Maura Murray - Missing Since 2004

Published on 26 May 2022 at 12:37

Official FBI Missing Person Bulliton:

On Monday, February 9, 2004, at approximately 7:30 p.m., a black-colored Saturn 4-door sedan vehicle, belonging to 21-year-old Maura Murray, traveled off Route 112 in Haverhill, New Hampshire, and became stuck. The roads in that area of northern New Hampshire were snow-covered at the time. Murray was not present at the crash scene when police arrived and has not been seen nor heard from since. Murray was last seen on surveillance footage earlier in the day at an ATM wearing a dark jacket and jeans. Prior to that, Murray had left the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she was studying nursing. Murray did not share with others her pending trip to New Hampshire, which was about 2.5 hours away. Murray received prior education at the United States Military Academy at West Point, was an avid runner, and enjoyed hiking in the White Mountains.

 

From the Murray Family Official Website www.mauramurraymissing.org

On the morning of February 9, 2004 Maura submitted her nursing homework electronically and reportedly emailed professors stating there had been a death in the family and she would leave campus for the week (there was no death in the family). She placed a call to the owner of a condominium in Bartlett, NH, which is a place that was special to Maura and that she had spent time at in the past. She packed a bag with toiletries, makeup, work-out attire, school books, and several days’ worth of clothes.

At 3:15 PM, Maura stopped at an off-campus ATM and withdrew $280, which was nearly all of the money in her account.  She then stopped at a liquor store and purchased about $40 worth of alcohol.  According to authorities, she departed the Amherst/Hadley, MA area around 4:30 PM, and drove her 1996 Saturn north toward New Hampshire.  She did not tell anyone what her plans were or why she was heading to New Hampshire on that Monday afternoon.

At 7:27 PM, Faith Westman, a resident of Haverhill, NH called police and stated that there had been an accident near her home and that a car was stuck in a ditch.  Shortly after, a bus driver named Butch Atwood drove by and spoke to Maura. He offered her help and asked if she needed him to call police. She declined both offers and said she had already called AAA. Knowing there was no cell reception in that area, Atwood drove home (about 100 yards east of the accident), parked his bus, and went inside to call police. His call to 911 was placed at 7:42 PM. When asked if she appeared injured, Atwood told police that she appeared shaken up and that the airbags had deployed, but that he saw no blood.  
 
By the time the first officer arrived on scene at 7:46 PM, Maura was gone.  The officer noted that the car had been locked and there was a box of red wine behind the driver’s seat, as well as stains on the ceiling and door, and a coke bottle that appeared to have a red liquid in it. He also noted that there appeared to be a rag stuffed in Maura’s tailpipe (later it was learned that this was something Fred had advised Maura to do in order to avoid being ticketed by police for the excessive smoke coming out of the tailpipe). 
 
The officer asked the bus driver for assistance locating Maura and suggested he drive west of the accident scene  and search some of the roads in the French Pond area. A state trooper also responded to the scene and also searched the roads west of the accident site.  Fire and EMS also responded to the scene. EMS was dismissed within minutes, perhaps because there was no one at the scene to treat. The eight firefighters briefly searched in the accident scene before proceeding back west and returning to the fire station. As far as anyone is aware, no one searched east of the accident scene.  

The bus driver's brief interaction with Maura was the last known sighting.  Since that time, there has been no trace of her and no activity on her cell phone or bank accounts. 

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