NH NH - Maura Murray, 21, Haverhill, 9 Feb 2004 - # 4

[docwho3]

. . .A few comments for docwho: I thought a lot about your helper theory. I think it's plausible but I'm not sure I think it actually happened. I wonder why she'd need someone to follow her in the unreliable car. If she was truly on the run for good, it stands to reason that she'd have either gotten the car fixed before she left, waited a few days to get the new car or just hopped on a Greyhound. . .

Warm welcome to you

If you plan to dump the car at the end of a one way trip (as I explained in the original posts of my theory back in part two of themaura murray thread) you would not want to put alot of money in it. The car was traceable, more traceable than Maura and so she could not hold on to it even if she wanted. The same would hold true for any vehicle bought, or known, by her father. She needed to start her new life without a vehicle that was known to belong to her old identity.

. . .If she was only taking a few days off to clear her head, why would she need the unreliable car at all? Why not rent a car, take a bus, or just ride with the helper friend? My gut tells me that Maura, the private person, would not have involved a second person in her plans. . .

That is why I sort of suspect that the helper knew very little of Maura's plans and perhaps only provided the follow up & transport. Even loners need a tool, a helper, in some instances. I do not think she was leaving for only a few days but rather forever.

. . .Although, I never believed strongly in the suicide theory, I do have to admit that taking the unreliable car on a 3 plus hour trip, has an absolute air of desperation about it. What other reason would compel you to drive that far in a dangerous car, unless you didn't care at all how far you got. . .

Well to support my own theory I would say that to have went alone that night with the intent to suicide and then have a wreck and still disappear as she did, drags you into the realm of miracles because she had to either leave on foot into the wilderness and not leave any traceable tracks even though her own father who searched for her knew her tracks, or you have to believe that she chanced upon a stranger in that small time window, before police arrived on scene, to take her on a ride and a stranger who by chance would choose not to report picking her up and then she has to kill herself elsewhere without her body ever being found so far.

Side note:However just to be fair (whether it hurts my theory or not) I will point out again that we do not really know what shape that car was in. It might have been more trustworthy to her than we knew. It was her dad that allegedly told her to not drive it until they could replace it after it had stranded her at least once. She may have obeyed him in not using it for awhile and then used the car when she decided to leave because she knew the car was really more to be trusted than her dad believed. Just a thought.

. . .As others have said before me--this case is just so baffling. I don't think we will ever know what happened to Maura unless and until she shows up herself someday, dead or alive. Please do not read any disrespect for Maura or her family in my comments. None is intended. I will continue to pray for her and the people she left behind.

Kind thoughts indeed. I like the way you take time so far to consider things (whether you agree with me on the case or not.)

 

[murraydwyer]

Murraydwyer...there is a *huge* difference between a mother receiving her son's phone bill and a boyfriend receiving his girlfriends phone bill. Why wouldn't Sharon Rausch have the bill sent to Maura instead of Billy?

Presumably because they had some sort of 'friends and family' plan, and Billy was paying the bill for both his phone and Maura's so that they could comunicate more readily. My daughter (who lives in another state) was also having problems with mail and had her phone bill sent to me for a while...both her calls and charges and her husband's were on the same bill as were Billy's and Maura's. Again, I know this because I was asked to look a bills.

I think that Mr. Atwood is a really big man. From other post I have read people seem to think that his appearance may have intimidated her.

I do apologize if my response to your post was so unclear that you believed I was putting words in your mouth...that certainly was not my intent... I was actaully trying to point out that the people who had said this were quoted in the newspapers and that the basis for the information was not just posts on this forum...I am well aware that no member of the family has ever said this and hadn't even considered that that was what you thought or meant.

My goal is to attempt to clarify information and make sure that incorrect information is corrected as much as I am able. Assessments made on incomplete or inaccurate information are counterproductive and dangerous, I will continue to attempt to correct or clarify information that is known to me. so I hope you will be patient and understand that and not take my information personally. I certainly do not know everything, but I am close enough to know somethings and I have probably 95% of the media publications stored on my computer, and have read many more than once.

 

[gatetrekker44]

if Maura started to leave the scene voluntarily-I STILL don't believe Maura would have accepted a ride with just anyone-I would find it more plausable that she tried to walk to a specific destination. Since the dogs lost her scent approx 100 yards from the accident scene-and it has been widely reported that there was an SUV seen in the area at the time-what about the SUV that Haverhill PD owned at the time-I could see Maura accepting a ride from someone in LE who would not necessarily have known about the accident. And I found it very interesting that this SUV was subsequently sold without any real explanation as to why Haverhill PD decided to get rid of it.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[Peabody]

Just my opinion:

I have read thru Maura's threads... and find something occuring every so often - one person who believes they are the "authority of facts" concerning Maura.

The truth of the matter is, NO ONE is the "authority of facts" concerning Maura. Her family may "think" or "feel" they know what Maura woulda, shoulda, coulda done, but the only FACT is that Maura is the only one who knows what Maura was thinking or feeling or was planning to do.

Just because the family "feels" or "thinks" these "facts" doesn't make them facts.

Everyone who has a theory or opinion should be able to bring them forth for discussion to bring new ideas and theories to light. To constantly claim that you "know for a fact" is wrong... YOU don't know for a fact, the family doesn't know for a fact... Only Maura knows what Maura was feeling, thinking, woulda/coulda/shoulda done.

To me, all theories should be welcomed... to open possiblities - open new avenues - that should be the objective here, not constantly "correcting" other posters or "berating" them for their theories/opinions. Unless something has been PROVEN AS FACT nothing else should be "assumed" as fact...

Just my opinion...

MagicRose99,

So glad to have you as a poster in Maura's thread. It is good to have "new thoughts"

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I am assuming that because you make mention of "one person who believes they are the "authority of facts" concerning Maura." and that I often say that it is my goal to insure the facts are correct that I am the poster to whom you refer.

Although I have made it a goal to correct any misinformation and/or misunderstandings that I see posted, I certainly do not think for a minute that I am THE ONLY person who has the facts. Honestly, I do not even begin to address ALL of the errors in facts that I see posted here. I wish that I could. Unfortunately (maybe fortunately as some of you see it )I just do not have the time (nor the energy). Also, murraydwyer, a relative of Maura's posts here and she certainly has the facts.

Whether my corrections are liked or disliked, it is necessary to "constantly" correct as much misinformation as possible. The misinformation winds up being understood as "fact" and invalid theories are then formed that in this thread often get repeated as fact.

There is much more mystery in Maura's case than fact.

I do not present as fact what the family thinks or feels.

I do not present as fact my opinions and I don't believe that I have ever posted a theory.

I do believe that there are several possibilities that might account for Maura's missing:

1. She succumbed to the elements and her body has not been found. I think this is possible and likely

2. She was abducted and murdered and her body has not been found. I think this is possible and very likely

3. She ran away. I think this is possible, but not as likely

4. She commited suicide. I think this is possible, but least likely

5. She was abducted, is alive and is being held against her will. I think this is possible, but the least likely of all

Now, all five of these "theories" are possibilites and there is *****absolutely no evidence to prove either of them******** That they are possible, very likely, not as likely and least likely are my opinions - not facts. Though, it is hard to dismiss that one of the five must be fact

My conversations with and intimate knowledge of people who know Maura well provides me with facts that are not published as well as providing me with corrections regarding error of facts in the media:

For example - 20/20 reported something along the lines that Sharon Rausch had met the Wilberger family; that they had prayed together and said that they were trusting God to take care of Brooke and Maura. That they also emailed back and forth and became good friends. Their report is only **partially** true. Sharon and Fred met the Wilbergers during the Montel Show. Sharon and the Wilbergers did discuss their faith in God and that Maura and Brooke was in His care, and that they had hope that both girls were living. Sharon and the Wilbergers never emailed back and forth and Sharon and the Wilbergers never became friends due to the girls going missing. Now, I for one, don't think for a minute that 20/20 intentionally reported this incorrectly. Mistakes happen. If I saw a discussion regarding this, I would post the correction to the facts. That would not mean I was attacking the poster who for a fact saw the report on 20/20; it just means that I have knowledge of the real facts.

We all misread on occasion, or we read something incorrectly, or we post something from memory that is incorrect. Or as explained above, we get misinformation from the media. For me to point out these errors is not picking on anyone - it is from a deep concern for Maura's case and to keep intereseted parties properly informed .

I could cry, "Woe is me - you're picking on me; everybody is picking on me. You don't like my opinions almost everytime someone responds to me." And although I sometimes feel this way, I have never presented my feelings. My personal feelings are not an issue, and my *opinion* is that no one else should be posting their personal feelings. But since, it seems to be a trend, I am on the other hand very tired of being accused of attacking people because I correct them. I would want to be corrected if I posted in error (and I have and was glad for it to be brought to my attention). I think it is time to stop the malicious attack on me about not wanting to hear other's opinions and theories. That is simply not true and a careful reading of my posts will bare that out.

The only thing I want is respectful discussion with fact (what little of it there is) noted as fact and all of the opinion, supposition and theory noted as such and not submitted as fact.

I have had several PM's during the last year or better thanking me for my advocacy for Maura's case, but sadly the websleuth members say they just cannot endure the "savagery" (as one put it) of the thread; therefore they no longer post - they only read. Today's post by Masterj confirms that this is the feeling of some members:

While I read this thread everyday, I am often hesitant to post anything because I find that several posters bully others and act as if their theory is the whole truth. Everyone is certainly entitled to theri opinion and I don't think anyone should be criticized for correcting the mistakes or common misconceptions about Maura's case. None of us knows all of the facts of Maura's disappearance or her state of mind. However it is absurd and illogical to not take EVERY possibility into
consideration.

I have had no personal contact with Masterj. There have been no PM's going back and forth to him/her asking for support. He/she, I believe, has posted here on occasion, but not for a very long time.

I find it very sad that people feel intimitated in coming to this thread, and am thankful for Masterj and Kelly's support (from last night). I am still very confused as to why anyone feels intimidated or attacked because they may have information corrected or read of someone's information corrected. It is my strong personal belief that if anyone does not want the truth, then they should seek fictional mysteries.

And there is also the ignore button :twocents:

Respectfully,
Peabody

 

[Peabody]

Before heading off to bed, wanted to say how much I enjoyed the postings of opinions and theories as I prepared my prior post.

It is encouraging to see considerate discussion going back and forth.

Please continue:dance:

 

[nhjane]

Peabody and all ...
I have followed Maura's case from the beginning mostly because I live here in the North Coutry area. I don't pretend to be some sort of super sleuth, in fact, this is my first real involvement in anything of this nature. For some reason I am positively haunted by Maura's story and have read and printed all articles and anything I can get my hands on really. Like the rest of the posters on this site I have become "obsessed" and passionate about this mystery.

Having said that, I would like to thank you, Peabody, for your efforts to state the facts such as they are. I don't feel you are hostile, in fact, I think it's just the opposite. Everyone here must admit that we are all making claims to theories that are not supported by all the known facts, because we don't know all the facts. Simple logic.

The NHSP state they are actively investigating this case and have compiled over 2500 pages of documents and spent thousands of man hours investigating this case. Not knowing how much documentation would result from a voluntary missing person case investigation, I can't say if this is the norm, but it seems to me that is quite a bit of investigation. So it begs the question, what are they investigating?

I happen to personally know someone that was visited by the state police and their property searched (voluntarily) but was never made privy to any information gained or if any information was gained. All they were told was that it had to do with Maura Murray.

The reason I even mention this is because I want to show just how much we don't know about this case. As I said, I willingly admit I am no professional, but it does seem that some posters here lose sight of that fact. Dr. Godwin has credentials that qualify him to create profiles. The volunteer detective team is comprised of mostly retired LE from New England. The State police have said they are taking the investiagtion seriously. I for one, am willng to accept the word of professional people who see the discrepancies in this case to be worth investigating.

BTW ... to the matter of Maura's scent being tracked to the corner of Bradley Hill Rd. ... a simple explaination could be she turned around and returned to her car, could it not?

 

[czechmate7]

My daughter (who lives in another state) was also having problems with mail and had her phone bill sent to me for a while...both her calls and charges and her husband's were on the same bill as were Billy's and Maura's. Again, I know this because I was asked to look a bills.

Murraydwyer...you were asked to look at Billy and Maura's bill?? Are you family?

 

[chuggypot]

nhjane ~

I completely agree with you about the amount of hours logged on this case. If LE truly believes she is simply a runaway, why would they have record of so many hours spent on the case?

Also, I'm curious if they checked out all the sexual predators in the area. Could they have somehow traced sexual predators from other areas that may have come through the general vicinity that night?

Remember with the Brooke Wilberger case, the guy LE suspects just happened to be in that area the day Brooke disappeared. It was sheer conincidence.

docwho3~

Thank you for the welcome! I admit that I have no clue about statistics but it seems to me that the probability of her leaving voluntarily and starting a new life would be just as small as the probability of someone coming along and harming her. I conceed that people disappear voluntarily but that percentage has got to be small.

Does anyone know if any valuables that Maura owned were missing? If so, it could mean she took these as a means of money (pawning) in addition to the $280 withdrawn from her bank account. It just seems like a daunting task to start a new life somewhere with such a small amount of money. I think the $280 was taken with the intention of her getting a hotel room when she got to her destination. This sum would fall in line with hotel rates for a few nights stay.

I admit that it is possible someone was helping her get away that night but I have a hard accepting this theory. Wouldn't a person's conscience kick in after a while? Wouldn't someone feel the need to soothe the worries and fears of the family?

 

[hydemi]

Is the best I have seen in two years of following Maura's case and since the Maura website opened in Nov 2004 as well.

We need more of this wide ranging consideration and mutual respect.

Above all we need to help the family to find Maura and Maura herself if she is alive and reading these posts.

And while LE and the much reviled Scarinza made many early errors in this case, we still do not know what they know and how close/far they are from some kind of break in their investigation which I believe is quite real but inconclusive.

To add to one point--Maura's 96 Saturn was probably in better shape than realized and she must have known it was drivable to take off as she did. She could have been using it at times in the previous ten days possibly at night or on weekends when she did not have classes or clinicals (she was sharing a ride to clinicals). Lt Rausch according to Sharon on the MM site started the car easily with the first turn of the key (key hidden on the car's body in case of her being locked out) several days afterward on Thurs/Fri 2/12 or 2/13 when he went to LaVoie's garage on route 10 where the car was towed. There the car stayed until impounded by state police as evidence several months later and we have never heard what if any forensics work was done. Lt Rausch himself observed early in the media stories that it baffled him that no forsensics work was being done on the car.

I believe Mr Murray must know what shape the car was in, Dads generally do, and he had gone car shopping with Maura the weekend prior intending to trade in the Saturn for a later model Corolla? Possibly he and Maura had checked out the Saturn or driven it along to the dealers that weekend. He has not publicly commented on this or any other aspect of the case, which is absolutely understandable and I respect his privacy.

 

[natasha-cupcake]

Warm welcome to you [/color]

If you plan to dump the car at the end of a one way trip (as I explained in the original posts of my theory back in part two of themaura murray thread) you would not want to put alot of money in it. The car was traceable, more traceable than Maura and so she could not hold on to it even if she wanted. The same would hold true for any vehicle bought, or known, by her father. She needed to start her new life without a vehicle that was known to belong to her old identity.

Thanks for the welcome, docwho!

My take on this, is that dumping the car at the end of the one way trip would not further her cause if she was truly trying to disappear. If I wanted to escape my former life I wouldn't want to leave any clues at all as to where I was headed. I'd leave my traceable car where everyone knew it should be. Dumping it at her destination just doesn't sound right to me, even if that destination was just a jumping off point. It still gives everyone a place to start looking. After searching the area where the car unexpectedly shows up, investigators would logically hit the bus depots, train stations and airports.

I do think your theory is plausible, and is not contraindicated by the dog tracking evidence (if we believe that evidence to be accurate) but I'm unsure that it would have been an unwitting helper. It seems too risky if attempting a mysterious disappearance. I agree strongly with you that if she wanted to start a new life, it would have to be without a traceable car. Again, I'm drawn to the conclusion that she either wasn't trying to disappear OR she was doing so with someone who was actively helping her OR she was taking off with an unorganized and poorly laid out plan. There is also the possibility that she thought she could ditch the car somewhere (like over a ravine or something) where it would not likely be found.

If I were going to disappear, I wouldn't ask a friend for a ride to a destination, because there is a huge potential for that person to talk. So again, I figure that either she wasn't trying to disappear, OR there was no helper and her plan was disorganized and not well thought out, OR, if there was a helper, the helper was actively involved in her plan.

I agree that we do not really know what shape that car was in. If it was more trustworthy to her than we knew, that kind of puts everything back to square one. I think the info posted by Peabody and others close to Maura regarding Maura's refusal to drive the car around town strongly supports the notion that the car really was untrustworthy. But it is possible that Maura could have had someone check the car over and give her some sort of confidence in it's driveability. I remember a time when I was told my car should not be driven at all due to a bad transmission. I left it parked for a while because I couldn't afford to fix it and I was terrified of driving it. I eventually started driving it short distances and then grew bolder when it continued to clunk along. Although I ended up driving it for months afterward, I have to admit, at no time did I try to take it on a long trip or on any excursion that required a stretch on the highway.

Short note to Peabody-- I think your contributions to these discussions have been productive and polite. I appreciate your input and understand your occasional frustration with percieved inaccuracies. I agree wholeheartedly with you that there is much more mystery than fact in this case. Because of that, I have a great deal of difficulty trying to decide how likely any of the scenarios are. I have vacillated between these possibilities many times. I think at this point, I'm leaning toward "succumbed to the elements/body not found" , "ran away" or "suicide" being somewhat more likely than "abducted/murdered". I think "abducted/held against will" probably the least likely. Again, just my opinion at the moment and I don't feel adamantly about it. I truly am baffled.

 

[chuggypot]

I just had a thought....

The trustworthiness of the car, or lack thereof, may not even have been an issue, or at least not a huge one. If Maura truly felt she needed to escape immediately, for whatever reason, and it was imperative to her that no one find out, then she may have thought her car was her only option. If that were the case then whether it was running right or not may not have mattered to her. All that may have mattered was that she get to where ever she was going and her car was readily available.

I say the car may have been her only option because if she were truly adament about no one knowing where she was going she may have been smart enough to deduce that her desitination could have been traced if she took a bus, train, or any other form of public transportation. Also, if she were working with a limited amount of funds then any other form of transportation, besides her car, may have been too expensive.

 

[czechmate7]

From the post that I've read thus far, I've concluded that Maura had 2 jobs, a full scholarship (did this include dorm....sounds like that would be included in "full scholarship" as well as books)if dorm included, no apartment, electric, water bills, she was frugal; I think we've determined she didn't pay the phone bill, does anyone know if she had a car payment? I would think Lt Rausch would have helped/halved the travel cost and again Maura had 2 jobs and was frugal and only $280 in the bank? That doesn't add up.....

 

[MagicRose99]

Peabody, apparently you've taken my post as another "attack" on you. I wasn't referring to you particularly, but all of you arguing over supposed "facts", instead of welcoming new or different ideas.

I have read Maura's thread from the beginning. I have seen several people come and go who claim they are "speaking for the family" or are an "authority" on the facts and have degraded this thread at that point to bickering instead of being helpful.

It isn't fun for those of us trying to follow the thread and learn as much as possible, to gain insite into the situation and/or trying to form our own opinions, theories, etc., when we have to read thru bickering of those that want to insist their theory(ies) are the only correct ones.

That being said, i'm going back in my corner and keeping my mouth shut because apparently I'm going to be misread and misunderstood and do not feel like being attacked for my opinion.

 

[chuggypot]

czechmate ~

It's entirely possible she had cash available in her room. If she knew she was going to be making a trip she may have refrained from depositing money in her account so it would be readily available. It would make sense to me that someone should find out the date of her last deposit and whether she deposited funds in her account on a regular basis but stopped at a certain point.

Or it could be possible she preferred to keep her cash on her so she would not have to make a trip to the bank every time she needed cash to spend. This doesn't make much sense to me though since debit cards are accepted almost everywhere now.

 

[CyberLaw]

4) Contrary to Cyberlaw above, there is no way the police could have determined that the phone call to Lt Rausch's cellphone on Wed am 2/11/04 thought to be from Maura was from the American Red Cross in Ohio. See Sharon's posts on the Maura site--the ARC did not have his cell number; to trace the call in any case requires pin number and card info that no one had including the police.

This was well covered with factual information and links in another post. It is the "belief" of the family that Maura made this call, it is a proven fact that the call was traced to the Red Cross. But of course anything contrary to the 'belief" of the family is and was discounted if it does not fit in with the "mysterious serial killer" theory. The TV station is not going to go with what the family "believes" made the call when facts trump 'beliefs". If LE can prove which they can the call came from a Red Cross calling card, then of course the TV show is not going to "mislead" viewers in the 'belief" that the call came from Maura. That again was a reason why the call was never mentioned in the case.

Remember terrorist can and do use phone cards. Do you really think that with the war machine going on that technology does not exist to trace these phone cards. The ar machine will be "thwarted" by terrorist using pre paid cards, please why spend all of the billions of dollars then. Terrorist can just walk to the corner store and pick up a phone card that is untraceable. Does not make sense.

This was well documented some time ago, that is why there was no mention of this call in the TV show, because it is not relevant to the investigation because it has no bearing on it.

Facts can be proven, beliefs are just that, what a person believes.

For example: The family "believes" that Maura was harmed, but there is NO FACTS to support this conclusion. There are other FACTS that support the "voluntary" run away theory.

Also AMW declined to profile the case, it is not the fault of LE not to provide the file and documents. AMW mostly profile missing children and adults where it is well documented and based in fact that the person was victim of a crime or kidnapping. They just don't do "vountary" missing person cases as they have to give the "viewer" something to go on, like a description of the criminal, description of the car, witnesses and also LE is on hand in the studio to field "tips" from viewers. This is AMW for a reason


Do you really believe that Maura was free to make her own choices. Her BF "helped" her pick out the school that her Dad went to and "helped" her decide to study to become a nurse like her Mom.

Do you really think that Maura could move to another town, quit school, work at a "low paying" job, dump her boyfriend and date other men all with the "blessing" of her family. She was expected to become a Nurse, she was expected to marry BF, she was expected to become an Army Wife. This was the course of her life.......if she wanted it or not, if she changed her mind or not, if she was happy or not. People grow, become adults and change their mind of what they want their course of life to become. At 21 she had her life mapped out for her. I wonder how many college kids quit school to travel the world, or to take a job in the interim to figure out what they want to do with their life. People have different ideas for their life, then what is expected for them by their family.

Happy people don't pack up their rooms and take off in the night leaving all behind. Desperate people do that.

Oh by the way - many, many people have left and become a missing person with only the clothes on their back, only to be found years later, with a house, a car, a job, a family, kids and a nice little white picket fence.

I again will state my firm "belief" that Maura is just fine and living a great life and independent life, barring any future evidence and factual information that points to the contrary. She does not have to please anyone but herself, she is free to do whatever she wants and answers to no one but herself. No one is "suggesting" what she should do with her life, she is making her own way and her own decisions.

LE is in a catch 22, damed if they look for her because people put too much into it(as they are looking for her body) and damed if they don't because they are accussed of doing nothing.

As far as I am concerned, there is no evidence that a crime has been committed and LE should leave the case open until any further factual evidence has been presented that she was a victim and a crime has been committed.

Also if she is found alive and well, the Murray family should be presented with a bill for all of the work LE has put into this. Someone has to reinburse the tax payers of NH for a "simple" voluntary run away case of an adult.

After all the tax payers of NH may not agree to "foot" the cost of a "full scale investigation where no crime has been committed and LE has used valuable time and resources to find a "missing" voluntary person.'

The bill could easily run into the hundreds of thousand of dollars.

 

[hydemi]

speaking only about the Wed am phone call of 2/11/04 Cyberlaw's post above is misleading, and there has been much more detailed discussion of the call on the Maura site especially by Sharon, Lt Rausch's Mother.

As the call being from Maura would support the runaway theory, it puzzles me that Cyblerlaw wants so much to claim it came from ARC in Ohio. If Maura was alive two days later it clearly supports runaway theory very strongly. Given the number of police errors made early in the investigation of Maura's disappearance,
I have no problem saying this was a mistake on their part--yet I still favor the runaway theory as being most likely given the lack of available evidence for any of the other theories. It is the simplest explanation.

 

[docwho3]

Thanks for the welcome, docwho! . . .

Good to see you posting

. . .My take on this, is that dumping the car at the end of the one way trip would not further her cause if she was truly trying to disappear. . .

To have left the car at the school when she had said she had to leave to attend a death in the family would have been a huge red flag to L.E. and everyone else that something was amiss so she had to take the car to some other destination. Dropping the car off where she planned to have staged a "goodbye scene" leaving behind certain artifacts at a hotel room would have accomplished that. Or if you don't think she planned to stage a goodbye scene with some of the things she took with her then I will say she could well have taken the car to whatever hotel she stayed at and left it there and continued on to her destination in whatever transportation she had set up to use. Abandoning the car 3 1/2 hours from school does indeed help her cause in running away as it means the car is not any longer parked back at school where it would be a huge red flag that Maura had not just left for a few days on her death-in-the-family outing.

As I said before she could not just keep the car because it was easily more traceable than Maura herself.

. . .I do think your theory is plausible, and is not contraindicated by the dog tracking evidence (if we believe that evidence to be accurate) but I'm unsure that it would have been an unwitting helper. It seems too risky if attempting a mysterious disappearance. . .

The helper did not have to be unwitting just unknowing of the final details of her plan. If you read my theory as posted in part two thread and onward then you know I had said that I believed she had planned to leave behind a sort of memorial, a goodbye scene at a hotel room. I expect the car would have been found parked there too. Helper or someone might have needed to anonymously call in a tip so the goodbye scene could be found but would not have needed to be found out and would not have known more of the plan even if found. Remember if helper was not helping her to commit a crime, and running away is not a crime for an adult, there was little risk in this for helper.

. . .I agree strongly with you that if she wanted to start a new life, it would have to be without a traceable car. Again, I'm drawn to the conclusion that she either wasn't trying to disappear OR she was doing so with someone who was actively helping her. . .

I suspect she had some active help as I said above but I don't know just how far the help went. Due to Maura's private nature I have theorized the minimum amount of active help in the matter. I am open to the possibility of more help from helper, especially if more evidence surfaces to point to it.

. . .OR she was taking off with an unorganized and poorly laid out plan. There is also the possibility that she thought she could ditch the car somewhere (like over a ravine or something) where it would not likely be found. . .

That too is always a possibility. Another possibility is:Many adult runaways have just left the car at a parking lot or even in the middle of a road and just walked away from it. I did not think it fit with what I believe was Maura's plan but it is a possibility.

. . .But it is possible that Maura could have had someone check the car over and give her some sort of confidence in it's driveability. . .

Actually this in itself offers a whole different direction for the investigation as I once posted. If someone else looked at the car for her it opens up more possibilities than before.

If the mechanic was not a local pro with his own shop but was an acqaintance or fellow student he/she might have got it running enough to make the trip and then might have offered to fix it up really good if only maura would accompany him home or to a buddy's place where they would have tools and such to really do the job right. This might have been an attractive idea to Maura. Maybe it was supposed to be done in the town she googled for hotels and maybe they planned to do the martigras thing while there. (It was reported in the news that the hotels were full for that reason at that time.) He may have followed her in his car and she drove hers. His following would make her feel safe in attempting the trip.
And this allows for the possibility of foul play on one end of the trip. Or for a runaway as well. It does not fit with my own thoughts on the matter but it opens possibilities and gives investigators something else to look for (the mechanic.)

. . .I remember a time when I was told my car should not be driven at all due to a bad transmission. I left it parked for a while because I couldn't afford to fix it and I was terrified of driving it. . .

I make note of one possible thing about Maura's car. It allegedly stranded her at the grocery store once (I think I remember reading that in a news report but would need to reread it to be sure.) In any case I was struck by the thought that a car not starting when you need it to does not mean it does not continue to run ok once you get it started. I have read where some said the car was not firing all cylinders but that does not strand you somewhere it just makes you have less power than you would like the car to have. I am wondering if the car may have had a starting issue but then was pretty much trustworthy to keep running once it was started.

 

[czechmate7]

speaking only about the Wed am phone call of 2/11/04 Cyberlaw's post above is misleading, and there has been much more detailed discussion of the call on the Maura site especially by Sharon, Lt Rausch's Mother.

As the call being from Maura would support the runaway theory, it puzzles me that Cyblerlaw wants so much to claim it came from ARC in Ohio. If Maura was alive two days later it clearly supports runaway theory very strongly. Given the number of police errors made early in the investigation of Maura's disappearance,
I have no problem saying this was a mistake on their part--yet I still favor the runaway theory as being most likely given the lack of available evidence for any of the other theories. It is the simplest explanation.

Hydemi ~
Since you've mentioned you have been on Maura's website forum, has anyone from the family or Sharon Rausch given an explanation on why they thought Maura would use a calling card in the first place? Why not her cell phone? That would say to me that she was at pay phone? or a land line (but with the reports of her shivering and sniffling I would have to say a pay phone outdoors.) That would not only support that she did indeed make it out of the area the night of the accident but also that she was probably not under any control of a captor (unless he allowed her to make a phone call?)
Also, did LT Rausch try to get in touch with Maura on the evening of the accident or the next day? At what point did Lt Rausch realize Maura was missing? After the odd series of calls Maura made to him on 2/9 needing to talk to him; did he try calling her on the 9th, 10th?? Did her phone go straight to voice mail as if the phone were dead or turned off? Is this why she used a calling card?

 

[docwho3]

. . .docwho3~

Thank you for the welcome! . . .

Good to see you posting too

. . .I admit that I have no clue about statistics . . .

It might benefit you to read up on stats about what is usually the case with missing persons. Knowing what usually happens with missing persons can help keep one from assuming wrong things, such as thinking that the chances are equal between running away and harm from a stranger.

. . .Does anyone know if any valuables that Maura owned were missing? . . .

She took her jewelry with her and it was said to be expensive but when the car was wrecked she allegedly took off and left the jewelry packed in the car. (This info about the jewelry being left behind did not come from a verifiable source and I am not sure any news report commented on it.)

. . .I admit that it is possible someone was helping her get away that night but I have a hard accepting this theory. Wouldn't a person's conscience kick in after a while? Wouldn't someone feel the need to soothe the worries and fears of the family?

To some, helping a runaway is seen as a noble thing. But we don't know what story the person was told to gain the help. Evidently someone has not yet felt like talking to the family (or they have not told us if anyone has spoken up) but we also do not know who may have quietly said something to L.E.

 

[Masterj]

To some, helping a runaway is seen as a noble thing. But we don't know what story the person was told to gain the help. Evidently someone has not yet felt like talking to the family (or they have not told us if anyone has spoken up) but we also do not know who may have quietly said something to L.E.

If Maura did run away to start a whole new life, I just don't see someone as fiercely private and guarded as her enlisting the help of someone else.