If you've seen the trailer for tomorrow's episode of The Disappearance of Maura Murray, there's a clip of me saying I believe Maura ran away from the men in here life. But what was so bad that she'd run away? Was she really that afraid of someone?
At the time of her disappearance, she was dating Bill Rausch. Rausch has a good alibi. He says he was in the field at Fort Sill, where he was stationed - though he was apparently able to make a many many cell phone calls while training newbies.
My first impression of Bill was a very likeable guy. We talked at length on the phone one day and he seemed genuine. But since then, several women have come forward claiming there is another side to him he doesn't show to men.
Around Saint Patrick's Day, 2011, Bill is alleged to have sexually assaulted a coworker in the office of the president of Ray Group International, a D.C. firm. There was an internal investigation and he was never able to return to work in the office. The woman who claims he assaulted her, also claims Bill pushed her down the stairs at a Metro station and pretended it wasn't him.
I have spoken to high school girlfriends - whom he called the day Maura disappeared - and I was told Bill had a reputation even before he met Maura of being rough with women.
Yesterday I was contacted by another women who worked at a bar in D.C. in late 2011. Their relationship, she says, started out consensual but turned scary. Here's some of her story:
Instead of waiting for me he came back to [the bar after hours], knocked on the front door. I unlocked the door and let him in. I told him I was stocking wine, he could wait at the bar, I'd be back in a few minutes. He said he'd "help." I smiled. He followed me down the stairs so I could stock wine. He was behind me, while I walked down the steps carrying a black crate. He stopped me before I got to the bottom of the steps by placing his hands on my shoulders (I was one or two steps below him). He got closer to me, moved his hands to my hips and pressed himself against me. He asked how bad of a person I was.
- later -
We went into my apartment through a side entrance. I asked him how long he'd been married, he replied 2 years. I asked if he'd ever cheated on his wife, he said no, not since they became husband and wife. This is when he asked how rough he could be. I said I didn't break easily. We proceeded to have sex. The recollection of that night coupled with the woman's description oh how he forced himself upon her against a desk were startling similar. He didn't leave bruises on me, but he held my neck the entire time. He liked the sound I made when I started to gasp for air. There was something unsettling about the look in his eyes at the time. It wasn't pleasure, it was power. When we finished it was like it had never happened. He used the bathroom and got dressed. We went outside to smoke a cigarette. It was probably 2:30-3 am at this point. Cold outside. He looked at me, the same way he had when he had his hands around my neck and said "this never happened, right?"
I've never, ever had a reason to write to a true crime novelist. I reach out now because I've witnessed the same things women claim against Bill. And if cracking the shell of his character is a way to understand the events leading to Maura's disappearance, then I'll help in any way I can.
Maura had motive to flee, especially if a child was involved. What I don't understand is what happened to her after the accident in Haverhill. Did she continue on to a new life or was she murdered by someone she knew?