Speaker 1: The mysterious disappearance of mar Murray. Now. A unique thing
Speaker 1: about the Marrow Murray disappearance case is that it's known
Speaker 1: from being called the first crime mystery of the social
Speaker 1: media age. This is because Facebook was launched only five
Speaker 1: days before mar went missing. Of course, there's much speculation
Speaker 1: about her case, as to be expected, and some have
Speaker 1: even called it the most highly speculated case of the
Speaker 1: twenty first century. Mar's disappearance remains a mystery that is
Speaker 1: unsolved to this day. First, let's talk about Marra Murray
Speaker 1: and who she was. Mar was born in Brockton, Massachusetts,
Speaker 1: on May fourth, nineteen eighty two, to parents Fred and
Speaker 1: Laurie Murray, making her their youngest daughter. Her father, Fred
Speaker 1: was a medical technician and her mother, Laurie, was a nurse.
Speaker 1: Mar had grown up in Hanson, Massachusetts, which is a
Speaker 1: small suburb on the South Shore. Her family was a
Speaker 1: typical working class family. She had a lot of guidance
Speaker 1: from her siblings. She had an older brother named Junior,
Speaker 1: two sisters, Julie and Kathleen, and her youngest brother, Curtis.
Speaker 1: When Mar was six, however, her parents divorced. Mar was
Speaker 1: described as being an overachiever who excelled both athletically and academically.
Speaker 1: She was also a member of the National Honor Society.
Speaker 1: Also at the same time, she was very active in
Speaker 1: her local community, where she would become known for her
Speaker 1: kind heart, signature dimples, and beautiful smile. As if that
Speaker 1: wasn't enough, she also participated in nearly every sport available tour,
Speaker 1: including competitive AAU basketball, which also allowed her to travel
Speaker 1: all over New England. As a fierce competitor, mar had
Speaker 1: consistently finished in the top tier of runners in the
Speaker 1: state of Massachusetts and even broke several long standing school records.
Speaker 1: At the time. She graduated at the top of her
Speaker 1: class at Whitman Hanson Regional High School with her pick
Speaker 1: of colleges to choose from both athletically and academically, but
Speaker 1: she ended up deciding to accept the congressional nomination the
Speaker 1: late Senator Edward Kennedy and would be joining to Julie
Speaker 1: at the prestigious United States Military Academy located at West Point.
Speaker 1: Mar had continued to excel at the rigorous military and
Speaker 1: academic program there and even established herself to be a
Speaker 1: force on the cross country and track teams However, during
Speaker 1: the second year she was at West Point, she decided
Speaker 1: that the military life was not for her and then
Speaker 1: transferred to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. That's when
Speaker 1: she also decided to pursue a career in nursing. During
Speaker 1: Mar's freshman year at West Point, she received an honor
Speaker 1: code violation for stealing some makeup from a Fort Knox commissary.
Speaker 1: This incident didn't formally expel her, however, that is when
Speaker 1: she transferred into the nursing program at the University of
Speaker 1: Massachusetts Amhurst. There was another incident in November of two
Speaker 1: thousand and three, just three months prior to her disappearance,
Speaker 1: when she was caught ordering food with a stolen credit card.
Speaker 1: Mar's arrest record showed that the charge would have been
Speaker 1: dismissed after three months of good behavior. In the days
Speaker 1: leading up to mars disappearance, on February fifth, two thousand
Speaker 1: and four, she was working her even shift doing campus security.
Speaker 1: After a phone call with her older sister, Kathleen. She
Speaker 1: was said to have burst into tears and even had
Speaker 1: to have a supervisor escort her back to her dorm
Speaker 1: room when she was asked what was bothering her. Mara
Speaker 1: simply responded. My sister Kathleen claims that the conversation was
Speaker 1: about her drinking and abusing of alcohol. See Kathleen herself
Speaker 1: had just been discharged for a rehab program, and she
Speaker 1: then admitted to Maria that her fiancee had taken her
Speaker 1: to the liquor store. On Saturday, February seventh, Mara's dad,
Speaker 1: Fred had arrived in town to help take her car shopping.
Speaker 1: According to Julie, her sister, Maris car was in very
Speaker 1: rough shape and she wanted something that was going to
Speaker 1: be more reliable. That night, Mara had borrowed Fred's car
Speaker 1: and attended a party that was going on to campus.
Speaker 1: At three thirty am, when she was driving back to
Speaker 1: Fred's motel room, she'd hit a guardrail and cost about
Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars worth of damage to the car. The
Speaker 1: cops had arrived at the scene and drove her back
Speaker 1: to the motel. Now there's no documentation of a sobriety
Speaker 1: test in the accident report. It was a car that
Speaker 1: Fred had rented and returned it to his home located
Speaker 1: in Connecticut on February eighth. He then spoke to mar
Speaker 1: on the phone at around eleven thirty PM to remind
Speaker 1: her that she needed to get accident forms from the
Speaker 1: Registry of Motor Vehicles and this is what we know
Speaker 1: about the events of February nine, two thousand and four.
Speaker 1: It would be the last time the twenty one year
Speaker 1: old Morrow would be seen. Just after midnight, Mara had
Speaker 1: searched map quest for directions to the Berkshires and Burlington, Vermont.
Speaker 1: At one PM, Mara had emailed her boyfriend to let
Speaker 1: him know that she didn't like talking to anyone lately.
Speaker 1: She didn't promise to call him later though. Then around
Speaker 1: one thirteen PM, Maer had made a phone call to
Speaker 1: check about a condo rental unit located in Bartlett, New Hampshire.
Speaker 1: She knew the area with the condos because her family
Speaker 1: had vacation there in the past. The phone call lasted
Speaker 1: about three minutes and at the end no rental plans
Speaker 1: were made for the condo. Ma had then called a
Speaker 1: fellow nursing student. At one twenty four pm, Mara had
Speaker 1: sent word to a nursing school supervisor to let them
Speaker 1: know that she would be out of town for approximately
Speaker 1: a week because there was a death in the family. However,
Speaker 1: her family insists that there was no such death. At
Speaker 1: two five pm, Mark called a number that provides pre
Speaker 1: recorded information on booking hotels in Stowe, Vermont. The phone
Speaker 1: call then lasted about five minutes. At to eighteen pm,
Speaker 1: Mar then left her boyfriend of voicemail. The call lasted
Speaker 1: about one minute and she said they would talk later.
Speaker 1: Mar had packed her car with clothing, birth control pills, textbooks,
Speaker 1: and toiletries. With the later searching of her dorm room,
Speaker 1: they found that most of Mars's belongings were packed in boxes,
Speaker 1: that her art had been removed from the walls, and
Speaker 1: the police found a printed email in the room between
Speaker 1: Mar and her boyfriend at the time, which indicated they
Speaker 1: were having relationship problems. At three thirty pm, Mar drove
Speaker 1: away at her nineteen ninety six Saturn Sedan. Classes that
Speaker 1: day had been canceled because of an impending snowstorm. At
Speaker 1: three forty pm, Mar then withdrew two hundred and eighty
Speaker 1: dollars from an ATM and picked up forty dollars worth
Speaker 1: of alcohol from a nearby liquor store. Security footage at
Speaker 1: both the ATM and liquor store determined that she was alone.
Speaker 1: Around four to five pm, mar had left Amherst. Her
Speaker 1: last recorded phone call was then at four thirty seven
Speaker 1: pm to check her voicemail. At seven twenty seven pm,
Speaker 1: Faith Westman of Woodsville, New Hampshire, had called nine to
Speaker 1: one one to report an accident that was outside of
Speaker 1: her home. She had heard a loud thump then saw
Speaker 1: a car along the snow bank on Route one twelve.
Speaker 1: The car was pointing westward in the eastbound lane. Face
Speaker 1: neighbors Virginia and John Murrot also noticed mars car outside
Speaker 1: of their kitchen window. The cars hazard lights were on
Speaker 1: and they noticed someone walking around the car as well
Speaker 1: as the Marats were watching. Another neighbor, Bud Atwood, had
Speaker 1: pulled up tomorrow in the school bus that he drove
Speaker 1: for his work. At Wood then got out of his
Speaker 1: bus and asked if Mara needed him to call the
Speaker 1: police for Mars said no, claiming that she had already
Speaker 1: called Triple A so there was no need. Atwood knew
Speaker 1: that the area did not have any cell phone service,
Speaker 1: so he didn't believe story. He then offered to let
Speaker 1: her wait at his home until the assistants could arrive,
Speaker 1: but Mara insisted she was fine, just staying in her
Speaker 1: car Atwood, then headed back home to call nine to
Speaker 1: one one. He said initially he had trouble getting through
Speaker 1: to the dispatch because of the busy phone circuits. However,
Speaker 1: his phone call eventually went through at seven forty three pm.
Speaker 1: At seven forty six pm, the Haverhill Police Sergeant Cecil
Speaker 1: Smith had arrived at the scene, following up on Westman's
Speaker 1: nine one one call. However, the car was locked, but
Speaker 1: there was no sign of Mara. The car's airbags had
Speaker 1: been deployed and there was a crack in the driver's
Speaker 1: side windshield. Sergeant Smith spotted a box of Phronsie of
Speaker 1: wine behind the driver's seat, and also an empty beer bottle.
Speaker 1: There was red liquid on the driver's side door, the
Speaker 1: car's ceiling and on the road too. A later search
Speaker 1: found a coke bottle that was filled with the red
Speaker 1: drink that smelled like alcohol. The Kolua Bailey's and vodka
Speaker 1: that mar had bought earlier at the liquor store were
Speaker 1: not found in the car. Her cell phone, wallet and
Speaker 1: credit cards have never been located. Sergeant Smith went to
Speaker 1: the Westmans in order to ask about the incident, then
Speaker 1: he stopped at the Atwoods to ask where the girl
Speaker 1: had gone to. After explaining to the officer that he
Speaker 1: hadn't seen anyone since he left the vehicle, both at
Speaker 1: Wood and Sergeant Smith drove around the area in hopes
Speaker 1: of finding Mara. Ten minutes after Sergeant Smith's arrival, both
Speaker 1: the fire truck and EMS had pulled up to the scene.
Speaker 1: At eight forty nine pm, the scene was cleared and
Speaker 1: Mar's vehicle was towed away, and APB was then issued
Speaker 1: from marraw after twelve pm on February tenth, and she
Speaker 1: was first to be considered missing at five to seventeen pm.
Speaker 1: Then the next day the authorities had police dogs trackers
Speaker 1: sent They got a hit on her about one hundred
Speaker 1: yards east of her vehicle had been abandoned before the
Speaker 1: dogs lost the trail. The FBI was called in at
Speaker 1: ten days after a disappearance, and then it became a
Speaker 1: nationwide search. At the ten day mark, the New Hampshire
Speaker 1: Fishing Game were brought in to conduct their own ground
Speaker 1: and air searches using a helicopter that was equipped to
Speaker 1: the thermal imaging camera. However, Mara's family disputes these claims.
Speaker 1: Police repeatedly voiced concerns that she could be a danger
Speaker 1: to herself. Many people have criticized the police for their
Speaker 1: lack of urgency during the initial days. It was almost
Speaker 1: a full day by the time mar had been announced
Speaker 1: as missing, and even then an official search wasn't immediately commenced.
Speaker 1: Here's some of the popular theories behind Martha's disappearance, and
Speaker 1: again these are just conjecture. Her intentions that day was
Speaker 1: to disappear. She'd been planning to meet up with someone,
Speaker 1: and whoever the person was must have picked her up
Speaker 1: after the car crash. Another theory she'd been abducted. A
Speaker 1: third theory she must have walked away from her car,
Speaker 1: possibly to flee the scene of the crash because she
Speaker 1: was afraid of getting in trouble and then succumbed to
Speaker 1: the elements. And another mar had left that day to
Speaker 1: take her own life alone in the mountains. More on
Speaker 1: the first theory that Mara had intentions that day to disappear.
Speaker 1: It's worth voting the claims of James Renner, who's an
Speaker 1: investigative journalist. He largely believes that Mara is in fact
Speaker 1: still alive and that she'd planned her own escape because
Speaker 1: she was pregnant. Mar did make a search online for
Speaker 1: the effects of alcohol on a fetus. However, there were
Speaker 1: some of her nursing school friends who later on said
Speaker 1: this was research for an assignment. Journalist Renter had also
Speaker 1: reported that one of Mar's friends sent him an email
Speaker 1: that accused Mara's boyfriend Bill of being abusive tour However,
Speaker 1: recently Bill Rosch was indicted by grand jury on felony
Speaker 1: abuse charges. There were also rumors that Mara had been
Speaker 1: in a relationship with the man with the name of
Speaker 1: Hossain bag Dotti, who was an assistant track coach at
Speaker 1: the University of Massachusetts. Bag Dotti has been open about
Speaker 1: the situation and has even told detectives that Mara had
Speaker 1: hinted to him that she was thinking she may disappear.
Speaker 1: The U mass Outing club actually owns a cabinets in
Speaker 1: the White Mountains, and that's where some think she was
Speaker 1: heading to. There's no communications suggesting that Mara and Bagdatti
Speaker 1: had been communicating in the week's leading up to her disappearance.
Speaker 1: On James Renner's blog, he bluntly accused Fred of having
Speaker 1: knowledge of what exactly happened tomorrow citing his unwillingness to
Speaker 1: be interviewed by Renter as suspicious. In a Boston magazine article,
Speaker 1: Renner even states, quote, there's nothing that would please me
Speaker 1: more than to depose Fred in court under oath end quote. Now,
Speaker 1: in defense of Fred, so have said it has been
Speaker 1: over sixteen years of non stop searching for his missing daughter,
Speaker 1: and that could indeed wear anyone down over the years,
Speaker 1: and there are very few avenues that he hasn't investigated personally. However,
Speaker 1: Fred says he has no doubt that Mara was abducted
Speaker 1: that day. It was then in late two thousand and
Speaker 1: four when a man of the name of Larry Moulton
Speaker 1: had come forward with a knife that he thought could
Speaker 1: have been the murder weapon. The knife belonged to his
Speaker 1: brother Claude, who lived only three quarters a mile away
Speaker 1: from the crash site in an a frame house. In
Speaker 1: two thousand and six, Clyde no longer lived at the
Speaker 1: house and the new owners left private investment togators inspected.
Speaker 1: It was then that the cadaver dogs made a hit,
Speaker 1: so they took carpet samples for testing. However, the chain
Speaker 1: of custody was unclear and the samples were conveniently lost.
Speaker 1: Malton's knife was then turned over to the New Hampshire
Speaker 1: State Police and the results were never released. The Missing
Speaker 1: Marra Murray podcast had returned to the a Frame house
Speaker 1: in twenty sixteen. What they found when going back looked
Speaker 1: to be bloodstains in a closet. They ended up sending
Speaker 1: the woodships to molecular geneticist was then able to confirm
Speaker 1: the presence of human blood. Unfortunately, the samples were too
Speaker 1: deteriorated in order to determine with one hundred percent certainty
Speaker 1: whether or not the blood was Maras. There was another house, however,
Speaker 1: that was near the scent dog's trail that was searched
Speaker 1: back in twenty nineteen after the ground penetrating radar had
Speaker 1: showed a disturbance in that homes basement. The investigators had
Speaker 1: removed the concrete and searched several feet down, but sadly
Speaker 1: no evidence was present. Now, the theory of an opportunistic
Speaker 1: killer might be statistically less probable, but it can't be
Speaker 1: just ruled out. One month after Maria had gone missing,
Speaker 1: a seventeen year old girl named Brianna Maitland had disappeared
Speaker 1: in Vermont some people feel like it could have been
Speaker 1: possible that both women fell prey to a serial killer.
Speaker 1: The authorities looked into the connection that was between Maitland
Speaker 1: and a serial killer at the time named Israel Keys. However,
Speaker 1: this would later be ruled out by the FBI. In
Speaker 1: the online sleuth community, many believe that Keys is indeed
Speaker 1: to blame. That theory has a big problem with it
Speaker 1: though how small the window of opportunity was for murder
Speaker 1: to then take Mara avoiding being seen. Butch Atwood only
Speaker 1: had a swift interaction with Maura, talking to her for
Speaker 1: only a few minutes, so she couldn't have been long
Speaker 1: from more than ten to fifteen minutes when Sergeant Smith arrived.
Speaker 1: It was in a desolate, heavily wooded area. After all,
Speaker 1: there were at least three neighbors that could see her
Speaker 1: from their homes. There's another name that's frequently brought up
Speaker 1: when talking about Mara Murray, that of Rick Force. Rick
Speaker 1: Forcer had been driving home from his job as a
Speaker 1: contractor on the night of February ninth, that is, when
Speaker 1: he spotted a woman walking in the woods that matched
Speaker 1: the description of Mara. There are some people who find
Speaker 1: his story a little suspicious because it was months later
Speaker 1: when he finally reported the siding. Pisier had told police
Speaker 1: officers that he hadn't realized it was the same night
Speaker 1: until he went back through his work calendar, and that
Speaker 1: was in late April. The Murray family are adamant in
Speaker 1: the fact that Mara was not threat to herself. That
Speaker 1: is something we know already. However, we need to take
Speaker 1: the theory that she wanted into the woods and passed
Speaker 1: away from the eilments into consideration. Could it have been
Speaker 1: Okham's razor, which is widely referred to by those who
Speaker 1: considered the simplest explanation to be the most accurate. When
Speaker 1: we said all these assumptions about the case aside, the
Speaker 1: absolute facts are the young woman had crashed her car
Speaker 1: and was last seen outside in the freezing cold weather.
Speaker 1: Whichever theory resonates with you, one astounding thing is the
Speaker 1: fact so many persons of interest were named, especially for
Speaker 1: a case that doesn't have any true suspects that have
Speaker 1: been named by the authorities recently, there is a new
Speaker 1: search on Wednesday, July thirteenth, twenty twenty two Fromarra Murray
Speaker 1: police personnel in two different New Hampshire towns searched the
Speaker 1: areas of Landaff and Easton. The ground search was in
Speaker 1: an area that was off of Route one twelve and
Speaker 1: is quote not the result of new information in the
Speaker 1: case end quote. That's according to New Hampshire Attorney General
Speaker 1: John M. Formela in a press release about the search.
Speaker 1: He continues, it is part of an ongoing investigative process
Speaker 1: and will consist of a more extensive search of surrounding
Speaker 1: areas previously searched in a more limited fashion. Because the
Speaker 1: investigation is still ongoing, Formela and the State Police Colonel
Speaker 1: Nathan Nays said that no more information could be released
Speaker 1: at this time, and he asked the public to respect
Speaker 1: the privacy of the communities and residents. People should also
Speaker 1: remember to stay off private property. My family is aware
Speaker 1: of the search efforts and are working closely with law
Speaker 1: enforcements at this time, said Julie Murray, Marris's sister. She continues,
Speaker 1: we ask the public not to interfere with the investigation.
Speaker 1: We will share information as appropriate. We're encouraged by the
Speaker 1: active efforts to find Mara and remain hopeful for a resolution.
Speaker 1: If there's anyone who has any information about MARAA. Murray's disappearance,
Speaker 1: no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. They're
Speaker 1: asked to please call the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit
Speaker 1: at number six zero three two two three three six
Speaker 1: four eight, or you can email Cold Case Unit at
Speaker 1: ds dot nh dot gov. More information on Mara and
Speaker 1: the ongoing efforts to help find her and bring her
Speaker 1: home may be found on the website Mara Murray Missing
Speaker 1: dot org. Back in January twenty twenty two, the FBI
Speaker 1: then created a violent criminal apprehension profile in MARAA. Murray's case.
Speaker 1: Mara's sister has stated published reports that it is another
Speaker 1: method for multiple agencies and other jurisdictions to share their
Speaker 1: information with one another. Now. Back in September of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one, there were bone fragments found at the base
Speaker 1: of Loon Mountain. However, according to officials, they were not
Speaker 1: connected to Murray. The officials announced that the fragments could
Speaker 1: date back as far as the eighteenth century. The bone
Speaker 1: fragments had been found in what they called quote existing
Speaker 1: soil unquote, stated the New Hampshire State Police. Radiocarbon dating
Speaker 1: had placed a ninety five percent certainty that the bones
Speaker 1: that were found are from a person that died sometime
Speaker 1: during the years of seventeen seventy four to nineteen forty two.
Speaker 1: Quite a gap there. On Murrow Murray's thirty eighth birthday,
Speaker 1: they launched a website that offers the public never before
Speaker 1: seen pictures over It's also a repository of news reports
Speaker 1: that date back to two thousand and four, and as
Speaker 1: an opportunity for people who are interested in knowing more
Speaker 1: about the case and to get to know Mara in
Speaker 1: and up close personal way. There's another feature of the
Speaker 1: blog post that is regularly updated so our family can
Speaker 1: put out information to help keep the community informed and
Speaker 1: keep Mara's name in the public. A contact tab allows
Speaker 1: visitors of the site to communicate with their family members.
Speaker 1: Plus there's a contact tab that provides people email updates
Speaker 1: on any important case developments if and when they come out.
Speaker 1: There's even a tipsub mission area, which provides a place
Speaker 1: where people can provide any new information or leads. Now,
Speaker 1: this is an unsolved mystery that has more twists and
Speaker 1: turns than the route and Mara had taken that faithful night. Hopefully,
Speaker 1: one day the record can be set straight. About what
Speaker 1: exactly happened to young Marra Murray on that cold night. Well, friends,
Speaker 1: there you have it. I look forward to your comments,
Speaker 1: but please keep it friendly and respectful so we meet again.
Speaker 1: Be good to yourselves and each other. As for me,
Speaker 1: I'll see a little farther on down the trail. I'm
Speaker 1: Steve Stockton and I'll talk to you next time. Tell
Speaker 1: your pets I said Hi.