The Maura Murray case is not a typical disappearance. In fact, there’s no evidence a crime took place the night of her accident in Haverhill, NH. What we know is that Maura lied to professors that day, saying there was a death in the family, as an excuse to get out of classes. She emptied her ATM, bought a bunch of liquor, and drove her Saturn into the White Mountains.
According to a cashier in Woodsville, Maura was seen in the grocery store in the company of two other women about a half hour before her disappearance.
After years spent researching this case, I came to believe Maura was traveling with a tandem driver and it was that driver who picked her up after the crash. If that is the case it is entirely possible that Maura made it to her destination that night – a condo or cabin. For that reason I’ve always been very interested in the movements of those who came to search for her in New Hampshire that first week. Is it possible that whatever happened to Maura happened later in the week? Have we been looking in the wrong spot at the wrong time from the beginning?
A few years ago, the cell phone records of Bill Rausch, Maura’s boyfriend at the time, were made public. And there are some strange things on his bill – calls to lodging in Fort Sill, calls to his West Point friend immediately after learning about Maura’s first accident at UMass (this friend was later implicated in an assault by Rausch’s girlfriend), and roaming pings that place Rausch near the Maine border. Read more here.
I’ve also found it interesting that, during the search, Rausch goes silent for several days. This is a guy who was obsessive about contacting people on the phone in the days leading up to the disappearance. Even when he was supposedly in the field at Fort Sill, he was making dozens of calls to friends and former girlfriends. But while Maura is missing and he’s involved in her search, he goes quite for several days. Why?
According to Murray family advocate Scott Wahl, Rausch has provided an explanation to a few insiders. Allegedly, Rausch has said there was a personal issue going on during the search that caused him to go quiet. Here’s the screenshots of the conversation between Wahl and Fulk.
Rausch is currently awaiting trial for sexual assault.
Wahl is dodging summons for a protection order in the Outer Banks.
Bill must have been pretty certain Maura wasn’t going to be calling him.
Exactly what were these personal reasons? Why in the world wouldn’t he think Maura might contact him.? I would think he would be glued to the phone.
cell phone usage or lack thereof is “very personal” ? If I wanted to find Maura id be telling everything
Billy received the “Maura is missing” call from Fred at 4:59pm central time on 2/10. If you received such a call, wouldn’t your first call be to your girlfriend? Billy called his voicemail, his parents, & Kate. He finally tried Maura’s cell 2 hours later, at 6:57pm. He never tried her dorm. Then he called the 800 number for the Holiday Inn & specifically, the Holiday Inn in North Conway, NH. It wouldn’t have been to book a hotel, because Billy (according to him) at this point hadn’t even obtained permission from his superiors to take leave.
I think we’ve been looking at this case all wrong. Billy was already in MA/NH when Maura went missing. It’s evident from his phone records. The only time his phone records show chunks of time long enough for him to be on a plane were in the days prior to Maura disappearing.