OMG, the FBI gets involved in criminal cases. In a criminal case you need a victim of crime. Evidence also.]
Cyberlaw, the FBI gets involved in missing person cases as well as criminal cases. Please just check out their website
IT IS A FACT THAT THE THE FBI *OFFERED* THEIR ASSISTANCE TO NH LE IN MAURA'S CASE ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11. It seems unlikely they would have offered their assistance IF legally they could not get involved AND unless they felt they should be involved.
The FBI's offer was the result of Lt. Bill Rausch, Maura's boyfriend contacting them regarding a call from a prepaid calling card very early the morning of 2/11/04. Lt. Rausch was going through airport security and had his cell phone 'off'. The missed call went directly to his voice mail. The very short "message" consisted of a female voice shivering and crying softly ending with a muffled sob.
The fact that Lt. Rausch is certain that it was Maura crying in the "message' AND that she has never called again IS one of the countless reasons that those that love her FEAR that that she is a victim of foul play. Do you seriously doubt that anyone that loves her would rather that she ran away than to have been harmed? They are not that selfish and those that love Maura know her selflessness and compassion - while they believe it a ridiculous notion that she ran away, they know that anything is possible; BUT they also have relationships with Maura which you do not AND they know that if for reasons unknown, that she chose to run away, she WOULD HAVE LET FAMILY AND BOYFRIEND KNOW THAT SHE WAS OK...........you have no understanding of her thoughtfulness, kindness and compassion. It takes a detached and selfish personality to separate ones self from all of his/her relationships........Maura was the opposite of these traits.
The prepaid calling card call is ANOTHER bone of contention with the investigative ability of the NH SP regarding the investigation:
Det. Todd Landry told Lt. Rausch on the evening of 2/11/04 that the call orignated from the American Red Cross. At the time, Both Lt. Rausch and his mother disputed the logic in that information because neither of them had provided the AMRC with his phone number......further, the AMRC had already confirmed on the evening of 2/10/04 that they had contacted his commander in arranging his emergency leave from the US Army to go to NH.....the only phone numbers that the AMRC needed to contact the ARMY was the commanding officer's number and Mrs. Rausch's number to confirm the leave had been arranged. As strange as it seems, Lt. Rausch was completely out of the loop with communicating with AMRC. It is just not possible to conceive that the AMRC had a method of obtaining Lt. Rausch's cell phone number when they had no reason to call him AND that they never did call him. However, NH SP insisted that the call was from AMRC.
After returning home from the search for Maura, the Rausches used 2 separate personal resources in attempts to trace the prepaid calling card. They used a second resource after the first resource because of wanting to confirm information that the first resource provided: PREPAID CALLING CARDS CALLS CANNOT BE TRACED....this information has since been confirmed by numerous resources. THEREFORE, NH SP WERE INCORRECT IN STATING THAT THEY HAD BEEN ABLE TO TRACE THE PREPAID CALLING CARD CALL TO LT. RAUSCH'S CELL PHONE......this just cannot be done!
During the first 10 days or so of Maura's missingThe FBI was very helpful to the Murray and Rausch Families. They provided direction as to the correct course of action to take and stressed that they must work through NH LE, always reminding the Murrays and Rausches to be sure to extend to NH LE the information that the FBI was willing upon invitation to assist in the case. The FBI even gave them personal cell phone numbers as contacts.
........however, after about 10 days of communicating with the FBI, the family received a phone call from the head of the New Hampshire regional office of the FBI stating that the NH SP did not want their assistance and as a result all communication with the FBI should cease..........wonder where that directive came from ??? The Murrays and Rausches were told that because the FBI was not an official part of the investigation, they were sorry, but they would no longer be permitted to communicate regarding the case.
Of course, the invitation to the FBI from NH LE to actively assist in the investigation has never been given. Because Fred Murray let it be known through the media that the FBI was willing to assist, and in an attempt to placate Fred Murray, Lt. Scarinza asked the FBI to interview family and friends in Maura's hometown of Hanson MA.
The FBI was not involved in any investigation at UMass - the UMass Campus Police handled that end of the investigation........by the way, an investigation in which Maura's family and Lt. Rausch were very pleased.
some supporting links:
http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2004/02/20/news/news02.txt
please note that in this story, even Lt. Scarinza admits that there was no search for Maura for 36 hours........he uses the excuse that Maura was drinking and that she was driving her father's car........wouldn't the police be obligated to look for any person supposed to be intoxicated when they were near a National Forest where there were no homes AND the temp was 12 degrees and falling?
And why was the car being Fred Murray's an issue in the delay in the search???? ........according to Butch Atwood, he reported the 'missing person' was a "young woman about 20 years old".......why wouldn't the police call the owner of the car to see if he knew something about this young woman? Seems to me that any policeman would logically assume that a young woman of about 20 missing from a car registered to a man Fred Murray's age would be a relative. And the car was had a UMass parking registration permit that was in Maura's name - if checked, that would have confirmed the connection with at least the surname.
Another Link re: the FBI - this one had the specific spin by NH LE that they had invited FBI for assistance.....but remember it was only in interviewing Maura's family and friends to determine if she was a likley runaway, something which everyone who knows her says is not likely.
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0="maura%20murray"&s_dispstring=maura%20murray%20AND%20date(2/1/2004%20to%2012/31/2005)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=2/1/2004%20to%2012/31/2005&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date&xcal_useweights=no
From the Boston Globe - you can order complete article for $2.95
WITH NO NEW LEADS, FBI JOINS SEARCH FOR MISSING STUDENT
Published on February 20, 2004
Author(s): Peter DeMarco, Globe Correspondent
The FBI has joined in the search for missing college student Maura Murray, but without a single lead in the nearly two-week old case, New Hampshire authorities said the additional investigators might not make a difference.
HOW CALLOUS AND BOASTFUL THAT NH LE SAYS THAT " ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATORS MIGHT NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE".............what would it have hurt for them to ask for their help when offered????
Hopefully, you are right Cyberlaw and Maura is alive somewhere.
But, unfortunately, any unbiased person has to admit to a severe stretch of logic to deny that something smells very fishy about the handling of Maura's missing by NH LE.