The Disappearance of Maura Murray: A Mystery That Remains Unsolved

The mysterious disappearance of Maura Murray

By Rare StoriesPublished 5 months ago • 7 min read

Maura Murray, an American woman went missing on the night of February 9, 2004, following a car accident on Route 112 close to Woodsville, New Hampshire. Despite extensive efforts, her location or fate has yet to be discovered.

The Beginning

Maura Murray was a 21-year-old nursing student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2004. She was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, on May 4, 1982, and grew up in Hanson, Massachusetts, as one of five children.

She was described by her family as "an overachiever that excelled both academically (as a national honor society member) and athletically," participating in several sports, including running and basketball. She had a signature smile and dimples that charmed everyone who knew her.

Murray was a star athlete on the track team at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, where she finished her high school education. She got accepted into the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, and studied chemical engineering for three semesters. She decided to transfer to the University of Massachusetts Amherst after her freshman year, where she pursued a nursing degree.

What happened before she disappeared?

Murray's life seemed to be normal and stable until the days leading up to her disappearance when some strange and troubling events occurred.

Murray was working at her on-campus security job on the night of February 5, 2004, when she talked to her older sister, Kathleen, on the phone. They talked about Kathleen's problems with her fiancé, who was also recovering from alcoholism. Murray suddenly broke down in tears around 10:30 p.m., while she was still on duty. Her supervisor found her at her desk, looking completely numb and silent.

The supervisor took Murray to her dorm room around 1:20 a.m. Murray only said two words when asked what was wrong: "My sister." Kathleen had just left a rehab clinic that evening. Her fiancé had taken her to a liquor store on their way home, which caused her to have an emotional breakdown. Murray was very close to her sister and was upset by the news.

Fred Murray, the father of Murray, came to Amherst on Saturday, February 7. He and his daughter had dinner with one of her friends later. Murray borrowed her father's Toyota Corolla after dropping him off at his motel and went to a party in her dorm. She got to the party at 10:30 pm and left at 2:30 am the next day, Sunday, February 8.

On her way back to the motel, she hit a guardrail on Route 9 in Hadley and damaged her father's car badly. The damage cost almost $10,000 (about $15,500 in 2022). The police officer who came to the scene wrote an accident report, but there is no record of any field sobriety tests. Murray was taken to her father's motel room and stayed there for the rest of the morning.

On Sunday morning, Fred Murray found out that his car insurance would cover the damage. He rented a car, drove Murray to the university, and headed to Connecticut. He called his daughter at 11:30 pm that night and told her to get the accident forms from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. They planned to talk again on Monday night to fill out the forms and finish the insurance claim over the phone.

On February 9, the day of her disappearance, Murray sent an email to her boyfriend, Rausch, around 1:00 p.m. She wrote, "I love you more stud. I got your messages, but honestly, I didn't feel like talking too much of anyone, I promise to call today though." She also made a phone call to a condominium rental agency in Bartlett, New Hampshire, where she and her family had vacationed in the past. She asked about the availability of a condo for the next week but did not make a reservation. She also checked her voicemail, which was the last recorded activity on her cell phone.

Around 3:30 p.m., Murray emailed her professors and work supervisor and told them she would be away for a week due to a death in the family. This was a lie, as no one in her family had died. She then packed her car with some clothes, toiletries, textbooks, and other items, including a stuffed monkey that Rausch had given her as a gift.

She also took out most of the money from her bank account, which was about $280, and bought about $40 worth of alcohol from a liquor store. She then left campus and headed north on Interstate 91.

Disappearance

Murray's car was found abandoned on Route 112 near Woodsville, New Hampshire, a village in the town of Haverhill, around 7:00 p.m. on February 9.

A witness, Faith Westman, who lived near the crash site, said she heard a loud thump and saw a car facing the wrong way on the eastbound side of the road. She said she saw a person moving around inside the car but did not see anyone else. She called 911 and reported the accident.

Another witness, Butch Atwood, who was a school bus driver, said he saw Murray's car as he was returning home from work. He said he stopped and offered to help her, but she declined and asked him not to call the police. She said she had already called AAA, which was also a lie, as there was no cell phone reception in the area.

Atwood said he noticed that Murray did not appear to be injured, but seemed to be "shaken up" and "cold." He said he left her and drove to his nearby house, where he called 911 from his landline. He said he could see Murray's car from his kitchen window, but did not see her.

The first police officer, Cecil Smith, arrived at the scene at 7:46 p.m. He said he found Murray's car locked and empty, with minor damage to the front end and a cracked windshield. He said he saw a box of wine on the back seat and a red stain on the driver's side door and ceiling. He also found Murray's belongings in the car, including her backpack, coat, gloves, and driver's license.

He said he did not find her cell phone, credit cards, or keys. He said he searched the area around the car but did not find any footprints or signs of a struggle. He said he spoke to Westman and Atwood, who confirmed that they had seen Murray, but did not know where she went. He said he issued a "be on the lookout" (BOLO) alert for Murray at 8:02 p.m. and requested assistance from other police departments and a canine unit.

The Disappearance

The search for Murray continued throughout the night and the following days, but no trace of her was ever found.

Inside her vehicle, Murray had packed clothing, toiletries, college textbooks, and birth control pills. When her dorm room was subsequently searched, campus police found that the majority of her belongings were packed in boxes, and the artwork had been taken down from the walls. It remains uncertain whether Murray packed these items on the same day, but authorities stated that she had packed them sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning. Atop the boxes, there was a printed email addressed to Murray's boyfriend, which hinted at difficulties within their relationship.

Before dawn on February 11, Murray's father arrived in Haverhill. During the search, a police dog traced the scent from one of Murray's gloves approximately 100 yards east of the location where her vehicle was found but subsequently lost the trail. This led the police to speculate that she might have left the area in another car. At 5:00 pm, Murray's boyfriend and his parents arrived in Haverhill. The police questioned him privately and The police later said that they believed Murray had come to the place she left her car to run away or to kill herself.

The police, the FBI, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, and hundreds of volunteers combed the area around the crash site, using dogs, helicopters, and thermal imaging devices.

They also interviewed dozens of people who lived or worked in the area, but none of them reported seeing or hearing anything suspicious. They also checked the nearby hotels, motels, and bus stations, but found no evidence that Murray had checked in or left the area. They also traced Murray's phone records, bank transactions, and online activity, but found no clues to her whereabouts or intentions have been found since.

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As of the time of writing this post, November 21, 2023, it has been 19 years, 9 months, and 12 days since she disappeared, and yet no one has ever been charged in the disappearance of Maura Murray.