True Crime Collection

Disappearance of Maura Murray

Maura Murray was born 4th May, 1982, in Hanson Massachusetts, the 4th child of Frederick and Laurie Murray. She had an older brother, Fred, two older sisters, Kathleen and Julie, and a younger brother, Kurt. Maura was raised in an Irish Catholic household. When she was 6, her parents divorced, after which Maura lived primarily with her mother. Maura graduated from Whitman Hanson Regional High School, where she was a star athlete on the school's track team. She was accepted into the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, where she studied chemical engineering for three semesters. After her freshman year, she transferred to the University of Massachusetts Amherst to study nursing.

In November 2003, 3 months before her disappearance, Maura admitted to using a stolen credit card to order food from several restaurants, including one in Hadley, Massachusetts. The charge was continued in December to be dismissed after 3 months' good behaviour.

On the evening of 5th February, 2004, Maura spoke on the phone with her older sister, Kathleen, while she was on duty at her campus security job. They discussed Kathleen's relationship problems with her fiancé. Around 10:30pm, while still on her shift, it was reported that Maura broke down in tears. When her supervisor arrived at her desk, Maura was "just completely zoned out. No reaction at all. She was unresponsive." The supervisor escorted Maura back to her dorm room around 1:20am. When asked what was wrong, Maura said two words: "My sister." The contents of this call remained unknown until 2017, when Kathleen publicly explained the conversation: Kathleen, a recovering alcoholic, had been discharged from a rehabilitation clinic that evening, and on the way home, her fiancé took her to a liquor store, which caused an emotional breakdown.

On Saturday 7th February, Maura's father Frederick arrived in Amherst. He told investigators he and Maura went car shopping that afternoon, and later went to dinner with a friend of his daughter. Maura dropped her father off at his motel room and, borrowing his Toyota Corolla, returned to campus to attend a dorm party. She arrived at 10:30pm. At 2:30am on Sunday, 8th February, she left the party. At 3:30am, en route to her father's metal, she struck a guardrail on Route 9 in Hadley, causing nearly $10,000 worth of damage to her father's car. The responding officer wrote an accident report but there is no documentation of field sobriety tests being conducted. Maura was driven to her father's motel and stayed in his room the rest of the morning. At 4:49am, there was a cell phone call placed to her boyfriend from Fred's phone. The participants and content of the phone call are unknown.

later Sunday morning, Fred Murray learned the damage to his vehicle would be covered by his auto insurance. He rented a car, dropped Maura off at the university, and departed for Connecticut. At 11:30 that night, Fred called his daughter to remind her to obtain accident forms from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. They agreed to talk again Monday night to discuss the forms and fill out the insurance claim via phone.

After midnight on Monday, 9th February, Maura used her personal computer to search MapQuest for directions to the Berkshires and Burlington, Vermont. The first reported contact Maura had with anyone on 9th February was at 1:00pm, when she emailed her boyfriend: "I love you more stud. I got your messages, but honestly, I didn't feel like talking to much of anyone, I promise to call today though. Love you, Maura" she also made a phone call inquiring about renting a condominium at the same Bartlett, New Hampshire condo association with which her family had vacationed in the past. Telephone records indicate the call lasted 3 minutes. The owner did not rent the condo to Maura. At 1:13pm, Maura called a fellow nursing student for reasons unknown.

At 1:24pm, Maura emailed a work supervisor of the nursing school faculty that she would be out of town for a week due to a death in her family; no one in her family had died. She also said she would contact them when she returned. At 2:05pm, Maura called a number which provides recorded information about booking hotels in Stowe, Vermont. The call lasted approximately five minutes. At 2:18pm, she telephoned her boyfriend and left a voice message promising him they would talk later. This call ended after one minute.