Where is MAURA MURRAY

Sooz wrote:

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Thanks, Mcsmom! Was up north for a spell. Good to be back!
Response to posted who asked about Maura crossing over into Canada and if it could be checked out...the answer is "no." At the time of her disappearance no documentation (passport/birth certificate)was required to cross the Canadian border. One might be stopped by Customs going into Canada (or returning), but no documentation would be recorded unless there was something to declare or one was stopped for illegal activity.

Vehicles that crossed over were video recorded but not the occupants in the vehicle, unless the vehicle was stopped for interview. The camera though does a pretty good job of getting at least the front seat drivers on tape.

Part 1
I keep thinking about the telephone call at work that freaked out Maura. I think the sister with whom she spoke earlier and some folks who have posted comments on this site have too casually brushed the call aside. Maura doesn’t seem to me to be the sort of woman to feign hysteria and tears to get off work an hour early, even if she’s tired and wants to get some sleep. Besides, the call precipitated panicked and desperate behavior that was uncharacteristic. No, that call frightened her out of her wits. I think her pretty successful effort to hide her terror from others, including her family demonstrates her inner strength and resolve not involve them in her predicament. She decided to bear that burden alone.
The person who called her around 1 am not only knew she was working, s/he knew where she was working, and what number to dial to contact her. This person must have known her schedule very well, probably as well as her family and probably better than some of her friends. The caller also used a campus phone that university police haven’t been able to trace back to a specific caller, which I find ominous and disturbing.

Part 2

Whatever the subject matter of the call, we can see its effect on her and we are left to assemble a list of horribles that might explain her reaction. Was it a stalker, perhaps someone whose affections she had rejected? Not likely because she could have dealt with that situation by calling 911.
Perhaps someone was attempting to blackmail her. That seems unlikely because she was not rich and she likely would have won any swearing contest.
Could it have been her fiancée calling to tell her that he’d met someone else and he wanted to break the engagement? Perhaps, but we have no evidence to support that hypothesis and I doubt she would have been afraid to share that information with her family.
Could she have been pregnant? Maybe, but many young women have been in that situation and navigated their way out of it without engaging in extremely reckless behavior by setting out on a long and dangerous drive north in the dead of winter without a prearranged destination into mountainous terrain with an unreliable vehicle that she seemed to be afraid to drive.
Was she overwhelmed by school? I doubt it. Maura started out in Chemical Engineering at West Point and was on the Dean’s List. When she transferred to U. Mass, she continued in Chemical Engineering and again made the Dean’s List. After she switched to Nursing, she continued to excel academically. She was brilliant, so I don’t believe academics were a problem.
No, I think she was deeply ashamed of something she had done and could not share whatever it was with anyone. Apparently, she didn’t even seek counseling for whatever it was. I am not saying that others would have judged her harshly, if they knew her secret. I think she was her harshest critic. Whatever it was, I believe she believed she was doomed and there wasn’t anything she could do to avoid the freight train bearing down on her.

Part 3

There were warning signs aplenty. Crashing her dad’s new Toyota into a guardrail. Late hours. Packing up her room as if she intended to move out, or living in it for two weeks without bothering to unpack. The quantity of booze she bought to take on a 4 to 5 hour trip. Presumably, she could have purchased booze at her destination. Her erratic driving that ended with her car in a snow bank facing in the wrong direction.
Was she planning to meet someone? I don’t believe we have any evidence that she was. Seems more likely she was running away.
What did she fear? It must have been something for which she felt responsible and whatever it was, she believed it could not be fixed or ever forgiven. The only thing I can think of that might explain her behavior in Amherst and her decision to embark on that dangerous drive without waiting a few extra days to pick-up her paychecks, is that she may have run into Mr. Vasi and fled the scene.
Is she alive and settled into a new life somewhere? I hope so, but it seems like someone would have recognized her and contacted her family. I also believe that she would have contacted them by now. One slim reason to hope she may still be alive is the telephone call her fiancée retrieved on his cell phone on Wednesday, February 11th, but wordless sobbing is not encouraging, particularly if she was a kidnap victim when she made the call.
I’m not sure how to do this, but if she has started a new life somewhere, she may be using her social security number because it’s difficult in this post-911 world to establish a new identity with a new SSN. We should see if she has filed any federal income tax returns and check with the Social Security Administration to see if it has any record of an employer withholding part of her wages for work performed after February 9, 2004.
I can think of another long-shot possibility made possible by the NSA super top secret domestic wiretapping program. Perhaps there is a way for them to find two needles in a vast haystack and identify who called Maura at work and who called her fiancée. The first call would help us understand why she was terrified and the second call might help us to solve the critical question. Where is Maura Murray?
Finally, do we know for certain that she left Amherst? No, because the only witness we know of who saw the woman who drove the Saturn is the SBD and his identification was not absolutely certain, although he apparently is certain now. Her father, who probably is less willing than anyone to admit that she was behind the wheel, appears to have long conceded that point and we should keep in mind that he has more information than we do because the investigators have briefed him on all of the information they gathered.&#8195;

Dude you've seen me trying to get cell service for sure out there!

Thanks for the information!

looking4amoose wrote:

<quoted text> Well, let's see...if you're in or around Mt. Lakes you have to go into a house to call because I have yet to find a cell signal except for that one little spot on the dock of the lake on the side of the offices....LOL and only if you stand with your right foot up in the air and you're left arm at a 45 degree angle to your hips.....but anyway. Yes, you call the 800 #, give your location and they send the next company that is on the list that is in the area.

Part 4

Did she wander off into the woods and die of hypothermia?

I doubt it. She's a strong woman and a survivor. That's her nature and the book she took with her eloquently delivers that message. I think she wanted to avoid the cops so she wouldn't get busted for DUI.

When you think of it, and that's all I've been doing since I first read about her case a week ago, she's a remarkably courageous woman and no matter how this turns out she will always have a special place in my heart.

Agreed!

Mason wrote:

Part 2
It's only 3.6 miles from the intersection of the 302 and the 112 to the scene of the accident. I don't know what time he was dispatched to the scene, but assuming it wasn't any later than 7:30 pm, where was he when he received the call? Even if he drove all the way to the 302, he should have been able to drive the 3.6 miles to the accident in a lot less than 16 minutes. Witness RO saw him drive by the convenience store heading E/B on the 112. That’s approximately half way between the 302/112 intersection and the scene of the accident.
Mr. or Ms. Slow-Boat-To-China (AKA the hospital employee) was almost directly across the street from the convenience store on Goose Lane approaching the 112 and also saw Sgt Smith heading E/B on the 112. S/he turned right on the 112 and headed in the same direction as Sgt Smith. When he gets to the scene of the accident, he sees Sgt Smith's Bronco nose to nose with the Saturn and start's singing Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens, Ain't Nobody Here At All. And s/he drives on down the 112 past the Bradley Hill Road intersection on his or her way home. At least that's the story s/he told the cops.
S/he must have been driving a Model T Ford to drive that slow.
Okay. Do we have a viable suspect, Ladies and Gentlemen? Going once, going twice, Sold!
I don't want to hear it, if this person is a 17-year-old female nurse's aide.
Sheeesh!&#8195;

Sooz wrote:

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The report is correct. Maura was traveling w/b on N. Hadley Road into the "T" intersection of N. Maple. It's approximately 4 mi from her dorm.

Thanks. Google Maps is wrong. I just checked with Yahoo maps and it depicts the roads more accurately.

Often the best advise given should be taken!

FireCat wrote:

The only people who are part of the problem are those who may have done something to Maura. Give up the vendetta. It's not becoming.

I apologize to anyone who has been offended by my dark humor. It's one of the ways I managed to retain some semblance of sanity as I struggled to save my client's lives in so many death penalty cases.

Maura's case means many things to me and one of them is penance.

And we're not done. In many ways we have not ventured far from the starting line. You all are just going to have to learn to put up with me.

Peace.

It's called Life Mason!
Sadly people here like to act like our Mother's Boss or preach when it is they who really need
to take their own advise!
I am willing to treat all and any just the same
as they treat me.
Sadly in Life VERY BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO VERY GOOD PEOPLE.
Live Love Laugh
Pretty simple rule take what works leave what doesn't!

Mason wrote:

I apologize to anyone who has been offended by my dark humor. It's one of the ways I managed to retain some semblance of sanity as I struggled to save my client's lives in so many death penalty cases.
Maura's case means many things to me and one of them is penance.
And we're not done. In many ways we have not ventured far from the starting line. You all are just going to have to learn to put up with me.
Peace.

Mason wrote:

Part 1
I keep thinking about the telephone call at work that freaked out Maura.......... The caller also used a campus phone that university police haven’t been able to trace back to a specific caller, which I find ominous and disturbing.

Mason, great posts. IIRC a statement was issued saying (re: this phone call) that "that person had moved on". Now THAT was weird too. I thought, "Yeah, that poor person has moved on into intensive care with a head injury. That's where he moved on to." I wondered if it was a roommate or floormate of Vasi's? Probably not, but you're right that not disclosing where the call originated is disturbing.

Mason wrote:

Part 4
Did she wander off into the woods and die of hypothermia?
I doubt it. She's a strong woman and a survivor. That's her nature and the book she took with her eloquently delivers that message. I think she wanted to avoid the cops so she wouldn't get busted for DUI..

Mason, I agree. I cannot imagine Maura "wandering out into the woods." As I've posted, though, I CAN imagine her walking up a driveway (plowed, or melted/refrozen where footprints are not obvious) and leaning against a heated house or trailer until things quieted down to avoid a DUI.

I've tried to find out what was in the auto emergency kit she was given as a Christmas gift and which was in the trunk. Some have compact but supposedly warm fleece jackets/scarves/gloves. Some have those mylar self-heating blankets....

Does anyone have a photo of the CW?
Please send it to Angel.Mike0@gmail.com .
That's all the evidence I need to dimiss my suspicion.

There are some interesting points in this link about how to disappear.

http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/vanish.htm

I'll see if I can find the section on getting a new Social Security Number.

I have no idea how accurate this is, but if Maura needed to disappear for some reason, she has the grit, brains and charm to pull this off. This link was given to me by another MMM poster.

From Skeptic.tank.org ...
"Most cities will have job placement services run by governmental workers. They'll want a home address and identification so be ready with a real residential address even though it may not be your real one (because you may not have one.) When asked for identification, state that you've been on the street "for a long, long time" and, if they would help, you would like to get a State identification card and a Social Security number and "start living like a normal human being." Since you might want to be difficult to contact, you should be the one to check with governmental job placement services every day to see if they have something for you. The address of local shelters will often work for contact addresses for you.

It is a crime to defraud your State or Federal government so you must be clear on this: Your intention is to build yourself a better life. A Social Security card issued to you under a false identity MUST be considered by you to be absolutely honest and real. That Social Security number is issued to someone you have wholly become. You will pay taxes to that account and you will file income reports with that account number. That's you now, not a fake. Because you're paying your taxes and working at an honest living, if your real identity is found out, people will maybe be reasonable about the fact that you've been working hard to be a productive, tax-paying member of society.(Of course if you're a wanted criminal, trying to "fly right" by paying your fair share of the tax burden won't cut you much slack in front of a judge.)"

Some have those mylar self-heating blankets!

Both TM and FW saw activity around the truck!
Interesting thought!
Thanks!

Quija wrote:

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Mason, I agree. I cannot imagine Maura "wandering out into the woods." As I've posted, though, I CAN imagine her walking up a driveway (plowed, or melted/refrozen where footprints are not obvious) and leaning against a heated house or trailer until things quieted down to avoid a DUI.
I've tried to find out what was in the auto emergency kit she was given as a Christmas gift and which was in the trunk. Some have compact but supposedly warm fleece jackets/scarves/gloves. Some have those mylar self-heating blankets....

Sorry trunk!

Saturnus wrote:

Does anyone have a photo of the CW?
Please send it to Angel.Mike0@gmail.com .
That's all the evidence I need to dimiss my suspicion.

I have also asked for a description from the locals. Never answered.

gvmeabrk wrote:

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I have also asked for a description from the locals. Never answered.

That's too bad, because something as small as that is all it could really take to find the person responsible for the crime.