As I finish up the last drafts of True Crime Addict, I'm getting another look at some of the very odd pieces of this cold case. Here are what I consider the "Top 5" clues that just don't make sense about Maura Murray's disappearance.
5. Kate's Faulty Memory
Two days before Maura disappeared, she attended a late-night party with her friends Kate Markopoulos and Sara Alfieri. Kate said it was at Sara's dorm room. Maura's boyfriend, Billy, said that Maura told him the party was off campus.
Though Kate said the room was packed -- standing room, only -- and that a man walked her and Maura outside at the end of the night, she claims she cannot remember the name of a single other person who was there. Too many years have gone by, she told me. However, when she was interviewed by detectives in 2004, she could not recall any names, either.
Sara, for her part, won't talk about the party at all. Helena Dwyer-Murray, who runs the family Facebook page says Sara eventually told the real story to Fred and will not repeat it to anyone.
4. Family Apathy
When the TV cameras were there, Fred made sure he was actively searching for Maura. But, according to those who stayed at the hotel with him, during the months after Maura disappeared, it was mostly show. He would wake up, go for a jog, get breakfast, then give assignments to searchers. They would regroup for an early dinner and beers and then settle in for the night. Unless the reporters were there. Then Fred would get out in center and actively look through the woods.
Until he sued the state of New Hampshire, Fred was uninterested in searching Maura's personal computer -- he removed it from Maura's dorm and put it in the back of Tim Carpenter's truck. It sat in his closet until police collected it -- and then Fred wanted it back.
Maura's mother was never involved in the search for her daughter. Her sister Julie appears to have dropped by once in the months after Maura vanished. Her other sister, Kathleen, told reporters she thought Maura's breakdown a few days before her disappearance was so that she could just get out of work. Her brother, Kurt, wrote a song he posted on his Facebook page about Maura, asking her what the family did to her to make her run away.
3. The Londonderry Ping
Someone called Maura from Eastern New Hampshire the afternoon she disappeared. This person has never come forward.
2. The Rag in the Tailpipe
Why was there a rag in the tailpipe of Maura's car? The only logical explanation is that someone wanted Maura's car to stall. In fact, her accident in Haverhill may have been caused after her call stalled and she clipped the corner of the curve in front of the weathered barn. When investigators discovered the rag, it was an excellent opportunity for Fred Murray to advance his "local dirtbag kidnapped Maura" theory. Instead, he said he'd told Maura to put the rag there to keep it from smoking.
1. The $4,000
The weekend before Maura disappeared, her father Fred visited UMass. At the same time, someone withdrew $4,000 from his account using several different ATMs in the area. After the disappearance, Fred claimed that he was the one who withdrew the cash and that he did so because he intended to use it to buy Maura a new car from a local dealership. But... at the time his house was being foreclosed on. And Maura's friends say that she was not looking for a new car. And why wouldn't Fred just write a check? And what ever happened to the money?
5. Kate's Faulty Memory
Two days before Maura disappeared, she attended a late-night party with her friends Kate Markopoulos and Sara Alfieri. Kate said it was at Sara's dorm room. Maura's boyfriend, Billy, said that Maura told him the party was off campus.
Though Kate said the room was packed -- standing room, only -- and that a man walked her and Maura outside at the end of the night, she claims she cannot remember the name of a single other person who was there. Too many years have gone by, she told me. However, when she was interviewed by detectives in 2004, she could not recall any names, either.
Sara, for her part, won't talk about the party at all. Helena Dwyer-Murray, who runs the family Facebook page says Sara eventually told the real story to Fred and will not repeat it to anyone.
4. Family Apathy
When the TV cameras were there, Fred made sure he was actively searching for Maura. But, according to those who stayed at the hotel with him, during the months after Maura disappeared, it was mostly show. He would wake up, go for a jog, get breakfast, then give assignments to searchers. They would regroup for an early dinner and beers and then settle in for the night. Unless the reporters were there. Then Fred would get out in center and actively look through the woods.
Until he sued the state of New Hampshire, Fred was uninterested in searching Maura's personal computer -- he removed it from Maura's dorm and put it in the back of Tim Carpenter's truck. It sat in his closet until police collected it -- and then Fred wanted it back.
Maura's mother was never involved in the search for her daughter. Her sister Julie appears to have dropped by once in the months after Maura vanished. Her other sister, Kathleen, told reporters she thought Maura's breakdown a few days before her disappearance was so that she could just get out of work. Her brother, Kurt, wrote a song he posted on his Facebook page about Maura, asking her what the family did to her to make her run away.
3. The Londonderry Ping
Someone called Maura from Eastern New Hampshire the afternoon she disappeared. This person has never come forward.
2. The Rag in the Tailpipe
Why was there a rag in the tailpipe of Maura's car? The only logical explanation is that someone wanted Maura's car to stall. In fact, her accident in Haverhill may have been caused after her call stalled and she clipped the corner of the curve in front of the weathered barn. When investigators discovered the rag, it was an excellent opportunity for Fred Murray to advance his "local dirtbag kidnapped Maura" theory. Instead, he said he'd told Maura to put the rag there to keep it from smoking.
1. The $4,000
The weekend before Maura disappeared, her father Fred visited UMass. At the same time, someone withdrew $4,000 from his account using several different ATMs in the area. After the disappearance, Fred claimed that he was the one who withdrew the cash and that he did so because he intended to use it to buy Maura a new car from a local dealership. But... at the time his house was being foreclosed on. And Maura's friends say that she was not looking for a new car. And why wouldn't Fred just write a check? And what ever happened to the money?