Where is MAURA MURRAY

I have just started reading up on this unsolved mystery after seeing it on CNN recently. So much random information to sift through. One thing that strikes me as very odd is all the car accidents for heavens sake. What is the likely hood that in four days she had a hit and run with the college student Vasi, then wrecked her father's car, and then possibly had one to two more car accidents on her trip to NH? What would this tell us about her state of mind? Did she have a past history of being a really bad driver? I am not proud to admit this, but back when I was in college, my friends and I drank heavily every weekend and got behind the wheel many times while intoxicated. None of us ever had a wreck thank god, we were very lucky. My point is, even if she did drink a lot, what is the possibility of wrecking three times in four days? Something major had to be going on in her life.

BTW, would someone please explain what a frost heave is. Until I started reading this blog, I'd never heard of it.

Mason wrote:

BTW, would someone please explain what a frost heave is. Until I started reading this blog, I'd never heard of it.

Frost Action and Frost Heave

Frost action is a phenomena that occurs in the winter and early springtime in Northern climates. Practically all surface soils undergo some frost action, the magnitude of which is dependent upon the locally prevailing climate and precipitation. Frost action divides into two phases: freezing the soil water, and thawing the soil water. For pavements, frost action becomes critical when either (1) the freezing phase is accompanied by noticeable heaving of the road surface, or (2) the thawing phase is accompanied by a noticeable softening of the roadbed.

Heaving of the road from frost action is termed "frost heave." Frost heave, particularly when in isolated areas, induces uneven support of a pavement. When a heavy load passes over the area of uneven support, a crack may form in the pavement surface layer.
http://www.pavement.com/Concrete_Pavement/Tec...

Mason wrote:

BTW, would someone please explain what a frost heave is. Until I started reading this blog, I'd never heard of it.

Mason,

Being Swedish I believe I have as much practical experience of frost heaves as the good people of in particular the northern parts of New England....

Frost heaves are basically "bumps" in the road surface which can appear more or less at random especially in winter and early spring as a result of repeated thawing and freezing temps and weather conditions, particularly so on those stretches of road where the tarmac is old and "tired".

A very tiresome phenomenon for all drivers, I can assure you....

Hello Sara, Pansie & all other new arrivals here,

I think it´s high time to express a warm welcome here from all of us who have now been here for some time, like myself, and others who have been here for years.

It´s certainly valuable to have your added input to our discussions and I´m sure we all look forward to hearing from you often.

OK---so I didn't take the treck up 93 tonight since there's leaves still in my yard here in RI and we're expecting snow sunday....so...I got to thinking today.....bear with me

In some article or another I read that Maura already had a job planned for the upcoming summer of 2004 at a hospital somewhere near Billy was stationed. What kind of job would hire an unlicensed assistive personnel that far in advance sight unseen? Did she have some type of licensure already as a CNA or a HHA?(I don't see her listed on the Mass DOH website license verification under any category) You can't just go and do that kind of thing without licensure...even as a nursing student. Being a nursing student makes it easier to get the licensure and then apply for reciprocity from the other state, but you'd already have to have it to land a job. What's up with that?

This is a copy of Lady Gray's message #8157 at page 405, referencing the two broken guardrails on the 112. Click on the link to see 3 Google Earth images and a chart showing the locations of the 2 guardrails photographed by Beth. The guardrail to the west of the convenience store (i.e., between the 302 and the store) may be the scene of the now mythical and still hotly disputed "first" accident.

Anne wrote:
At the 2006 search, I had a conversation with Beth concerning that she had heard of an accident 'nearby'(not at weathered barn) and had immediately gone to check it out. She never stated where exactly just said a couple guard rails were knocked over and she checked around for glass etc.. It seems to me she posted this with a picture of the spot where that was.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/555425874UiM ...

peripeteia Nova Scotia wrote:

<quoted text>
LE would be able to obtain that information through either the boarder patrol or the RCMP,
as the matter of Maura's disappearance is a criminal investigation

Thank you - another INDEPENDENT thing to check.

It's great to see so many new posters. Welcome!

Reading the last (30) pages was a pleasant suprise, lots of great thoughts.

It is also great to hear from Sooz, Det. Columbo, Saturnus, and Euro whom haven't posted as much in the late.

Mscmom,

I have always had a high regard for HP Albarelli. Very impressive resume IMHO. I especially like/respect how he maintains communications with his sources, periodically updates his articles, and quotes from his conversations e.g. Dr. Godwin, a retired FBI profiler, etc.

Detective Columbo,

Thanks for the iput regarding the damage to the exterior of Maura's Saturn. I read the damage was caused by something metal from above. A trailer hitch/ball or a plow makes a lot of sense.

I also respect your opinion, as well as the team of volunteer private investigator's collective opinion, that Maura's vehicle was staged.

White Wash,

Isn't Route 302 also considered Route 10?

Quija,

Re: interior crack on the windshield. Someone posted on this forum that the deployed airbag itself can also cause this type of damage to the windshield.

I wore a cumbersome men's diving watch for years and rarely ever took the thing off. The Gucci watch Maura wore was originally her dad's. Often wondered if it could have been the watch/something metal from above that may have caused the spider crack on the interior of the windshield.

Or some type of a struggle....with a metal object...

Detective Columbo wrote:

SHE DID NOT HIT THE TREES....The damage to the car was not consistent with a vehicle hitting a tree. I have seen Mauras Saturn close up and I know what I saw when I investigated the acc. scene. The car was struck or struck another object, this is for certain. The damage is more consistent with a tow hitch or ball or possibly a plow or plow frame. The pix of the car prove this also.

Hi there Columbo.

I'm not asking you to answer this (i.e. my purpose is not to put you on the spot) I think however - if a group of engineers has not looked at the car - there is a danger in misidentifying what caused the damage - and could misdirect the investigation anywhere from harmless to material.

I'll just say if that has not been done - perhaps this is something to consider doing as an INDEPENDENT action - along with getting police dispatch logs further West.

Elsewherebriefly wrote: "It's great to see so many new posters. Welcome!
Reading the last (30) pages was a pleasant suprise, lots of great thoughts."

Ditto

I'm also wondering if there was recently a show on TV about the case? New folks, if so - could someone let us know. Thank You!

ITA with the possibility of her having a psychotic break/mental illness. I suggested this to a lesser degree (alcoholism) and was thoroughly bashed for that comment. Although it may have been the manner in which I suggested it, you may want to watch out for the warhawks, who apparently like to reach down and thrash new posters now and again.

The damage to the front end of her car, as it is shown on the photos I've seen from the mm site, are consistent with a trailer hitch, a guardrail, or a tree (if the back end of the car was airborne and the car was moving clockwise, which seems unlikely). My guess, the guardrail. If she's been drinking, then it's possible she dozed off at the wheel, went into the oncoming lane and hit the guardrail off the left side of the road, causing her airbags to deploy (which is very easy to do in this type of Saturn), continue going until the car gave out. About the car "giving out", I wonder if it was losing fluids after the first accident.

I drove a 95 Saturn SC2 for four years, which is mechanically similar to Maura's 96 Saturn, and let me tell you, I never drove a worse piece of crap in my life. I had tons of mechanical problems. For one, the car would stall once I started accelerating after a full stop. Sometimes it would just stall while driving down the road and I would have to floor it to keep it going (and even then sometimes it would die). Faulty wires ended up being the cause. Now, if Maura had similar wiring problems in her car, and had to accelerate drastically to keep it running, this may explain two things. 1.) Her accident with Vasi - it could have been that she accidently hit him while trying to keep the car running - i.e. accelerating and unexpectedly hit a pedestrian. I know that in my Saturn, I had a number of times where I almost hit people, cars, ran off the road, just to keep the thing going. Eventually, I wrecked it and got rid of it. 2.) Witnesses said the car was accelerating before it wrecked at the weathered barn. Sometimes when I would start to break for a curve my Saturn would die. If she had faulty wiring problems like I did, then perhaps she "gunned it" quickly to try to keep it running. I know this sounds strange, because it sounds like driving such a car would be suicide in itself, and believe me, I thought everyday that I may die in the thing if I wasn't really, really careful, but I didn't have the funds to just go buy another car, and I honestly thought that as long as I paid real close attention I could avoid having an accident in it (I was wrong).

I also may want to mention that my version of the car had some type of design flaw (according to a mechanic I took the thing to) that caused the cylinders to crack and burn tons of oil. I'ts been speculated that Maura's car dropped a cylinder. I don't doubt it one bit.

Shack wrote:

One other thought, among many, when Fred arrived "before dawn" 2/11 ?
...went to Lavoie's during the first day(s) with Billy...he started the Saturn...then
"gave..turned over" the ownership of car, to Lavoies, in "lieu of payment for storage fee"...why would there be a storage fee...? The car was "evidence"....for LE, wasn't it...??
Don't need an answer...again, just wondering out loud. Now, I will go back to read and try to catch up.
Hi Sooz.

I still don't know if the Saturn was driveable after the accident, which would be nice to know. Apparently, the engine started up just fine. It's frustrating not to be able to read a report assessing the damage. All we have are photographs of the body and the car definitely doesn't look like Maura drove it to victory in a demolition derby. Of course we can't see under the hood or check the axles and undercarriage, but all in all it seems to survived rather well.

BTW, I'd like to know for sure if the third cylinder was blown, or is that just a rumor?

As to your question about impound fees, the cops pat the tow and impound fees when the vehicle is in their custody as it was in this case from the time they seized it at the roadside until they released it to Fred Murray. From that point forward he would have been responsible to pay the fees. I doubt that he wanted to drive it back home and keep it so he just turned it over to the tow yard in lieu of paying any fees, which is a common way to get rid of totalled cars.

Shack wrote:

One other thought, among many, when Fred arrived "before dawn" 2/11 ?
...went to Lavoie's during the first day(s) with Billy...he started the Saturn...then
"gave..turned over" the ownership of car, to Lavoies, in "lieu of payment for storage fee"...why would there be a storage fee...? The car was "evidence"....for LE, wasn't it...??
Don't need an answer...again, just wondering out loud. Now, I will go back to read and try to catch up.
Hi Sooz.

wasn't considered crime scene a time by pd

I don't know what "pat" the tow and impound
fee means....

Anyway, just think it kinda sad...that Fred's
daughter just disappeared and they wanted money
for storage..towing..whatever..bus iness as usual,
I guess.....

If the car's Title wasn't tranfered to Lavoies, then legally the car was "taken" from Fred by SP.
AFTER they decided that was a crime scene.
In the end...and there will be eventually...all
writings should be scrutinized, as all the forensics noted. I am sure that Fred's Lawyers are on top of every word and action.

Hi all -- new poster. Learned about the case from the CNN.com feature last week, and have not been able to stop thinking about it since then. I've been reading a number of posts on this forum, but felt the need to reply when I saw the recent post regarding the possibility of mental illness. As a caretaker/family member of a shizophrenic, I have to say, it could explain a lot in this case. Many people having a paranoid episode have delusions regarding invisible deadly gases being pumped into buildings, coming of vents to get them ( I simply say this from experience as a caretaker, and info I have learned from others in support groups in similar situations). Maybe that would explain the rag in the tailpipe? Trying to stop a "deadly gas" from escaping, which seemed so real to her.

Also, people may not have a full-blown disease to have a "paranoid episode." Medication problems, head injuries, undiagnosed brain tumors, etc. can play a MAJOR role in behavior, and mimic mental illness.

Just something to think about. I could be wayyyy off base here, but just thought I would put my experiences out there.

I'm not sure what happened, but I just posted and it hasn't shown up...anyway, you can read up on schizophrenia on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia

I read somewhere online that 20% of people who go missing are mentally ill.

I would be really surprised, however, if this possibility hasn't been looked at yet.

Maybe as a group we can actively try to get her photo out, in case she is alive. With the internet it should be easy.

Mason- I tried replying to your previous post with questions for me, but that was the one that, for some reason, didn't go through :/

I am not a mental health professional, I only know a little bit about schizophrenia.

I think that if Maura was/is mentally ill, with an inclination to flee (which I think she may have demonstrated many times on the 9th), that she would make it to wherever she was going, given her intelligent, athleticism, and military training.

I think of her father, out there every weekend searching for her. If Maura really was mentally ill, then she may have made it quite far from the original crash site. She may even be in another country. So if there were some way to prove that she was/is mentally ill, then maybe the family's time could be better spent searching for her elsewhere, or getting her photo out to the public.

If Maura was alive, what would she be doing? One option might be caring for the elderly, either for an individual in their home or in a small group home. Less likely to be connected to the internet. If I was looking for her, the first place I'd go is to churches and other places of worship where older people might go on a regular basis. I'd leave a copy of her photo with church leaders and ask them to circulate it amongst themselves but not post it, as that might just make her move on were she to see it.