Author: Shane Lambert
Original Time of Writing: Sunday, December 20th, 2020
All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.
Introduction to Maura Murray's Disappearance
Maura Murray is one of this century's most famous cases of missing people. She was last known to have been in New Hampshire, where she was involved in a single-vehicle car accident.
Murray then disappeared before the police arrived to find her vehicle locked. She has not been seen or heard from since.
Case Details
Missing Person: Maura Murray
Last Seen or Contact Date: Shortly after 7pm on Monday, February 9th, 2004
Where Last Seen: In the vicinity of Route 112 in Haverhill, New Hampshire, about a mile from Swift Water Village, about five miles from Wells River, Vermont (across the Connecticut River). She was taking a sharp turn on Wild Ammonoosuc Road between Old Peters Road and Bradley Hill Road (there’s a blue ribbon tied around a tree on Google Maps).
Maura Murray Saturday, February 14th, 2004 – 18 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com
Similar Cases
The case has some similarities to unrelated cases. Many times across America, someone has been involved in a car accident only to disappear in the immediate aftermath.
In 2020, Yvette Slim went missing after an accident. In 2018, Blair Minnifield (NamUs #MP52423) got in a single-vehicle accident, went to the hospital, and then disappeared. Stephan Chan (NamUs #MP50755) disappeared the same year after a single-vehicle accident. In 2016, Brandi Shontay Brown disappeared after hospitalization from an accident.
Psychological Context of Car Accidents
It is interesting to think about a car accident that is followed by the driver's disappearance. We can imagine that an individual who is near a breaking point might cross that point after a car accident, especially if the accident is his/her fault.
Life can be tough and car accidents are no small deal: even if you escape injury, dealing with the bureaucratic procedures after an accident can be very annoying. It follows that someone who is already mentally unwell might see this as the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Maura Murray Monday, February 10th, 2014 – 10 · The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction, Colorado) · Newspapers.com
Maura’s Background and Possible Motives
But with Maura Murray, I’ve often wondered if the car accident wasn’t so much that straw but maybe she had already decided to disappear herself. The accident might have been the result of indifference to her life or maybe even a last-ditch call for help if she was in a suicidal state.
It was her second car crash in recent days and she was thought to be “distraught” at this time of her life. Months earlier, she faced legal problems for fraudulently using a credit card.
Witness Accounts and Investigation
The individual who spoke to Murray shortly after her accident (Butch Atwood, now deceased) suggested that she may have been intoxicated. Thus, Murray might have been facing a drunk-driving charge if she stuck around the accident scene. Other witnesses said that they saw her roadside and police dogs lost her scent about 100 yards from her car.
Maura Murray Thursday, February 19th, 2004 – Page 20 · The Burlington Free Press (Burlington, Vermont) · Newspapers.com
Theories and Speculation
This is a baffling case, and, like most difficult missing person’s cases, there are a lot of ways your mind can go. The father was always adamant that she met with foul play—so adamant that it is hard to disregard his opinion.
That would make you think that an abductor arrived at the scene of the accident and picked her up as she walked away. However, that in itself would be one Johnny-on-the-spot abductor as he/she would have arrived on the scene in the minutes between the crash and the arrival of the authorities.
That Murray told lies to her school and work in the time frame before she disappeared is interesting. It suggests that her life was not in balance. That she was drinking and driving adds weight to this, in my opinion.
Of course, if she fled the scene for legal reasons and hitched a ride, then why hasn’t she been heard from since? She would not likely flee a drunk-driving charge for years as first-time offenders can expect leniency. If she voluntarily entered a passerby’s vehicle, then why didn’t this driver contact authorities later?
Possibility of an Unknown Witness
In my opinion, the best chance of finding her is simply that she did enter someone’s vehicle and that this person has never confronted the story of her disappearance and doesn’t know he or she has valuable information.
But sometimes people who have valuable information regarding a missing person are unlikely to share it—even when they realize it. For example, in the case of Emma Fillipoff, there was a man who picked her up as a hitchhiker near the time of her disappearance. When he realized that he had information on her whereabouts, he kept it to himself until several years after she disappeared.
His reasoning was that he simply did not want to be cast in a false light (i.e., someone who picked up a hitchhiker who was never seen again would be considered a suspect in the disappearance).
Final Acts of Generosity
One possibility is that Maura, planning to end her life, gave away her possessions in a final act of kindness. There are a lot of instances when someone gives away possessions late in life, knowing that they do not need them anymore.
On Monday, February 9th, 2004, Maura withdrew about $280 from her bank account, nearly all she had, and this money was not found in her car. While her money could have been in her pocket as she left, she also bought alcohol that day, some of which—possibly bottles of Baileys, Kahlúa, or vodka—was missing from her vehicle. That seemed like too much alcohol to drink without going unconscious.
She may have given these items to homeless people, reflecting a generous impulse before her disappearance. While no one reported receiving such gifts, her distraught state suggests she might have felt free to let go of what she no longer needed. Late-life generosity, which certainly is not unheard of, would explain where the missing alcohol went and it would align with a suicidal frame of mind, in my opinion.
Considering Suicide as a Possibility
Maura Murray’s case remains baffling and I gravitate toward suicide as the most likely explanation for her disappearance. It doesn’t matter to me that her father thought this unlikely, as there is often a divide between what parents notice of their children and their mental reality. That she met with foul play is the opinion of the family, even as recently as Friday, February 9th, 2024 when People.com did an update on this case (Nicole Briese).
However, I don’t feel strongly about my opinion. Suicide by facing-the-elements doesn’t sound like a great way to go. There’s no reason to believe that Murray had a gun and it was evening when she went missing in February—a cold time of year in the northern USA. Hiking through the night-time forest for a cliff to jump off doesn’t sound like a great way to go either.
Conclusion
At the end of this case, I feel like we’re left with the facts and details of her case—all of which point to nothing but difficult-to-weigh speculation. Years have passed and we’re still waiting for that moment when things finally make sense.
Maura Murray Saturday, February 14th, 2004 – 18 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com
Maura Murray Sunday, February 15th, 2004 – 29 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com
Maura Murray Tuesday, February 17th, 2004 – 19 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com
Maura Murray Tuesday, March 2nd, 2004 – 17 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com
Maura Murray Thursday, April 4th, 2019 – A9 · The Burlington Free Press (Burlington, Vermont) · Newspapers.com
Identifying Information
NamUs # and Link: #MP54
Ethnicity/Race: White
Sex: Female
Age at Time of Disappearance: 21 years old
Hair: Light brown or brown
Eye Color: Greenish/bluish
Height and Weight at the Time of Disappearance: 5’7” and 120 pounds
Other: Dimpled cheeks
Scars: Right calf
Clothing: Possibly wearing a dark-colored coat and jeans, carrying a backpack.
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