just an opinion

sleuthlover · Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 1

i was wondering about the first accident she had it sounds like she been distraught after that did she hit someone with a car and injured and was afraid to tell the police hit and run perhaps? maybe she felt she needed to get away to avoid getting in trouble was it a fatal accident?she could have been crying while driving in that second accident also she had papers to file about the first accident i was thinking she was going to tell her dad some thing about it Sad

she took them with her and about the phone call where she was crying she may have been in some trouble and scared to say anything on the phone the red cross? was she at that red cross or some thing cuz it sounded like it was very cold out there if she running it could be from what happen in the first accident she had i thought about the scenario where she may have confided i for got who it was but they wont talk n tell anything

Mod1 · Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Posts: 58

Thank you for posting. Maura had had an accident the Saturday/early Sunday prior to her disappearance, however I have been informed that she was not cited at that accident. The police were at the accident scene, so that it would certainly seem that if someone had been hit she would have been cited by the police.

Jane · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 49 Location: NH

Hello sleuthlover ...

It's my understanding that Maura had her first accident very early sunday morning while on her way to see her father at his motel, but I'm not positive if I read that in the paper or on the boards, so I can't be sure. Since she was not cited for anything in the accident, I have to assume she did nothing wrong. The car sustained quite a bit of costly damamge so that could explain her being so distraught.

I'm confused about why she was headed over to see her Dad at 3 am in the morning ... it must have been something pretty important to plan on disturbing him in the middle of the night.

It seems the more I learn about this case, the more questions I have. Nothing seems to add up.

tammy · Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 66 Location: weymouth, ma

It is my understanding that her Dad was there to visit her for the weekend, as he did many times. He took Maura and some friends out to dinner. Maura than dropped her Dad off at the hotel and took his car back to a friends house. I do not think she was going there to "tell him something" important, She was probably staying with him for the night . He was there to visit. He probably needed his car in the a.m. to go back home. I do not see anything to be confused as to why she was going there, if my Dad wad visiting me at college I would go there to.
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Miss you Maura.

Sharon · Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 230 Location: Ohio

tammy · Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 66 Location: weymouth, ma

thanks Sharon you are absolutley right I forgot that that her Dads purpose of going there that weekend was to buy a new car for Maura, A Corolla I believe, she mentioned that when I saw her over Christmas (I think that is when it was) She was so happy the last time I saw her (and Bill)
I know what you mean her Dad has never been the type to get angry over material things I do not think I have ever even heard him mad. He is a real good guy.
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Miss you Maura.

Jane · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 49 Location: NH

I'm sorry ladies ...
I was not aware that Maura was also a guest at the hotel with her father ... I guess that clears up my confusion.

Did Maura and her Dad actually go car shopping on Sunday? Because I'm wondering why she would have chosen to drive an undependable vehicle (she had towed) on a long journey in winter, if she had a new car at the ready. I'm guessing she had her reasons ... I'm concerned it's possible that trouble might have followed her from school and played a part in her disappearance.

It's one of the many troubling points I see about what happened to Maura and believe me, I would love nothing better than to ask her for myself and I continue to hope that one day I will get the chance.

hydemi · Joined: 18 Jan 2005 Posts: 114 Location: winchester, mass.

Does anyone know if Maura and her Dad checked on the old Saturn to see if it would start, how it was running etc., in preparation for seeking a trade-in with a used car dealer?

She must have checked on the car sometime before the Sunday night she was on her computer checking out resorts, otherwise how would she know she could even get going in it the next day, Feb 9th?

The question in my mind is when she started planning her departure from the UMass campus--only after the accident around 3am Sunday morning?

If sooner, that casts a different light on her leaving UMass.

All the details of her departure suggest planning, whether or not she planned to return to her nursing program or to leave school is unclear.

And evidently she had not shared these plans with anyone as of 2/9/04.
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alsoaparent

hydemi · Joined: 18 Jan 2005 Posts: 114 Location: winchester, mass.

I am referring to the thread which ended back in June, but as I look back there are some details which stand out.

Can anyone improve upon or correct or add to this attempt at a timeline of Maura and what she was doing from after midnight in the wee am hours of Sunday Feb 8th to the time of her disappearance on Monday evening Feb 9th?

) 12 pm 2-8-04 drinking with friends in their dorm room who urge her to
go back to her room, but she heads for Dad's motel

3am runs off road on Rte 9, S Hadley, not cited, on the way

early Sun am awakens and shows/tells Dad of her car accident with
his 2004 Corolla

sometime Sun talks by cell with her boyfriend Lt Rausch, extemely upset
so much so he thinks more is wrong than just the car

also Sunday sees friends on campus does not tell anyone anything

Sunday evening uses Mapquest on her pc to check out Stowe, Burlington
and N Country getaway spots

sometime later has packed up her room--neatly, in boxes

sometime Monday has gone to Amherst police station to get form for filing
report and claim on her Dad's car, promised to call him
that evening

during Monday sends emails to Lt Rausch, profs, et al telling the latter
that she will be away a few days due to death in family

during Monday makes cell calls to Lt Rausch, to student driving her to
clinicals that she will be gone a while, and to Salamones
in Bartlett NH about condo in Attitash

2-3pm Mon seen on video at ATM withdrawing $280, most of the
money in her account--but not all of it!

2-3 pm Mon seen on video at Amherst liquor store buying Kahlua,
Bailey's, vodka, red wine

4-4.30 pm leaves Amherst driving old Saturn with its problems

7pm later runs off road on NH 112 near Swiftwater, at curve by
the Weathered Barn gift shop, evidently heading to
Bartlett NH knowing she could still get a rental

seen in her car by Butch Atwood the busdriver who
calls local police

seen outside car (?) by neighbor who calls 911

inside ten minutes officer Cecil Smith arrives but
she is gone with her car locked, having only taken
a small black backpack, her phone, wallet, possibly
a bottle of alcohol leaving everything else in car
including schoolbooks and jewelry from Lt Rausch

an hour later after 8pm is seen, at least fits the
description (blue jeans, dark coat), about 4-5 miles
east on NH 112, by local contractor who is Atwood's
nearby neighbor

The standout details to me are: alcohol consumption & purchase, driving afterwards, thwarted attempts to contact & communicate with Lt Rausch,
a sudden urge to leave & get away as of Sunday evening, concealing even lying to people at UMass about her situation and intentions, not wanting to risk a second or third encounter with police in NH having not been cited the previous day in Mass., knowing even on Sunday night that she could in fact start and drive the old Saturn which she used during the day on Monday, leaving the door open for return to classes and campus as she was only supposed to be gone a few days, and having only enough money to rent & get meals etc for a few days. Each action in the sequence appears to be a bit more desperate and reckless, suggesting extreme fear as well as determination to keep fleeing. She had to have hurried very quickly indeed to have moved four to five miles from the second accident site in only an hour or less--not wearing track shoes or clothes, but jeans & coat in 12 degree weather.
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alsoaparent

snowbird · Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Posts: 51 Location: New Hampshire

hydemi · Joined: 18 Jan 2005 Posts: 114 Location: winchester, mass.

Dear Snowbird,

again I do not know, just trying to re-construct.

The contractor/builder neighbor returning from Franconia who did not come forward until later contacted by police who heard about his have seen a girl fitting Maura's description has always seemed suspect.

And he had been interviewed both by the private investigator and police during the week after 2/9 without remembering or mixing up the date.

Yet both Fred Murray in his first letter to NH Gov. Benson and Lt Scarinza in his June 04 summary seem to accept the guy's story--and others on this board have in the past said they too believe his story.

Go figure.

The locale of his alleged sighting four to five miles east is near the split between NH 112 east and NH 116 north and I have wondered assuming it was Maura if the girl seen "hurrying" could have gone north on 116.
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alsoaparent

snowbird · Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Posts: 51 Location: New Hampshire