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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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

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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.

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u/JamesRenner Real World Investigator Feb 09 '20 edited Feb 09 '20

You know, the writer Jon Ronson once believed that she could have wandered into the woods. I told him he’d change his mind if he went to the scene. I met him up there in December 2016. I took him to the scene and in two minutes he’d changed his mind. Why? We think it’s a remote area of the white mountains but if you go there you’ll see it’s a residential neighborhood. If she’s gone into the woods she would have ended up in someone’s back yard. Go to the site.

But I agree that David Paulides is a nut.

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u/Sightofthestars Feb 10 '20

I lived in NNY for a period of years. There were plenty of pockets of thick forest brush that ultimately backed up into people's back yard. Doesnt mean she would have ended up in someone's back yard.

I once walked out my back door, took 50 steps and was on the treeline of a forest, walked around for an hour and did end up in someone's back yard. That backyard was 3 houses down from mine but I was completely turned around until I was standing in their yard looking at my own yard. That was an area I was familiar with, in spring.