8.01.2015

What happened to Maura Murray? Part II: Alternate Theories.

Anything is possible with this mystery.


In my last blog post I outlined the disappearance of Maura Murray, excluded theories I found less plausible and concluded she likely vanished as a result from taking a ride from a sinister stranger who saw her as an opportunity. She probably wasn't eyed with murderous intent but perhaps as an easy sexual target, one who likely refused and became a victim.

But with Maura Murray you have a pretty baffling set of circumstances to consider, thus the endless speculation over the past 10+ years regarding her fate. Is the family and/or friends hiding something? Where exactly was she going? Why did she claim there was a death in her family? There are so many unanswered questions here that simply add to the mystery.

While I think Maura was a victim of a crime of opportunity, I can't say that with 100% certainty and I am definitely sure numerous possibilities do exist. Let's take a look at two alternate theories regarding the disappearance.

  • Secret Lover

One possible explanation for no one knowing about Maura's plans to go up north, was due to the fact that maybe she was meeting a new love interest for an excursion. Perhaps she had already met this person and this was intended to be a more serious encounter. Regardless, with a boyfriend in Oklahoma, Maura might have wanted to keep this a secret and thus the complete lack of knowledge from friends and family. Whether it was from school, work, or even the internet (which wasn't unheard of even in 2003/2004) it's entirely possible a young girl like Maura was trying to figure what she wanted, even if it was behind the backs of everyone.

This fits nicely with the idea of a tandem driver, one would could quickly pick her up and remove her from the accident sight. She may have been trusting of this new person but without knowing them much at all, it left her vulnerable and potentially alone with a truly bad person.

  • Secret Trip

We all know Maura inquired about lodging for her trip. Maybe the initial plan was to travel north for a few days with a couple of friends, relax, party and have a good time. A rental like that isn't always cheap and I'd be willing to bet there were quite a few UMass students whose parents had winter cabins up north. But how many parents would be OK with a group of college kids spending a few days there drinking? Probably not many. Let's say the original plan was to stay at Stowe. Another "friend of a friend" may have suggested the idea of staying at his/her parent's cabin up north, without their knowledge. So with that said, there would definitely an element of secrecy doing this without the homeowner's consent.

This again would explain Maura's quick departure from the crash, something she could deal with later, and again corroborate the notion of a tandem driver. Perhaps even the sighting of Maura and friends at a store as well as the alcohol (minus the box wine) missing from the Saturn.

Once the group arrived at the winter cabin maybe there was hard partying, too much drinking and even some drugs involved. Something horrific could have happened to Maura and the remaining group went into full panic mode and made the ghastly decision to conceal her death and attempt to hide all evidence they stayed at the remote cabin, without permission.

In the end, we've had 10 years with no clues, no leads and no suspects. A case as cold as this could inevitably lead to all sorts of possibilities and dark secrets.


6 comments:

  1. Anonymous12/08/2015

    I agree with most of your thoughts on Maura. I think tend to think she either took a ride or walked to a nearby house and was subsequently killed or she was traveling with a person or persons and was killed, either on purpose or by accident. Most people who disappear this long was by due to nefarious acts. I dont think this case is any different.

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  2. Anonymous8/17/2016

    I believed she commit suicide, out of frustration and her being drunk when she was last seen. And the best guess how is by drowning herself in a river close by. And that's why we wouldn't be able to find her, and he corpse would be rot by now.

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  3. Anonymous8/17/2016

    Sorry, I mean she.

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  4. I'm starting to consider the idea of suicide more, but like everything else it still leaves unanswered questions. Certainly, it makes you wonder if she based the trip around ending her life OR if the accident was her final straw and at that time she became suicidal.

    At first thought, rivers and bodies of water are reasonable places for missing persons but...in February in NH you can bet all of that is frozen. Sure, one could argue may she fell through the ice, but I don't think she would have bothered crossing an icy pond in the dark when easier paths exist.

    Just the fact that it's nearly pitch black outside makes me weary of her going into the woods for any reason really. Without a light that would really hinder any travel, leaving her just kind of blindly wandering around.

    The most likely method I would think for suicide in that scenario would be jumping to her death, but the problem there is that here body would likely be easier to find.

    The paradox here, in my mind, is that she manages to leave the scene of the accident on foot, in the dark, with few if any supplies, and yet she manages to get so far outside the radius of the search and manages to conceal her own body so well that it's never found? That has always been too many coincidences for me...

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  5. Stick to your original thoughts; more logical and realistic.

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    Replies
    1. Personally I don't think there's much of a chance any of these scenarios happened. However, I think it is important to highlight the sheer number of possibilities that could have occured with Maura, likely or not.

      Thanks for looking!

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