Nursing Student Maura Murray Went Missing Over 17 Years Ago: The Search Continues
There has been no sign of Maura since the night she disappeared
Considered the first crime mystery of the social media age, the questions surrounding the disappearance of Maura Murray remain unanswered. At the age of 21, Maura Murray went missing after her car crashed into a tree on the highway near Woodsville, New Hampshire.
Authorities believe as she rounded a sharp curve along the road, she lost control of her car, causing it to go off the side of the highway and into the trees.
And now, 17 years later, her family still holds out hope of finding out what happened to her.
It was before Youtube and Twitter; Facebook wasn’t even a week old. But Maura’s disappearance caught the attention of the true-crime community online.
Since then, forums and websites have struggled to uncover the mystery. Her case has been featured on 20/20 and a documentary series on the Oxygen network.
Her family has never given up on finding her, and they run a website that not only honors Maura’s life but provides comprehensive information about her disappearance and asks for anyone to come forward if they have new information.
Some theorize she left willingly; some believe she was abducted and murdered. But the case remains open, and the clues remain obscure.
What We Do Know
On the afternoon of Monday, February 9th, 2004, Maura emailed her work supervisor and professors to tell them she would be absent for the next week due to a death in the family. But there was no death in the family.
When police searched her dorm room after her disappearance, they found most of her belongings had been put in boxes. She had packed her car with clothing, toiletries, and textbooks. No one in her family knew she was planning to be away from school.
At 7:27 PM the evening of February 9th, a woman called police to report she had witnessed a single-car crash along Route 112. Also, a man passing the area had spotted Maura and asked if she needed a ride. She said she was fine and that roadside assistance was on the way.
The man drove home and called to report the accident to the police. But by 7:46 PM, when police arrived at Maura’s car, she was nowhere to be seen.
No leads and no trace
Police found Maura’s car locked and facing the opposite direction from where she had been driving. There was no trace of Maura, and no tracks leading into the woods.
She had left some personal items in the car, but her phone and credit cards were missing.
A few months later, a witness came forward and claimed he saw someone meeting Maura’s description walking east on Route 112 about an hour after her accident. He hadn’t come forward at the time because he didn’t realize right away that the day he saw the woman walking was the same day as Maura’s disappearance.
Maura’s father, Fred Murray, was dismayed that police hadn’t checked out Route 112 in the area where the man had seen Maura. The search had only been conducted to the west of the crash site, and not the east.
“This was a young woman involved in an accident,” Murray said. “She had a head injury by the indication of the spider hole in the windshield.”
“They know she is somewhere close by and they don’t go down the road to bring her to safety?” He continued, “If they had searched for my daughter, she would most likely be safely here now.”
Every spring, a private group searches the woods near the crash, but they have never found any sign of Maura or what may have happened to her.
Basement search two years ago
During a private search of the area, radar had shown there may have been a disturbance in the ground of a basement in a home along Route 112, possibly indicating a body had been buried. Search dogs had also shown interest in the area.
In 2019, FBI agents and state police searched the basement of the house, even digging up part of it. But they found nothing except for piping and some old pottery.
Maura’s Blue Ribbon Tree
For 16 years, the family placed a blue ribbon around a tree near the site of the crash. They kept it there in remembrance of Maura. Recently, the current landowners of the property informed Maura’s family they intended to cut the tree down.
“With no grave to visit or ashes to scatter, Maura’s blue ribbon serves as a symbol to remember and honor her.” — Maura’s Blog
Her family pleaded with the owners and offered to lease the land or purchase the tree and have it relocated. Unfortunately, on February 26, 2021, the family was informed that the tree had been cut down.
Shortly after that, the state denied a request from the family to put a historical marker alongside the highway where she disappeared.
The search continues
Maura’s case remains active and her family has not stopped searching for her since the day she went missing. Though Maura’s case has attracted the attention of the true-crime community, there seems to be more speculation and theories out there than any real evidence.
Maura simply vanished one night, without a trace, leaving behind a family that very clearly adored her.
If you want to learn more about Maura and the ongoing search, a good place to start is with her family’s blog.
