About an hour before Maura Murray vanished, she stopped in at Butson's Supermarket in Woodsville (now a Shaw's), with two other women, according to the woman who ran up her purchase.
I was a cashier. That day, I was running late on getting out on time. It was probably 5:45-6 p.m. when I was supposed to have gone off register. My last customers were three attractive ladies. They had picked up some alcoholic drinks, as I recall the blue wine coolers cus that's what I drank. They also picked up smokes. I ID'ed the three of them, and they were all 21-23. My supervisor was helping me to bag up their order.
I hear your skepticism. I was skeptical, too. But her story held up the closer I looked. Here's why:
1. She isn't just remembering this, now. She reported this as soon as she heard Maura went missing because she believed it was her. But she didn't report to police. She reported to her supervisor. The supervisor then told a random cop, who more than likely never filed the report. She has provided the name of the supervisor for verification.
2. She describes the young women who were with Maura in enough detail that she, without prior knowledge, described the person I believe was with Maura that night.
3. She told a member of the Murray family early on. She thought they could verify it by checking the cameras inside Buston's. Fred checked on it, himself, but was told there were no cameras. However, the cashier meant the cameras at the small bank branch inside the store. One of the cams pointed down the aisles.
4. Again, we have Maura purchasing alcohol with friends. This is well-established pattern. And the drinks she purchased are the exact kind of beverages Maura, Kate Markopoulos and Sara Alfieri were drinking that weekend.
She says Woodsville residents saw Maura and friends visit the McDonalds across the street (might there be credit card receipts?) after this. This completes the timeline, putting Maura and company at the scene of the accident right on time. The tandem car then turned around and picked Maura up.
When asked for more details, she goes on to say:
The actions of the three...nothing stands out now. Just one that I say was maura kept nervously looking behind her. The other two just seemed normal shoppers that weren't upset I ided them. At time, I wasn't much older than them. I'm 37 now.
This goes to the cold case unit, now.
It's time for her friends to come forward with the rest of the story.
