Over the years, as the disappearance of Maura Murray became one of the most talked-about mysteries of our time, many of the small details were overshadowed by the hunt for the Boogeyman who people think abducted her or the semantic discussions related to how much liquor was or was not in the car. Meanwhile, details such as the fact Maura was calling about renting a condo with more than one bedroom fall by the wayside.
I had forgotten one very important bit of information I received from a man named Rick Graves. This guy was from Maine and donated his time and money early on, essentially becoming Fred Murray’s right-hand-man for a time. He was skilled at searching the rugged mountains for downed airplanes and cadavers. Eventually he and Fred had a falling out after he questioned why Fred lied to the media about certain things, mostly the chain of events after Maura wrecked her father’s car in Hadley – the story he told Rick was very different than the one he told in public.
Here’s the detail we’ve forgotten – when Rick and Fred searched the boxes taken from Maura’s dormroom, they discovered documents that showed Maura had been applying for server/bartender positions at brewpubs near Hanson, two hours from UMass.
Now, consider that detail in light of the fact that Maura had started to pack up her stuff in the dormroom, and it strengthens the theory that she was planning to leave UMass for good.
One more thing I’d like to address is this idea that Maura turned in homework for nursing classes the night before she vanished. This is often used to bolster the idea that she was planning to return to school after her trip to the White Mountains. After all, why turn in your homework if you’re quitting school?
However, the only real evidence I’ve seen of this is an email to another nursing student (sent at 3:32 a.m.) that was a list of maternity clinic definitions, which suggests to me the possibility that she was working on a group assignment and simply didn’t want to screw over her classmates. She also left clothes she’d borrowed for the classmate on her way out of town, further showing she’s tying up loose ends.
One more note on that early morning email. The detective in charge of Maura Murray’s case for many years was a man named John Scarinza, a seasoned pro and intelligent investigator. He told me that searches found on Maura’s computer suggested Maura was pregnant. Critics of the police look at that 3:32 email, which lists terms like “braxton-hicks” and assume that’s what Scarinza saw and this explains the search terms, and that Maura could not have been pregnant. But they forget that Scarinza was very specific in what he said he saw in her searches – that Maura was looking for information about the effects of drinking alcohol while pregnant. The first thing Maura did the next day was buy alcohol.
Sorry about the long reply. If you want to use it, feel free to edit it down.
I wish it was so, but I put a lot more faith in what John Scarinza and Rick Graves say then what the family does. I think that is it a very important piece of information why Maura left school. I don’t get the sense that the family wants people to know why. Saying that it has nothing to do with her disappearance, doesn’t make it so. It has everything to do with it. Had she not left school, we probably wouldn’t be taking about this case or trying to find out what happened to Maura.
I keep going back to when Maura decided to leave Umass. As I understand it, the first sign that she wanted to get away was after the phone call with Fred on Sunday around midnight. She searches for places to go after that call. I never bought that Fred wasn’t angry after Maura wrecked his new car. The way he tells it, he didn’t yell at her and it wasn’t a big deal. But I just don’t think that was the case. I think he let her have it again on that phone call Sunday night. Make of that what you will. But to me it says that she wanted to get away from Fred. There was something else going on with that call between them that night. And we can only hear Fred’s side of the story. The computer searches tell some of Maura’s thought processes at the time.
I also think that Maura was pregnant. I don’t take Scrinza for an idiot. So if he looked at her computer and coupled with other things he knew, then came to the conclusion that Maura was pregnant. I believe him. It makes some sense of Maura’s actions around that time. If it wasn’t Billy’s, then it complicates things for her. It might make sense that Maura would want to keep that information close to the vest at the time. If she had plans to go back and live at home, then it makes sense that she would look for jobs close by. I just don’t think she would have thrown the nursing career away for a bartender job unless there was a good reason for it. The pregnancy would be a logical reason if she planned to keep it.
I also have faith that Rick Graves did all he could do to help find Maura. I am tired of hearing that Maura walked into the woods a short distance from the car accident and died. As Rick says, they followed every foot print that they found and searched along way away from the car accident scene. They where more motived then the police and had the time to spend looking at every thing that could think of. She simply wasn’t there to begin with. It is quite possible that Maura didn’t want to be found in the first place. I would love to hear what the story Fred told Rick about the car accident in Hadley.
I’ve been fascinated with this case for years, like many. Never did I think she was kidnapped or murdered nor have I thought suicide. My belief of what happened to Maura is very similar to yours. I think she’s in Canada, or somewhere else kind of hidden, and living her life. There’s something about her Dad but I just can’t put my finger on it. I’d bet money she’s safe somewhere living. The only thing I’m unsure of is the pregnancy. But it would give a great reason to run, especially if the father of the child was abusive. If I could have figured out how to do this when I got pregnant with my youngest, I would have ran too. It makes sense.
James, I am wondering about the theory that MM went to Canada…I recall that somewhere in your blog, a few years ago, a woman reported seeing someone who looked like MM in Canada but I cannot recall more information about her possibly going to Canada than that…..please refresh my old memory 🙂 and tell me all the evidence you had that convinced you she had possibly gone there…thanks, Lynn
Maybe the world will never know