True Crime Addict is out, today. It is the definitive book on the Maura Murray case and includes several new clues and insights into the 12 year old cold case. It ends with an epilogue in which we learn more about the character of Bill Rausch, who was Maura's boyfriend at the time of her disappearance.
Last fall, four women who worked with Bill at Ray Group International, in Washington D.C., in 2011 came forward with stories about what it was like to work with him. One woman, whom I call "Andie", claimed he pushed her down the stairs in the Metro one day and pretended it wasn't him. Another woman who shared an office with him believes he destroyed ultra-sound photographs of her unborn child which she'd brought to work to show around. Another woman says Bill mentioned Maura one day. According to her, he said he and Maura were breaking up when she disappeared and, in hindsight, he was glad things worked out the way they did.
Here's an excerpt from the Epilogue which explains the rest of Andie's story:
The night she came back to the office, after hours, Andie ran into Bill, who was married at the time. “He was clearly intoxicated. He said, ‘I want to talk to you about something,’ and then led me into the president’s office and locked the door behind us.” Once they were alone, according to Andie, Bill turned to her and smiled in a way that scared her and said he knew that it was her he pushed down the Metro elevators. She tried to leave. But Andie says he used his body to block her. He pushed her toward a wide table. Then, she said, he turned her around and pushed her facedown into the tabletop and pushed his body against her back. She struggled. He pushed her down harder, she said. At that moment, Carrie came back into the office, looking for Andie. They could hear Carrie outside the door. Andie said that Bill let her go at this time. “He said, ‘Don’t say a fucking word.’” Frightened for her life, Andie called out to Carrie. Bill made a “shushing” gesture to Andie, she said, and then hid his body under the president’s desk. They got the door open and Andie left with Carrie.
After this incident, Ray Group International did "an internal investigation" and Bill never came back to the office. He no longer lists the company in his LinkedIn profile.
I spoke to Bill about this. He admitted he knew about the allegations and left the job after the women reported it.
There's more, conversations with an ex-girlfriend from Marengo, Ohio, where he went to high school, which show a pattern of alarming behavior toward women. But it's important to note that Bill has a pretty tight alibi for the night Maura was missing and he was actively searching for her after she disappeared, calling her friend, Kate Markopoulos repeatedly.
So why include it, if it's not directly related to Maura's disappearance? Because I believe he was the great instigator of her need to seek a new life. The police believe she may have been pregnant. I can think of no better reason to leave and remain hidden than if she were pregnant with Bill's kid. If that's the case I hope she remains missing.