Where is MAURA MURRAY

I guess it doesn't make sense to use this matter as a club to beat-up the family now. What's done is done and no amount of shoulda, coulda, wouldas is going to change anything.

Yesterday, I suggested we might want to consider broadening our activities on this forum to produce something of value to others who find themselves in the situation the Murrays encountered right after Maura disappeared.

How about a handbook, or website that lists all of the things a person should do or consider doing when a family member or friend is reported missing?

It also should contain a list of things people should not do.

The whole idea is to take the what-should-I-do-next question out of the picture so that a freaked-out person can just follow a punch-list all of the important things to do and the order in which to do them. Hopefully, nothing is left out during the first few hours and days, which often are the most critical.

Checking the computer hard drive is one of those critically important things, obviously.

My understanding of the computer is this:

IT at UMASS copied Maura's hard drive and the computer was given to Kathleen and Tim.
One copy was given to NHSP.

I don't think Fred at the time thought the computer was being ignored for the sole reason that the geek squad at UMASS had extracted the data from Maura's computer.

I believe Fred's desire to examine the computer at a later date was to determine if he would recognize something that would be inocuous to LE.
In my opinion he wasn't questioning LE initial actions based on computer data.

The question still remains, is there something on Maura's computer that only Fred would recognize?

Another problem people face when someone they love is suddenly missing is the unethical person offering to help for a price. Don't understand how someone could be so lacking in the ability to empathize that they would see a person's anguish as an opportunity to take their money by fraud and run. I know such people exist because I've dealt with them.

I've seen evil defined as a willful inability or lack of capacity to empathize. I believe this the best definition of evil that I've seen and a handbook should include a discussion of the types of scams and how to spot one of these characters.

One lesson I've learned from Maura's case is the importance of remembering to update your automobile registration and operator's license with your current contact information.

Before Maura's case, I never bothered because it didn't seem particularly important.

It certainly was important in this case, however.

There is a troublesome area where the Fourth Amendment right to privacy is impacted by LE's need for personal identifying information such as a DNA profile and fingerprints.

I don't want my DNA profile or my child's, for example, to wind up in the possession of an insurance company that uses it to deny insurance or increase rates because the company claims there is a genetic predisposition to succumb to some disease. If there is a way to get that information, I have no doubt that an insurance company will get it.

This is one of those areas or subjects for which there is no easy answer.

I suppose a parent could go to the ultimate extreme and have a GPS sensing device implanted surgically in their child's body. That way, they could always figure out where their child was located. Some might see this as a practical solution, but the potential for abuse horrifies me.

I don't think there is one answer that everyone would accept to proposals like this. Overemphasis on security can take all of the fun out of life.

Natasha Richardson's death probably could have been prevented if she had been wearing a helmet.

On the other hand, how foreseeable is a blunt-trauma-to-the-head death on a bunny slope?

OH MY wrote:

<quoted text>
At the time Skye weeks was being fucked by Claude,,she was only 13yrs old from Portland Me. ok so he is a child molestor and a murderer ok!
Skye had a baby when she was 16 by claude M and for God Sake I am glad I am not in thier shoes along with mayube as many as 4 others and they run a drug ring and they run a fencing ring ect.
Could even be a Hells Angel involved here.

Skye Weeks is my cousin, and I have known Claude Moulton for years. I know that area and all the people that live there as I grew up right down the road from the accident scene. You need to get your facts straight before you run your mouth. Maura's family doesn't need to hear the ramblings of a simpleton. I don't need to hear some dumbass talk like that about my family either. Do us all a favor, shut the hell up.

Mason wrote:

I guess it doesn't make sense to use this matter as a club to beat-up the family now. What's done is done and no amount of shoulda, coulda, wouldas is going to change anything.
Yesterday, I suggested we might want to consider broadening our activities on this forum to produce something of value to others who find themselves in the situation the Murrays encountered right after Maura disappeared.
How about a handbook, or website that lists all of the things a person should do or consider doing when a family member or friend is reported missing?
It also should contain a list of things people should not do.
The whole idea is to take the what-should-I-do-next question out of the picture so that a freaked-out person can just follow a punch-list all of the important things to do and the order in which to do them. Hopefully, nothing is left out during the first few hours and days, which often are the most critical.
Checking the computer hard drive is one of those critically important things, obviously.

Actually this is a bad idea for a family of a missing person to do…this should be done by a professional to preserve anything that might be evidence. When you go in to files you changes the access dates, etc. and most parents do not know their kids passwords for any site that might be an issue, but a professional might be able to access the information.

OH MY wrote:

<quoted text>
Skye is scared it sems that way anyway..
She is not a shy person when her bf is ripping a person off though,,
Skye is street smart and is from Portland Me. and she tells people that she has been disowned and talks CM up in some ways,, I don't believe anything she says about anything,, I don't believe anything told to me in general.
It is tyme for an arrest of alot of people and watch them squirm and watch them sqeel on each other. Retards!!
I am so sick of people screwing up on the job in the police dept. and murders and goverment conspiracies!
I want the truth sqeezed out of these liers in this cast of fools.. as there is a ring of thieves and they are so small time it is crazy and they think thier untouchable too. Star is who? A cop? a man? a Woman!! Maybe..
Happy Memorial day to all the families who have lost a loved one and to everyone who has lost a loved on in thier life! The G Unit!

Skye was not disowned, she chose Claude over her family. She didn't live in Portland for very long. You have said quite abit about her, well I'm telling you your facts couldn't be any further from the truth. I'm glad I found this web page. The accident happened at a 90 degree turn on rte 112 in swiftwater . Swiftwater is a very small village in Bath NH. People from the area, my friends as I grew up in Swiftwater , searched for miles up and down 112 on foot looking for tracks but found none. I know Trooper Hubbard and sgt Smith and you won't find any better members in law enforcement. They are also my friends and have been there for me when I needed them. Where Maura crashed is a very remote location, and there is nothing for 20 miles but a handful of houses as it is all White mountain national forest. After 5 pm you won't see won't see but maybe 5 cars on 112 to lincoln that time of year. I still go up there and just got back today from visiting friends, and yes I'm currently one of the many looking for answers as to where Maura is and what happened to her. I ask that all future theories be respectful and keep Maura's best interest in mind. We must never stop in searching for the truth, and examine all possibilities without causing more pain or harm to anyone.

Multiple-Part Post

I doubt Sgt Smith turned the wrong way on Rte 112, but if he did, I think he would have immediately realized his mistake and corrected it.
I believe it's more likely that he took Cemetery Road and the extra third of a mile that added to his journey to reach the Goose Lane intersection on the 112 was enough to eliminate his lead over the hospital worker who took the shorter route by staying on Goose Lane. Without knowing where Smith passed the hospital employee on Goose Lane and how fast each of them was driving, I don't have enough information to figure out how Smith's lead shrank to nothing.

I now believe the accident must have happened at 7 pm or a few minutes after, let's say 7:05 pm. I think we've reached a consensus of sorts that the SBD arrived at the scene of the accident at 7:35 pm. I agree with your point that it's difficult to figure out why Maura stayed with the car for 30 minutes, if her reason for abandoning it after her encounter with the SBD was to avoid a DUI arrest. She would have seen the lights on at the Westmans and probably saw them watching her.

Under similar circumstances, I would assume they would call the police. Sitting in the car maintaining a lookout for the police hoping she would see them before they saw her and she could escape into the woods without detection makes no sense because she did not have an unobstructed view down a long stretch of road. The police would be on her too quickly for her to hide and the watching Westmans could and probably would tell them where she went. If she feared arrest, I think she would have fled the scene long before FW called 911 and the SBD arrived.

If she didn't fear arrest, I don't understand why she didn't walk over to the Westmans and ask to use their phone to call a tow truck. I can't imagine that she decided to curl up, cover herself with the deflated airbag, and catch some Zs until morning.

FW told 911 she saw a man smoking a cigarette, but the SBD didn't mention seeing anyone except the female with whom he spoke. Maybe the man was hiding under the passenger side deflated airbag, or maybe he was hiding behind a snowbank or in the woods. He didn't seem to care if the Westmans saw him, so why hide from the SBD? Maybe the answer is FW mistook a female in bulky winter clothing for a man. Then again, maybe a man accompanied her on the drive north and decided to walk back toward the Stage Stop to call for assistance. I can't think of a reason why he wouldn't have stopped at the Westman's house to make that call, however.

The scent trail suggests the female walked up the road toward the Bradley Hill Road intersection and got into a vehicle just before she reached the SBD's driveway. I'm thinking the vehicle was headed E/B on the 112 since the scent trail was along the right side of the road. I can't think of a reason why she would have abandoned the Saturn and walked toward the Bradley Hill Road intersection, if her male companion set off in the opposite direction.

PART 2

The next possibility to consider might be a male who walked up to the Saturn from the direction of the Bradley Hill Road intersection and spent a few minutes talking to her. Maybe he told her that he saw her during his evening walk, that he lived somewhere about a mile away, and that he was going to walk back to his house and return in his vehicle to give her a ride. Maybe she agreed to wait with the car in case the cops showed up.

Maybe the SBD spooked her and she decided to catch-up to the man rather than wait for him to return. Maybe he returned in his vehicle before she reached the SBD's driveway Of course, he would have been headed W/B on the 112 and I'm not sure this scenario works, given the scent trail.

Or, maybe the male approached from the direction of the Weathered Barn and something about his behavior spooked her. So after the SBD left, she decided not to wait for the man to return and started walking in the opposite direction to avoid him. However, he caught up to her where the scent trail ends and either coaxed her to get in or used a weapon, perhaps a gun, and threatened to shoot her if she didn't get in. I think it's more likely that he stopped, got out, and overpowered her, possibly clubbing her with a tire iron, which is a method Ted Bundy frequently used. He also may have had an accomplice who got out on the passenger side and clubbed her. Then he puts her in the car, the driver turns right on Bradley Hill Road, and drives a half mile and parks where a woman walking her dog later noticed his red pickup. Maybe he was disposing of Maura's body in the woods when the woman walking her dog walked by.

This last scenario seems to be more consistent with the few facts we have. If the driver of the red pickup was cruising the Woodsville area with an accomplice looking for a woman to abduct and kill, he or they may have passed on RO due to her age and appearance. He or they would have arrived at the accident scene at the right time and since it would have been visible from the Weathered Barn, maybe he parked in the lot there and approached on foot to scope it out. He smokes a cigarette while they talk and he tells her he's going to get his car and return to give her a lift with her stuff. He walks off in the direction of the Weathered Barn and the SBD suddenly shows up. After he leaves, Maura has second thoughts about waiting around for the other guy to return, so she grabs her backpack, locks the car, and takes off in the opposite direction from the Weathered Barn. She only gets about 100 yards before the guy in the red pickup pulls up possibly with an accomplice, and the rest as they say is history.

PART 3 - FINAL

As you know, I've been rather fond of a scenario involving the hospital employee acting as a Good Samaritan and stopping to give Maura a ride as she was walking away from her car. I think this scenario has to have her arriving before Sgt Smith because I think he would have seen Maura walking away from the Saturn, if he arrived before the hospital employee.

I realized early this morning while dreaming about what happened that I haven't seen any evidence that Maura or anyone else called the cops or Lavoies the next morning to find out about the car. That's an ominous sign and when I consider that along with her cell phone never having been detected pinging and her untouched paychecks with no request to forward them anywhere, I'm discovering that my Good Samaritan theory is based more on wishful thinking than common sense.

I'm not satisfied that the driver of red pickup truck RO saw had anything to do with Maura's disappearance, but I certainly acknowledge that he may have been responsible and I hope the cops and the PIs leave no stone unturned investigating him.

Finally, I believe a thorough search shoulder to shoulder on hands and knees with trowels and sifting screens of the area where the witness saw the truck should be conducted as soon as weather permits.

Fred

mcsmom wrote:

<quoted text>
Actually this is a bad idea for a family of a missing person to do…this should be done by a professional to preserve anything that might be evidence. When you go in to files you changes the access dates, etc. and most parents do not know their kids passwords for any site that might be an issue, but a professional might be able to access the information.

Thanks for pointing that out. I agree.

Bradley hill road is exactley across the road from where the bus driver lives, it's about 100 yards from where Maura crashed. Sgt Smith is a local and wouldn't take a wrong turn. Bradley hill road goes for about 3 miles and stops at 116 in Benton. Sgt Smith lives about 6.5 miles from this point. Trooper Hubbard is from Benton and I used to go to church with his parents. Maura was heading to Lincoln I thought. She would have had to continue for another 20 miles on 112, in winter at dusk. I'm sure she tried to get a ride. The problem now is with who.

Honestly I wish I knew why she was going to Lincoln, was she meeting someone? I think she drank a little too much wine and was driving a little faster than she should have and couldn't make the turn as it is not easily done going any faster than 30 in summer months let alone february with ice and snow. The other piece to the puzzle I can't figure is if she was going to Lincoln she should have stayed on 93 north and taken the Woodstock Lincoln exit #32 instead. To get to Lincoln the way she was going you have to take exit 26 in Plymouth and go 25c to Haverhill. Way out of the way by 30 plus minutes then you have another 30 minutes going rte 10 to woodsville where it becomes 302 and goes north to 112 in Bath. It's about 5 miles from there to where she crashed. I do not know the exact route she traveled but since she isn't from the area she wouldn't know the short cuts so she would have stayed on the main roads. If you are on 25c you can turn onto 118 in Wentworth and that will bring you out onto 112 almost into Woodstock. I myself would have stayed on 93 north and got off 32 in woodstock it's about 5 minutes to Lincoln from there .

Interesting question, Mason, as to why Maura would stay in the car for up to a half-hour if she wanted to avoid police. Maybe she did have a head injury?

I began going through assessor's records and finding people who lived past "the snowbank" from the direction of The Cottage Hospital who had worked at Cottage Hospital. I doubt this is worth pursuing because I'm sure NOT going to start contacting and harassing any of those employees! I don't think there's really any purpose here for "us posters" anymore except keeping Maura's name "out there". The only worthwhile stuff will come from local people who have heard something "through the grapevine".

Has anyone identified the person who reported seeing the red pickup truck parked beside the road on Bradley Hill Road about a half mile from the 112?

Do we have access to that statement? I'd sure like to review it.

Fred

Mason wrote:

PART 2
The next possibility to consider might be a male who walked up to the Saturn from the direction of the Bradley Hill Road intersection and spent a few minutes talking to her. Maybe he told her that he saw her during his evening walk, that he lived somewhere about a mile away, and that he was going to walk back to his house and return in his vehicle to give her a ride. Maybe she agreed to wait with the car in case the cops showed up.
Maybe the SBD spooked her and she decided to catch-up to the man rather than wait for him to return. Maybe he returned in his vehicle before she reached the SBD's driveway Of course, he would have been headed W/B on the 112 and I'm not sure this scenario works, given the scent trail.
Or, maybe the male approached from the direction of the Weathered Barn and something about his behavior spooked her. So after the SBD left, she decided not to wait for the man to return and started walking in the opposite direction to avoid him. However, he caught up to her where the scent trail ends and either coaxed her to get in or used a weapon, perhaps a gun, and threatened to shoot her if she didn't get in. I think it's more likely that he stopped, got out, and overpowered her, possibly clubbing her with a tire iron, which is a method Ted Bundy frequently used. He also may have had an accomplice who got out on the passenger side and clubbed her. Then he puts her in the car, the driver turns right on Bradley Hill Road, and drives a half mile and parks where a woman walking her dog later noticed his red pickup. Maybe he was disposing of Maura's body in the woods when the woman walking her dog walked by.
This last scenario seems to be more consistent with the few facts we have. If the driver of the red pickup was cruising the Woodsville area with an accomplice looking for a woman to abduct and kill, he or they may have passed on RO due to her age and appearance. He or they would have arrived at the accident scene at the right time and since it would have been visible from the Weathered Barn, maybe he parked in the lot there and approached on foot to scope it out. He smokes a cigarette while they talk and he tells her he's going to get his car and return to give her a lift with her stuff. He walks off in the direction of the Weathered Barn and the SBD suddenly shows up. After he leaves, Maura has second thoughts about waiting around for the other guy to return, so she grabs her backpack, locks the car, and takes off in the opposite direction from the Weathered Barn. She only gets about 100 yards before the guy in the red pickup pulls up possibly with an accomplice, and the rest as they say is history.

I believe the woman walking her dog was down on 112 not 1/2 mile up on BHR. There weren't any women living in that area of BHR at the time that would have been walking a dog.

Mason wrote:

Has anyone identified the person who reported seeing the red pickup truck parked beside the road on Bradley Hill Road about a half mile from the 112?
Do we have access to that statement? I'd sure like to review it.
Fred

I think that Columbo said it was told to a PI when they went around asking questions but he didn't give a name(which I totally agree with).