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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State turns down historical marker request for missing woman​

The state of New Hampshire denied an application to put a historical marker alongside a Haverhill highway where a 21-year-old nursing student was last seen following a 2004 car crash.

The decision regarding the marker for Maura Murray came on Friday, a week after a “blue ribbon" tree at the spot used as a memorial to her had been cut down by the property owner, the Caledonian-Record reported.

“There is no doubt that this decision was difficult to make based on the subject matter and loss your family has endured over the last 17 years," the letter from Benjamin Wilson, director of the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources, said to Julie Murray, Maura's sister.

Wilson said under the program, the subject matter being defined by a marker must be at least 50 years old. Also, the state Department of Transportation “has indicated that they would not support locating a marker at or near the proposed location based on the road shape and lack of road width or shoulder,” Wilson wrote.
 

But human remains were recently discovered in Lincoln, New Hampshire, about 25 miles away from where Murray disappeared.

There have been several leads in the case over the years but all have turned up empty. Now, there is renewed hope from the family of Maura Murray that the mystery surrounding her disappearance may soon be solved.
 

Family: bone fragments not those of missing UMass student Maura Murray​

The family of former UMass Amherst student Maura Murray confirmed to Western Mass News on Wednesday that bone fragments found on Loon Mountain in New Hampshire are not hers.

“My heart is heavy upon learning that these remains do not belong to my little sister. I urge the N.H.S.P. to work tirelessly until the remains can be identified, so that peace may be given to their loved ones.”
“My family will continue to search for Maura and will leave no stone unturned until we bring her home and hold accountable those who are responsible for her disappearance.”
 
I have missed so many cases when I wasn't on and updates on a number of cases. I saw the post here today and read back on the ones I missed. Wow.

"Personal reasons"??? WTH?
 

New developments in Maura Murray case almost 18 years after her disappearance​

As investigators continue searching for Maura Murray after she disappeared almost 18 years ago, there are new developments with her case.

The FBI has created a Violent Criminal Apprehension Profile for Maura Murray. Julie Murray, Maura Murray's sister, said the Attorney General's office called her this past week to share the alert.

"It is a way for multiple agencies and different jurisdictions to share information," Julie Murray said.

Julie Murray said the ViCAP alert is long overdue and brings investigators — and the family — one step closer to finding Maura Murray.

"We have had people support us from the beginning and people joining all along the whole journey of trying to find out what happened to Maura, so on behalf of my family, I want to thank everyone," Julie Murray said.
 

“As we approach the 18th anniversary of Maura’s disappearance, LE notified my family they were releasing an FBI ViCAP profile. The goal is for multiple agencies and jurisdictions to pool and cross reference info. Long overdue, but a positive step in finding answers #mauramurray,” the tweet sent on Sunday read.

 

Hometown Tragedy: The mysterious disappearance of Maura Murray​

On a wintery night in February 2004, a college student crashes her car on a remote New Hampshire road. A few minutes later, a bus driver headed home after his shift asks if she needs any help, and she assures him she's already called for it.

That would be the last time anyone saw Maura Murray. For decades, Murray's case continues to stump investigators. How does a person just disappear without a trace?

Considered one of the first major true crime cases of the digital age, Murray's disappearance is one of the most well-known missing cases in the world. That attention, her family says, is appreciated, but has its downsides.

"We've got all this coverage and my family is thankful for that because the way that these cases are solved is through awareness and through engagement," says Julie Murray, Maura Murray's sister. "However, that comes with a cost, and the cost is exploiting the tragedy and exploiting Maura herself and exploiting my family and anyone that tries to help."

Hear more from Julie Murray and about who Maura Murray is behind the headlines, in this episode of "Hometown Tragedy," now streaming on Very Local.


 

Police Searching 2 NH Towns for Maura Murray, UMass Student Missing Since 2004​

Police looking for long-missing University of Massachusetts-Amherst student Maura Murray are searching in two towns in New Hampshire Wednesday, authorities said.

Police have searched in the area over the years and are returning Wednesday to Landaff and Easton to undertake "a more extensive search surrounding areas that had been previously searched in a more limited fashion," according to New Hampshire state prosecutors and police.

Back in 2019, authorities searched a home and dug up a basement in Haverhill but found no evidence of Murray. Police had searched outside that same home soon after Murray disappeared but had not searched inside until then. The new search was prompted by outside searches using dogs owned by private citizens and a radar scan that suggested the ground had been disturbed.

 

Murray investigation ongoing after ‘large-scale’ ground search​

A “large-scale” search related to the case of missing Massachusetts woman Maura Murray Wednesday concluded with no findings publicly announced.

The ground search in the Easton and Landaff areas off Route 112 in western New Hampshire by New Hampshire State Police and the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department “was the largest of its kind in recent years,” according to Julie Murray, Maura Murray’s sister.

“The large-scale effort gives my family renewed hope that a resolution is within reach,” Julie Murray said in a blog post on mauramurraymissing.org.

Wednesday, Attorney General John M. Formella announced that the ground search that day near where her accident occurred “is not the result of new information in the case,” but part of “an ongoing investigative process.”
 

  • By Heather Morrison masslive.com
  • Jan 18, 2023 Updated 18 min ago
The Murray family believes “someone knows something” about what happened to Maura Murray, who went missing in 2004. And in February, 19 years after she went missing, billboards will help raise awareness in Massachusetts.

“We firmly believe someone knows something and hope the exposure with the billboards will help towards resolution,” the family said in a statement on their website.

The billboards will be at two locations, one along the I-93 corridor near Stoneham and Woburn and another near Methuen, said Julie Murray, Maura’s sister.
 

Published February 8, 2023 8:16am EST
By Stephanie Pagones

Thursday marks 19 years since Maura Murray, a beloved athlete and fledgling nursing student, disappeared after she was involved in a car accident along a New Hampshire roadway. Uninjured, she spoke to a local bus driver moments after the crash, but disappeared minutes later and has been missing ever since.

Nearly two decades later, Murray’s family has remained steadfast in their quest for information and evidence that will lead them to her.

Murray’s sister, Julie Murray, has chronicled her and her family’s efforts on TikTok, through the account @mauramurraymissing, where she had garnered 2.7 million likes and over 225,000 followers as of this week.
 

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