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Help Us Build a More Complete And Accurate Timeline
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When Did Kate and Sara Know Maura Was Missing?
Maura had made two good friends at UMass: Kate Markopoulos and Sara Alfieri. I'd like to know when they knew Maura was missing.
According to Fred, he didn't know Maura was missing until early evening, Tuesday. Unless Maura spoke to Kate and Sara about her plans, whatever they were, two days have gone by with Maura flying under the radar. Why didn't Kate or Sara start looking for her before Fred? They would have known that Maura had disappeared by then. She wouldn't have been answering her phone or door. Wouldn't her two closest friends wonder where the hell she was?
I can't ever get a straight answer out of Kate. And the only time I have managed to speak to Sara, her only question was "How the hell did you find me?"
Early on, Helena Dwyer, the woman who runs the Facebook group, explained that Sara gave Fred important details about Maura but would not ever tell them to a reporter. I wonder if Sara ever gave those details to investigators.
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**UPDATED** Best Sighting Yet!
- she often hiked out at Red Rock park
- she was quiet-spoken (everyone who met Maura uses this exact phrase)
- when she left she talked about possibly "getting back into nursing"
Also, this sighting isn't from some person who saw a look-alike on the street. This is from an older man who worked side-by-side with her for several months.
The number he had for Joanna is now located in Virginia.
Does anyone have more info on Red Rock Casino or this mysterious "Joanna?"
***UPDATE***
A manager at Red Rock sexually harassed Joanna in front of several witnesses, leading to the manager being fired. Joanna left shortly thereafter.
I don't want to try to connect too many different leads, but the homeless woman in Georgia also talked about being sexually harassed and assaulted by men in her past.
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The Sightings Keep Coming
Here's another decent sighting (in my opinion) from a reader:
I live in Chestertown, MD. It’s a very small, rural community. on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. I grew up in a big city so life in Chestertown is very different for me. Although my practical sense is telling me the following was “just one of those things”….I was in the local grocery store approximately 8 or 9 weeks ago. An elderly woman in the check out lane next to mine addressed someone behind me. I heard her greet this person and ask, “How’s your little girl doing? She’s 4 right?” I honestly was bored waiting in line and instinctively turned around as the woman behind me smiled and said, “Yes. Good.” I met her gaze and my instant thought was “I am looking at Maura Murray.” I don’t go looking for missing peoples’ faces in the crowds, mind you. I am 36 and this woman appeared not much younger than me. She had very light brown hair and her face appeared to have the same facial structures/smile. This woman was easily 150-160 lbs. She wore jeans and a gray zip up hoodie sweatshirt. The reaction of her eyes made me freeze. I’m sure everyone one in the world has stared at someone in a grocery store line, etc. I can only say her eyes looked at me, I don’t even know how to describe it…but, it wasn’t a look of “Ok, weirdo, quit looking at me.” She nodded a few times to the elderly woman, but did not speak again while I was in earshot, anyway. I stayed partially turned around gazing at items on the end caps while intermittently gazing back at her again. She only spoke those two words to the elderly woman. It was too quick for me to detect a heavy Boston accent. My Dad grew up in Cranston, RI and we have family in MA…I’m familiar with that region’s accents. I had to force myself to turn back around. I came home and told my husband about it and brushed it off as “just one of those things.” I have often thought about it since then and wished I would’ve taken a phone pic, with discretion of course, or engaged this woman in conversation. The reason I chose to tell you of this incident is because I read your latest post about the possibility of Maura having been in Virginia. Chestertown is a small, private town. Tons of farmland and generally large property acreage, putting neighbors pretty far apart. I am a RN x almost 14 years, spending the last 12 years in the E.D. I simply have this acquired ability to recognize faces even with some physical changes. Unfortunately, drug users are frequent flyers and will try almost anything to alter their appearance to score narcotic medication. The point of this being…. I didn’t have to think about it, when I turned around, I thought I was staring at Maura Murray. I have not seen this woman since. This most likely is just a clever coincidence, but I haven’t seemed to shake the mental image.
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The Trolls Are Loud, But Few
To them, it's a kind of game. Like Dungeons and Dragons. They can pretend to be someone else, say some things to just get people angry, and then sit back and watch the drama.
The trolling comments on this blog have greatly increased in the last few weeks/months. It really took off around the time I spoke out about the criminal history of Maura's siblings and the man her mother had an affair with and continued as I've reported on recent possible sightings of Maura throughout the U.S.
It's interesting that much of these comments can be backtracked to a small area of Manchester, New Hampshire, which is within the range of the infamous "londonderry ping," that phone call Maura's cell received the afternoon of her disappearance. Though these comments all come from Manchester, they appear under at least a dozen different monikers (some using proxies which attempt to reroute their location to other cities). I keep a list of their I.P.s in case their anger escalates to actual danger at some point. It is also interesting to me that Troy Killman, the silent moderator of the Maura Murray Facebook Page (a young man who is obsessed with the case but has no academic purpose for being so involved) lived and attended school in Manchester, according to one of his multiple personal Facebook pages. Killman banned me from that page when I posted about recent sightings.
I honestly don't know what to make of all this. But it's odd.
At first, I figured I would just ban all unmoderated comments to this blog. But that doesn't help generate new leads. So, going forward, I plan to simply delete these trolling comments. It's a little more work for me, but it seems to make the most sense.
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***UPDATED*** The "Official" Maura Murray Facebook Page is Being Catfished
There is something odd with the main moderator over at the official Maura Murray Facebook page and it appears the family spokesman, Helena Dwyer, has been duped and the page is being controlled by an anonymous person with an unknown agenda.
He calls himself Troy Killman.
According to his profile, he is in a relationship with Casey Slone, a young man form Boston. Here's Casey's profile, which explains that he works for the NSA.
Except, wait. That profile is fake, created with photos pulled from Slone's real account, which I won't link to here. Sloan is actually involved in New England politics.
Killman claims to be from the Manchester, NH area, the hometown of prolific posters on Topix, who attack anyone suggesting that Maura may still be alive.
Manchester is also within the 22-mile "ping radius" of the mysterious phone caller who called Maura's phone the day she went missing in New Hampshire.
The term for posing as someone you are not, online, is "Catfishing."
It appears that Helena has given access to the official Maura Facebook page to a person who is creating false identities online, for purposes unknown.
Some have suggested this could be Alden Olson, the creep who taunted the family with YouTube videos a couple years ago.
Whoever it is, the authorities and the Murray family should find out who they're really dealing with. Especially given the connections to the mystery caller from the day Maura disappeared.
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***UPDATE***
The Facebook pages for both Troy Killmans and Casey Slone were taken down hours after this post was published.
I hope authorities are looking into this. My hunch is that whoever these people were, they were also responsible for the Alexa Taylor Facebook page that was using Maura's photo for her profile pic.
Readers also pointed out a Troy Killman who worked for hotels in the Dover area, around the time of Maura's disappearance.
With the Manchester, NH connection I would not be surprised if this same person is prolifically spamming the Topix pages dedicated to Maura's disappearance.
Whoever it is, they were able to bullshit their way into moderating the family's "official" page and the Murrays and the police should be very interested in figuring out just who it was and why they were taking control of the information coming in and out of that account (including potential leads).
***UPDATE***
The Facebook pages for both Troy Killmans and Casey Slone were taken down hours after this post was published.
I hope authorities are looking into this. My hunch is that whoever these people were, they were also responsible for the Alexa Taylor Facebook page that was using Maura's photo for her profile pic.
Readers also pointed out a Troy Killman who worked for hotels in the Dover area, around the time of Maura's disappearance.
With the Manchester, NH connection I would not be surprised if this same person is prolifically spamming the Topix pages dedicated to Maura's disappearance.
Whoever it is, they were able to bullshit their way into moderating the family's "official" page and the Murrays and the police should be very interested in figuring out just who it was and why they were taking control of the information coming in and out of that account (including potential leads).
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Down the Rabbit Hole, Again...
I'm guessing this is a long shot, but I'm going to post out of an abundance of caution.
After a day that saw Maura Murray Facebook page moderator, Troy Killman, quickly deleting his sock-puppet accounts, an astute reader found this video of a flash mob which "Killman" posted to YouTube.
There is a woman who appears in the video whom some believe resembles Maura, or what she may look like a little older/heavier.
What do you think?
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Urgent! Need feet on ground in the White Mountains
I need an experienced hiker who is proficient with GPS and geocaching.
Email me asap: jameswrenner@gmail.com
Email me asap: jameswrenner@gmail.com
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Maura Murray Documentary Gains Momentum
These guys are talented filmmakers from greater Boston. I'm not sure what they're doing, exactly, or who all they've spoken to, but I think this is going to be superb.
Follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MauraMurrayDoc
Follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MauraMurrayDoc
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**UPDATED** Coordinates
Depending on how you interpret the info, the coordinates lead to a small section off a hiking path, or half-way up the face of a mountain.
Probably a hoax, but, again, worth checking. Whoever sent this would like us to believe this is where Maura's body is located. So, it's either someone with knowledge of her death or a person with a sick and twisted agenda.
In the future, if you have a tip like this, please provide a photograph for verification.
** Editor's Note: It is still, as the locals say, "Winter in the Whites". Lots of snow left on the mountains. Only experienced hikers should venture there.**
***UPDATED***
Here's a report from a reader who volunteered to check out the coordinates over the weekend:
** Editor's Note: It is still, as the locals say, "Winter in the Whites". Lots of snow left on the mountains. Only experienced hikers should venture there.**
***UPDATED***
Here's a report from a reader who volunteered to check out the coordinates over the weekend:
Sorry to take so long to get back to you, but the post hike beers won't drink themselves. Here's what I can tell you about the day.
I enlisted three friends of mine from the Boston area, all of whom are experienced technical climbers, and a close work associate with a decade experience in digital topography. The three grads headed directly for the Sawyer River Road, to make the 7+ mile accent to the top of Carrigain, while my colleague and I headed for the closed Bear Notch Pass, to make a far less technical one and a half mile snowshoe trek to the second possible waypoint.
The two of us were able to locate the Bear Notch Pass waypoint at about 10:40am and spent nearly two hours in the immediate area investigating any and all possible anomalies. The area is a logging area, and fairly open, but unfortunately we were hampered by the 24 to 36 inches of snow still remaining in the pass. We were able to locate nothing unusual. If there's something there, and it's not three or more feet in the air, it may take several weeks until we can find it with the current amount of snow on the ground.
The Carrigain team had similar luck. They reached their waypoint at just after 12:30pm, and spent over an hour in the area. They reported snow at that elevation of between 36 and 48 inches, with some drifts even higher. Like us, nothing was evidently visible, and the ground has 100% snow coverage.
Everyone returned to the southern end of Crawford Notch safely by 7pm.
We voted unanimously over dinner at the Truant Tavern in Woodstock, to come back in a few weeks, ideally with increased numbers, but until the snow melts I'm afraid there isn't much more we can do for you. It may be mid spring in the rest of the country, but the mountains have their own calendar.
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Another Thought Concerning Petrit Vasi
A reader brought up an intriguing idea.
I've never liked the theory that Maura hit Petrit Vasi with her car the night she had the breakdown at work. I just don't see how she could have snuck out and back so quickly, without being seen.
But what if it was a friend who borrowed her car? And that friend hit Vasi.
Was that why they were traveling in tandem into New Hampshire? Was the plan to get rid of or damage Maura's car, and return to Amherst together? Did the accident then change their plan?
It would explain a lot of things, not to mention the amount of alcohol and the interest in lodgings with two bedrooms.
What do you think?
I've never liked the theory that Maura hit Petrit Vasi with her car the night she had the breakdown at work. I just don't see how she could have snuck out and back so quickly, without being seen.
But what if it was a friend who borrowed her car? And that friend hit Vasi.
Was that why they were traveling in tandem into New Hampshire? Was the plan to get rid of or damage Maura's car, and return to Amherst together? Did the accident then change their plan?
It would explain a lot of things, not to mention the amount of alcohol and the interest in lodgings with two bedrooms.
What do you think?
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Do you Reddit?
I'm doing an AMA about the unsolved mysteries I've investigated, Sunday at 2pm at http://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/
Please join us at that time to ask any questions you have about Maura Murray's case.
Please join us at that time to ask any questions you have about Maura Murray's case.
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The Enigmatic Ed Lanpher
Here's another one.
Amid the voluminous records I received from the state of New Hampshire concerning Maura Murray, I discovered the only other person to request the records before me was "Ed Lanpher" from New Hampshire. Reader "Sarah H." eventually figured out who he was.
Lanpher is a graduate of MIT, a chemist who worked in organomettalics and has license for storing hazardous waste. His career ended a few years ago when the lab behind his house exploded. He would have died in the blast but had stepped out to use the bathroom.
Here's a couple interesting quotes from his official bio via MIT's website:
As a result, I experimented with most of the easily made explosives, but I never had much luck with black powder, and I never tried nitroglycerin.
The late Professor Stockmayer (Stocky) while on a trip to France many years later, gave a talk to French chemists and pronounced my name as L’enfer, meaning fire or hell, which I thought was apt.
After destroying my rented gasoline station, I was no longer welcome in Newburyport. Fortunately, two chemists I knew offered me space in Gloucester where I worked for a few months. Out of the blue, I got a call from a man in Ipswich whose wife and partner had both died in a double suicide, a double murder, or a murder and suicide, and he promised to erect a good building for me that I could let as soon as his wife’s estate was settled!
UPDATE: Ed Lanpher speaks!
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Is Ed Lanpher "Pomkik"?
Yesterday, I told you a bit about a retired chemist from Hampstead, NH, named Ed Lanpher.
Prior to my reporting, he was the only other person to request details about Maura's case via public records requests with the state of New Hampshire.
As some of you know, a popular messageboard related to Maura's disappearance was taken down by a web anarchist known as "Pomkik". Pomkik spammed a Topix board until the mod was forced to delete it altogether. Pomkik has threatened several people who have reported on this case.
Recently, Pomkik posted a photograph of my wife, claiming she was Maura in disguise. Wouldn't that be a twist?
Strange name, Pomkik. Does is mean something?
One reader pointed out that "Pom" is short for a thermoplastic, Polyoxymethylene. Lanpher has a patent on a specific type of polymerized rubber and worked in thermoplastics until he blew up his lab.
"Kik" is the company abbreviation for Kunststoffen Industrie, a plastics company in the Netherlands, founded in 1968.
Given Pomkik's fascination with my family, I assumed it was Alden Olson. Now I'm not so sure.
UPDATE: Ed Lanpher is not Pomkik!
Prior to my reporting, he was the only other person to request details about Maura's case via public records requests with the state of New Hampshire.
As some of you know, a popular messageboard related to Maura's disappearance was taken down by a web anarchist known as "Pomkik". Pomkik spammed a Topix board until the mod was forced to delete it altogether. Pomkik has threatened several people who have reported on this case.
Recently, Pomkik posted a photograph of my wife, claiming she was Maura in disguise. Wouldn't that be a twist?
Strange name, Pomkik. Does is mean something?
One reader pointed out that "Pom" is short for a thermoplastic, Polyoxymethylene. Lanpher has a patent on a specific type of polymerized rubber and worked in thermoplastics until he blew up his lab.
"Kik" is the company abbreviation for Kunststoffen Industrie, a plastics company in the Netherlands, founded in 1968.
Given Pomkik's fascination with my family, I assumed it was Alden Olson. Now I'm not so sure.
UPDATE: Ed Lanpher is not Pomkik!
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Professional Analyst Says Fred's Statement to Police is Deceptive
I've been communicating with a professional forensic statement analyst for a while about Fred Murray's statement to police about the events leading up to his daughter's disappearance. Since some of this has come to light on other messageboards, I figured I would take the time to share what he discovered.
Peter Hyatt is an expert at finding the hidden subtext behind a person's words. Check out his analysis of a statement related to the Amanda Knox case.
Back in January, we exchanged messages about Fred's official statement to police. Here is what he said:
Hyatt shared Fred's statement on a blog devoted to analysis.
Here's what other investigators picked up on:
Peter Hyatt is an expert at finding the hidden subtext behind a person's words. Check out his analysis of a statement related to the Amanda Knox case.
Back in January, we exchanged messages about Fred's official statement to police. Here is what he said:
It is going to take considerable time to dig into it, but something is very wrong.
Note the dropped pronoun "I" in the first paragraph, and then its appearance later.
Note that in 29 lines, he takes 25 to introduce his daughter going missing. The overwhelming number of deceptive statements have lengthy introductions.
There is something very bothersome about it.
Do police suspect him? Is he just a lousy father, or is there more?
They should suspect him.
It may be that he is deceptive due to purchasing alcohol, driving under the influence, etc, but the focus of that statement is he, himself, and not his missing daughter.
At the Quality Inn, he wishes "not" to be there. Was there anything untoward about their relationship?
Hyatt shared Fred's statement on a blog devoted to analysis.
Here's what other investigators picked up on:
Missing pronouns.
Pronoun changes from "We" to "I" to "They"
No social introductions.
"Asked" then Told"
"A couple of beers"
Jumps in time.
Explaining.
Yeah missing pronouns all over the place and out of order time line...sounds like 3/4 fabrication and an argiment took place...I told..she told...etc
Ok.. I have re-read the statement twice and it is truly hard to follow. The "tale" he tells is so out of order that it makes no sense. This is the first I've heard of this case and I think it makes it even more difficult to follow.
Although, maybe I would be assuming as I read through the statement if I did have some knowledge or background. I'm going to read the other comments now and see if I can piece it together :
"at first he stated no" ahhh -- is he talking about himself in third person briefly?
who was driving throughout all of this?? was he having her drive his car? why would he need to ask her to take him back to the hotel if it was his car?
why does he call his hotel room "the" room instead of his room. is it because he always intended to share it with his daughter?
why did she have a friend accompany them?? did she not want to be alone wit her father?
why does he remember to clearly her slumped over walking back to her dorm???? after spending night in his hotel room with him. why did he know so clearly that she was still asleep when he woke up?
The one thing that really stood out to me from this statement was the sensitivity surrounding drinking and the time he spent with his daughter and her friend. He is precise of about the number of drinks everyone had (says he had 2, which Peter has indicated is the usual number given by those who have had more than 2 (though it would also be given by those who had 2). His uncertainty about going to the liquor store with the girls and when that occurred, suggests possibly he had way more than 2 and forgot, and/or confirms the sensitivity concerning alcohol and his time with his daughter and her friend and a need to be evasive or not forthcoming about it. I also see this to some extent in the statement "that is why I came up that weekend" -- that he feels a need to give a reason why he was visiting his daughter may indicate his intent in going there is questionable (though not necessarily in the context of explaining to the police his reasons for visiting)
Another thing that jumped out at me is his desire to suggest repeatedly that he wanted to be taken back to the hotel, but the girls wanted to stay/go out. This happens twice in the statement. First when he asks to be taken back to the motel but his daughter had him go pick up her friend and then end up at the restaurant (bar?) and again when he says he asked to be taken back to the motel and he told them it was too late to go out. This looks a little like victim blaming but also just doesn't make sense -- a parent might be talked out of going back to the hotel by his college age daughter, but for this to come up twice to me suggests he's aware that he needs to explain why he's hanging out partying with college girls (going to the restaurant, out then back again, then to the liquor store??? Good grief).
Missing pronouns.An astute analyst also noted something that about that interview with Fred on Montel:
**that** is why I came up that weekend
Justifies why he was there. Akin to alibi building.
Past tense used a few times. One time when he went to say “we were buddies, he stopped and switched to “we’re buddies”. This is at 3:15 in the video if anyone else wants to list to this part.
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Check out the teaser for the Maura Murray documentary
Lance Reenstierna has put together a cool website and teaser trailer for his upcoming documentary on the people who are fascinated with Maura's disappearance.
If you have info about the case, he is still collecting interviews. His email is on the site.
If you have info about the case, he is still collecting interviews. His email is on the site.
Maura Murray Documentary Teaser from Lance Reenstierna on Vimeo.
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Darkness Radio Investigates Maura Murray
I had the pleasure of talking about Maura's disappearance on Darkness Radio this week.
In case you missed it, you can listen/download it here.
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Commenter Notices Something About Fred's Interview with Montel Williams
I've watched Fred's interview with Montel Williams a couple times but I never realized how odd this statement from Fred sounds.
Frequent commenter chefsgirl lays it out:
Clearly, this story from Fred contradicts his theory that she was taken by some dirtbag and implies that she believed she was running away. And it sounds like she was running away from him.
Frequent commenter chefsgirl lays it out:
I just read the following lines that Fred Murray said on the show:
[Fred]: Yes which is uh what frustrates me so much now because that means that when the police got there she was no more than 200 yards down the street, all they had to do was drive down around the corner, they coulda grabbed her and Maura would be here with me now. But they didn’t do that and she is not here with me now
There are a few things alarming about this to me. The first is he said the Police "could have grabbed her". Interesting choice of words for someone who believed his daughter was in distress and needed help. Why not say they "could have helped her or found her?" Instead he says grabbed, which is an aggressive word used to describe an attempt at reaching something that is fleeing or moving swiftly. Also, he said that "she would be here with me now" . He actually used this twice. It is a very possessive statement. Perhaps not if coupled by a concern also for her well being and wishes, but when stated only by itself, it is very selfish and possessive and testifies to how he views her disappearance...an infraction on him. There is a lot to be said about word choice because our brains and our mouths do not operate at the same speed. And Freud said there are no such things as accidents :)
Clearly, this story from Fred contradicts his theory that she was taken by some dirtbag and implies that she believed she was running away. And it sounds like she was running away from him.
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Possible Explanation for Maura's Last Weekend
Finishing up a new draft of the book, a thought occurred to me that might explain some of the clues in this case.
Is it possible Fred came to Amherst that weekend to move Maura back home?
It would explain a few things: the packed boxes, for one. And the party at Sara Alfieri's. Was it a farewell party. Is that why they won't tell anybody else who was there?
Was the plan to take Maura home to Hanson on Sunday?
But when Maura wrecked her dad's car on the way to his motel, plans changed. They couldn't leave. His car was in a shop. And she needed to pick up accident reports. It made more sense at that time for her to stay another day or two, long enough for Fred to come back and get his car.
It also explains the email to professors. She was done with school but she needed another day or two in the dorms.
What do you think?
Is it possible Fred came to Amherst that weekend to move Maura back home?
It would explain a few things: the packed boxes, for one. And the party at Sara Alfieri's. Was it a farewell party. Is that why they won't tell anybody else who was there?
Was the plan to take Maura home to Hanson on Sunday?
But when Maura wrecked her dad's car on the way to his motel, plans changed. They couldn't leave. His car was in a shop. And she needed to pick up accident reports. It made more sense at that time for her to stay another day or two, long enough for Fred to come back and get his car.
It also explains the email to professors. She was done with school but she needed another day or two in the dorms.
What do you think?
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Kate Markopoulos and Sara Alfieri lied about dorm party.
This week, Sam Ledyard wore out some shoe leather by visiting UMass and asking to see a copy of the student directory from 2004. They wouldn't let him copy it but he did take some snapshots from his phone. What he discovered was that Sara Alfieri lived in Coolidge Hall at the time. Not a big deal right? Well, that little discovery called into question everything Sara and Kate have said about the Sat. night before Maura disappeared.
As you may recall, I've asked Kate repeatedly what she remembers about that late-night party. She has said she remembers there were a lot of people there, but can't recall a single name. She says her memory is bad after all these years. That doesn't wash, though, because she told the police the same thing back in 04. Kate, I should note, disappeared in the days after Maura vanished, according to fellow members of the UMass track team. Her father served time in prison for trying to blow up their neighbor with a pipe bomb, though Kate maintains he was not the person to plant the bomb. She has threatened legal action if I pose more questions to her.
Sara, meanwhile, has gone of the grid, keeping her number and address unlisted. Helena Murray, who maintains the official family website, told me that Sara told the real story only once, to Fred, and she has been asked not to say anything more. When I popped in on her last year, she slammed the door in my face.
Kate and Sara, officially, have both said the party took place in Sara's dorm.
Here's a bit from the Seventeen article, the only time Sara spoke to the media:
If the party was in Sara's dorm room, Maura could not have just walked upstairs. If the party was in Kennedy, which I've been told repeatedly, then it was in some one else's dorm room. And that person is neither Kate nor Sara.
Sara told Seventeen she didn't want to say more because she didn't want to get Maura in trouble.
Why, after all these years, are Sara and Kate still keeping secret the identities of the other people at that party? Why will they not speak about what happened there? It seems an important bit of info that might help find their missing friend.
So, this is a request for readers. Do you know the names of the other people who were at that party?
As you may recall, I've asked Kate repeatedly what she remembers about that late-night party. She has said she remembers there were a lot of people there, but can't recall a single name. She says her memory is bad after all these years. That doesn't wash, though, because she told the police the same thing back in 04. Kate, I should note, disappeared in the days after Maura vanished, according to fellow members of the UMass track team. Her father served time in prison for trying to blow up their neighbor with a pipe bomb, though Kate maintains he was not the person to plant the bomb. She has threatened legal action if I pose more questions to her.
Sara, meanwhile, has gone of the grid, keeping her number and address unlisted. Helena Murray, who maintains the official family website, told me that Sara told the real story only once, to Fred, and she has been asked not to say anything more. When I popped in on her last year, she slammed the door in my face.
Kate and Sara, officially, have both said the party took place in Sara's dorm.
Here's a bit from the Seventeen article, the only time Sara spoke to the media:
"About an hour later, Maura arrived at her friend Sara Alfieri's dorm to hang out. For the next three hours, Maura, Sara, and a couple of friends sat around talking and listening to music while drinking Skyy Blue malt mixed with a little bit of wine... At 2:30 a.m., Maura left Sara's room, telling everybody she was going to go upstairs to her room."
If the party was in Sara's dorm room, Maura could not have just walked upstairs. If the party was in Kennedy, which I've been told repeatedly, then it was in some one else's dorm room. And that person is neither Kate nor Sara.
Sara told Seventeen she didn't want to say more because she didn't want to get Maura in trouble.
Why, after all these years, are Sara and Kate still keeping secret the identities of the other people at that party? Why will they not speak about what happened there? It seems an important bit of info that might help find their missing friend.
So, this is a request for readers. Do you know the names of the other people who were at that party?
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