seems to fit with “there one minute, gone the next” as well as with the idea there was traffic at the time.
Regardless if she stayed by the car, or walked a few minutes down the street, the result is still the same. Desperate, vulnerable and willing to take a ride from anyone. Especially if there is promise of fleeing the scene, and perhaps later returning to the car. I mean, she did lock the doors, that alone is pretty indicative she planned to return.
hi guys,
you know what I find most fascinating with this case?
That I can’t make up my mind what the correct solution could be. I don’t even have a certain opinion, it’s open.
She could habe been abducted as well as having fled from something criminal, that’s basically the spread of her personality as I see it.
She seemed to be a very difficult, or better, multi-facaded personality and that makes very different scenarios possible.
One thing that I don’t feel to be likely is that she got into a car at the crash side since she was seen by a car 5 miles from the crash walking west and this information seems credible…
greetings