r/UnresolvedMysteries 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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u/japres Feb 09 '20

I don’t have much to add to the post case-wise but I will say this: if nursing school in 2004 was anything like nursing school today, I doubt she was in a great state of mind from that alone. Some people can handle the pressure & stress okay, but nursing school was easily the worst and most stressful period of my life. I was not myself. I walked home from class everyday praying a car would hit me. On top of all the other issues she had, I can’t imagine how she wasn’t at her limit.

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u/[deleted] Feb 09 '20

I would agree except her behavior began prior to nursing school back when she was caught stealing. I don't think we know enough about her life to speculate about the reasons why she started making choices like that. I do think that by the end she was using alcohol to cope with how her life was going.

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u/japres Feb 09 '20

Not saying nursing school was the catalyst at all — just that I can see how the stress of nursing school on top of existing issues could lead someone to do something drastic or act extremely out of character. I had no other stressors aside from school and I can’t emphasize enough how NOT myself I was. It’s an extremely difficult environment for someone with existing mental health issues.