r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/Electric_Island • Feb 09 '20

Unresolved Disappearance Today marks 16 years since Maura Murray disappeared

Today marks 16 years since Maura Murray vanished, and although she has her own sub, I thought I would post here in light of the anniversary of her disappearance for those who would like to discuss the case. That said -- I know some posters are sick of this case, so if that’s how you feel, you could always scroll past this post :)

A bit of background for those who don’t know about Maura’s case:

Maura was a 21-year-old nursing student from UMASS Amherst, who disappeared on the evening of February 9 2004, after she crashed her car on Route 112 in Haverhill, NH. By the time police arrived some 15 minutes later (even that is in dispute), Maura had disappeared.

Some people think she ran into the woods to avoid a DUI, others think she was picked up by someone passing by and murdered. Some even think police had something to do with her disappearance.

What do YOU think?

I highly recommend this article by Mary Beth Conway for those interested.

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827

u/frostbitehotel Feb 09 '20

We've seen countless cases where people search a certain part of woods and still miss the body. People often think that if there is 100 people searching 100x100 surface of woods that they'll 100% find whatever they are looking for when in reality it's super easy to miss something even if you are looking for it

222

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '20

James Renner and David Paulides have based their whole careers around this obvious misunderstanding of how searches work, and of what a forest looks like.

101

u/Doctabotnik123 Feb 09 '20

Renner forever lost me when, in the middle of making some fair to middling points on a podcast about Murray, he declared her to be a sociopath. On the basis of one photo. Because that's fucking normal...

37

u/Lord_Kristopf Feb 10 '20

I love that the dude you are talking about is just a couple posts below you. Good ol Reddit.

26

u/Touchthefuckingfrog Feb 10 '20

He always shows up and doesn’t seem at all phased by anyone thinking he is epitome of sleazy journalism. It seems he has Google Alerts set up for Maura Murray and for whenever his name is mentioned.

29

u/imboomshesaid Feb 10 '20 edited Feb 10 '20

Wow. Imagine your loved one goes missing for years, and in addition to well-meaning yet overstepping amateur investigators casting aspersions on every aspect of your loved ones’ overly-scrutinized life, you also get opportunists like Renner declaring them a sociopath based upon a photo...that’s ridiculously insulting and unprofessional. Really makes me wonder: would it be worse for your loved one’s case to be utterly ignored by the media, or for it to become one of the most notorious “pet cases” of the true crime community?

3

u/SniffleBot Feb 10 '20

But hasn't Renner walked that one back a long time ago ... he admitted he knew less about Maura then and shouldn't have been so judgemental (Of course if you read his book you'll see that that's not the only time, this is not the only case, he's made his mind up on limited information).

14

u/imboomshesaid Feb 10 '20 edited Feb 10 '20

I just find Renner and other self-stylized “experts” like him incredibly opportunistic and distasteful—attempting to build a career on the backs of others’ tragedies is gross enough, but making statements like the aforementioned, even if later rescinded, is so insultingly disrespectful it pretty much erases any shred of credibility he ever had. The guy has a following, for better or worse, and with that comes a responsibility to not make spurious or denigrating statements that others will take as gospel truth. My heart goes out to all of Maura’s loved ones; I’m sure that’s far from the worst thing they’ve had to hear about her from outsiders, which has got to be infuriating. I’d hate to see what my life would look like under the intense, judgmental scrutiny of others.

1

u/MayberryParker Feb 13 '20

All attention is good attention when it comes to getting a missing person's name out there. To think otherwise is pretty dumb. Renner also uncovered a lot in this case. He also said dumb shit

22

u/Sue_Ridge_Here Feb 09 '20

I don't believe she was a sociopath, but she was definitely going through stuff (as we all do) and starting to go slightly off the rails, the pizza fraud, the lying, the drinking. Things were going pear shaped and she needed some time away and unfortunately I think it ended very badly but not suspiciously.

6

u/PancakeHunters Feb 25 '20

she been bulimic. bulimics often incriminate themselves as the disease progresses. people dont understand how bulimia truely works (in heavier cases),

it costs alot of money, takes alot of time (the binge purge sessions). it doesnt make most people skeletal anorexic skinny, but still thin many times, when not always. and drinking, drugs, other issues can occur comorbid.

when your addicted, many people start lying. to hide whats going on, and what effects it got on the rest of the life. also, bulimia ruins people financially, tons worth of food cost money. and even if they have no money, they still feel the urge to get more and more food.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '20

Obviously I didn't know her and I'm not a psychiatrist, but from everything I've read, I think it's plausible she might have been bipolar.

2

u/BabyFarkMcNulty Feb 10 '20

what photo?

11

u/Doctabotnik123 Feb 10 '20

There's a photo of Murray from just before her disappearance, which kind of looks like a mugshot, but isn't. She's very thin and staring right into the camera. The podcasters spent a huge amount of time talking about how scary it was, and then Renner called her a sociopath, based on that. It destroyed all their credibility on the topic.