NH MAURA MURRAY: Missing from Haverhill, NH - 9 Feb 2004 - Age 21

3620DFNH - Maura Murray
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Name: Maura Murray
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: February 9, 2004
Location Last Seen: Haverhill, Hampshire County, New Hampshire

Physical Description
Date of Birth: May 4, 1982
Age: 21 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 120 lbs
Hair Color: Brown, medium length, frequent ponytail, no bangs
Eye Color: Blue/green
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Dimples in both cheeks; scar on right calf

Identifiers
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unavailable
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Possibly wearing a dark colored coat and jeans.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Black backpack, Samsung/Sprint Cell phone, wallet.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Some time after 7:00 pm, a Woodsville, New Hampshire, resident heard a loud thump outside of her house. Through her window she could see a car up against the snowbank along Route 112, also known as Wild Ammonoosuc Road. The car pointed west on the eastbound side of the road. She telephoned the Grafton County Sheriff's Department at 7:27 pm to report the accident. At about the same time another neighbor saw the car as well as someone walking around the vehicle. She witnessed a third neighbor pull up alongside the vehicle. That neighbor, a school bus driver returning home, noticed the young woman was not bleeding but cold and shivering. He offered to telephone for help. She asked him not to call the police (one police report says "pleaded") and assured him she'd already called AAA. (AAA has no record of any such call.)

Knowing there was no cell phone reception in the area, the bus driver continued home and phoned the police. His call was received by the Sheriff's Department at 7:43 pm. He was unable to see Maura's car while he made the phone call but did notice several cars pass on the road before the police arrived. At 7:46 pm, a Haverhill police officer arrived at the scene. No one was inside or around the car. The car's windshield was cracked on the driver's side and both airbags had deployed. The car was locked. Inside and outside the car he discovered red stains that looked to be red wine. The officer found a damaged box of Franzia wine on the rear seat.

In addition, he found a AAA card issued to Maura Murray, blank crash report forms, gloves, compact discs, makeup, two sets of MapQuest driving directions (one to Burlington, Vermont, another to Stowe, Vermont), Maura's favorite stuffed animal, and Not Without Peril, a book about mountain climbing in the White Mountains. Missing were Maura's debit card, credit cards, and cell phone, none of which have been located or used since her disappearance.

At 8:00 to 8:30 pm, a contractor returning home from Franconia saw a young person moving quickly on foot eastbound on Route 112 about 4 to 5 miles (6 to 8 km) east of where Maura's vehicle was discovered. He noted that the young person was wearing jeans, a dark coat, and a light-colored hood. He didn't report it to police immediately due to his own confusion of dates, only discovering three months later (when reviewing his work records) that he'd spotted the young person the same night Maura disappeared.

Just before 8:00 pm, EMS and a fire truck arrived to clear the scene. By 8:49 pm, the car had been towed to a local garage. At about 9:30 pm, the responding officer left. A rag believed to have been part of Maura's emergency roadside kit was discovered stuffed into the Saturn's muffler pipe. Authorities would only refer to Maura as missing the next day, almost twenty-four hours after she was last seen.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: New Hampshire Cold Case Unit
Agency Contact Person: coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov
Agency Phone Number: 603-271-2663 or 603-271-1255
Agency E-Mail: coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov
Agency Case Number: 04-41-OF

NCIC Case Number: M-883793945
NamUs Case Number: 54

Information Source(s)
NamUs
Wikipedia

 
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This case is so bizarre. Why didn't she want the police called? Did she have an abusive boyfriend? There so little information other than about the crash. It would be great to know more about what was happening in her life at that time. Did anyone know where she was heading?

Also I'm wondering approximately how far she would have been able to drive with that rag in her muffler?
 
I found an article with some more information about Maura. This article mentions a podcast about the case. If I'm not allowed to post it please delete.


Murray was a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on February 9, 2004 when she drove away from campus toward New Hampshire's White Mountains. She was involved in a car accident in Woodsville, New Hampshire, where she briefly spoke to residents at the scene.


 
I agree this has always been a strange case. I have seen things on it over the years including the sister and father speaking about it if I remember correctly, or clips of them.

My memory fails me though, what is it about the wood chips in the article above? Something was found with DNA of two people or blood? Also the rag in the muffler, do they mean like a suicide or murder attempt or was it in there for another reason?

I suspect if true she did not want LE called, it was due to drinking and driving perhaps?
 
I delved a little deeper into this case a few years ago, but of course I can't remember all the details anymore. I do remember that I thought she had wandered off and succumbed to the elements, but then more information made me wonder. It's a very intriguing case.
 
It sounds like some believe it to be a cover up by LE for an area person or one of their own, I don't know about that but she did seem to just vanish when LE was there in short order?

I too think she perhaps wandered off but one has to wonder.

I don't want to accuse anyone but it seems odd to me the one guy was reviewing his work records months later before he made the connection of seeing a young person on the road on that date... It seems like it would be big news in that small area and he would immediately connect it? And wouldn't most stop to see if the person was all right or need a ride?
 
Once the weather agrees, I am going to do a couple of experiments with a rag in a tail pipe. I have ideas about that, and it may not be as it seems.
This is indeed the pile, on top of many piles, case of a missing, possibly harmed person, in years.... And this is the first time in years, that I have seen were it mentions that Maura's AAA card was left in the car.... that is odd, very odd... and telling.
 
Once the weather agrees, I am going to do a couple of experiments with a rag in a tail pipe. I have ideas about that, and it may not be as it seems.
This is indeed the pile, on top of many piles, case of a missing, possibly harmed person, in years.... And this is the first time in years, that I have seen were it mentions that Maura's AAA card was left in the car.... that is odd, very odd... and telling.
Be careful with your experiment!

And :welcome: to the group! Nice to have you with us!
 
Once the weather agrees, I am going to do a couple of experiments with a rag in a tail pipe. I have ideas about that, and it may not be as it seems.
This is indeed the pile, on top of many piles, case of a missing, possibly harmed person, in years.... And this is the first time in years, that I have seen were it mentions that Maura's AAA card was left in the car.... that is odd, very odd... and telling.
Care to share your thoughts? I understand if you don't want to, I am just interested, this has always been an odd case.

I know people put rags in tail pipes to carbon monoxide themselves or another, usually in a garage... I never saw the bit on the Triple A card, did she use it? I have seen things about this case off and on through the years but do not consider myself well read on it.
 

On Maura Murray’s 38th birthday, family launches new website for missing UMass student

There is something about the disappearance of 21-year-old Maura Murray of Hanson is attracting attention from all over the world.

The UMass student’s 2004 disappearance has inspired a TV mini-series, podcasts, websites, blogs and books.

Maura’s story is well known.

But even with all that publicity, Maura Murray herself is still missing.

Monday, Maura Murray should be turning 38 years old. She was just 21 years old when she vanished in New Hampshire on February 9, 2004.

And Maura’s family is marking the day by relaunching Maura’s website, and asking again for information that could finally solve this case.

“My family has been doing this for 16 years,” Maura’s sister, Julie, told me. “We really just want closure. But there are no answers, we have no answers still, 16 years later. “



 
There are so few facts, about Missing Maura Murray. If we remove all the white noise from the background and close all the rabbit holes.
FACTS
1. Maura Murray has not been seen nor heard from since Monday February 9th 2004 in Amherst, MA.
(Butch Atwoods eye witness testimony is that he did not think the female looked like Maura)
(The voice mail that Billy Rausch received was not kept so it cannot be considered fact.)
2. The Saturn car, which belonged to Maura's Father Fred, which Maura had parked at the UMass Campus was found abandoned, near the Weathered Barn Corner on route 112 in NH East of Woodsville, NH, on the evening of Feb 9th 2004.
3. Maura was on video at the ATM on the afternoon of Feb 9th 2004, in Amherst MA. (some of the clips of that video have been
publicly released. )
4. Maura was on video at a Liquor store on the afternoon of Feb 9th 2004, in Amherst MA. (Not released)
5. Missing also, is Maura's back pack, her cell phone, and her wallet.
 
Missing woman’s family wants marker where she was last seen

The family of a missing woman has applied for a historical marker to be placed at the roadside where she was last seen in 2004.

The Caledonian Record reported Wednesday that Maura Murray’s family is seeking support for their application to install a historical marker on a road in Haverhill, New Hampshire.

The family has tied a blue ribbon on a roadside tree as a remembrance, but wrote on a website dedicated to Murray that the landowner plans to cut the tree down.
 
I've been listening to the Missing Maura Maury podcast while doing my cardio. Those guys really go down the rabbit hole in their research and investigation. They also interview people who have been working on the case from the start. Its definitely worth checking out if you like podcasts :).
 
Missing woman’s family wants marker where she was last seen

The family of a missing woman has applied for a historical marker to be placed at the roadside where she was last seen in 2004.

The Caledonian Record reported Wednesday that Maura Murray’s family is seeking support for their application to install a historical marker on a road in Haverhill, New Hampshire.

The family has tied a blue ribbon on a roadside tree as a remembrance, but wrote on a website dedicated to Murray that the landowner plans to cut the tree down.
In the podcast, there are multiple witness accounts that claim that the tree that marks her Memorial is not the right tree that it's actually a tree that is couple feet away. IMO it's not that big of a deal but I still thought it was interesting :).
 

Cold Case: Family Searching for Maura Murray 17 Years After Disappearance​

On the 17th anniversary of the disappearance of Maura Murray, her family is still hopeful.

"I'm hoping something shakes loose this year," said her older sister, Julie.

"It's kind of crazy to think it's 17 years. I've spent more of my life without Maura than with her," said Kurtis.


"The case involving Maura Murray's disappearance remains an open investigation," The New Hampshire Attorney General's office said in a statement Tuesday, urging anyone with information to contact New Hampshire State Police.
 

Cold Case: Tree With Memorial to Woman Who Disappeared in 2004 Cut Down​

The family of a woman missing since 2004 is asking for a historical marker after a tree that has long served as a memorial to her was chopped down.

A tree near the spot where she was last seen has been adorned with a blue ribbon dedicated to Murray's memory.

Monday, Murray's family said that tree was cut down for unknown reasons.

"This cruel act has strengthened my family's resolve to fight for answers until we find Maura and hold accountable those responsible for her disappearance," Maura's sister, Julie Murray, said in a statement. "With the destruction of the Blue Ribbon tree we urge Mr. Ben Wilson, Director of the N.H. Division of Historical Resources, to swiftly approve Maura's historical marker request recognizing the historical significance of Maura's disappearance at the location she was last seen on Rt. 112, Haverhill, N.H. in 2004."

The family officially made the request for the marker in October. Since then, the family says more than 400 emails and phone calls have been sent to the division, and petitions have garnered "3,367 signatures from all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and forty-two different countries."


 

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