On Friday, March 19th, 2004, 17-year-old Brianna Maitland clocked out of her job at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery, Vermont at 11:20PM. She told her co-workers that she needed to get home and get some rest before starting at her second part time job the next morning. Brianna was never seen again. In the early morning hours of the following day, her vehicle was found off the road and backed into a nearby abandoned farmhouse. Her keys were gone, but her migraine medication and contacts were still inside. 17 years later, Brianna is still missing. Initially thought to possibly be a runaway, it soon became clear that Brianna was the victim of foul play. Was it drug related or was Brianna the victim of an accident that was covered up by friends who were too scared to admit their involvement?
Who was Brianna?
Brianna Alexandra Maitland was born on October 8, 1986 in Burlington, Vermont to Bruce and Kellie Maitland. The couple was young, around 25 years old when Brianna was born. She and her parents and her older brother Waylon lived on a farm in Franklin, Vermont. The family lived without some modern appliances, including a stove, microwave, or television. This didn’t stop Brianna from living a full life. Her friends thought of her as a bit of a hippie. When her friends first visited and found that she cooked popcorn on a wood stove, they were shocked. She could track wild animals in the woods and often helped care for her family’s animals. She was heavily trained in the Brazilian martial art of Jiu Jitsu. She had a Shar Pei named Lau and a cat named Muffin.
Brianna was described by friends and family as bubbly and charismatic. Her friends often referred to her as “Bri” and “B”. She was a free spirit who never met a stranger and was known for introducing herself on the first day of school to anyone who looked like they might’ve needed a friend. She was funny, silly, and kept notes from her friends taped up in her light green 1985 Oldsmobile Sedan. She never forgot anyone’s birthday. She was someone who could be counted on and was fun to be around. Brianna was an attention grabber with her long brown hair, slim build, hazel eyes, and long legs. Her friends sometimes referred to her as “the hot one.”
While Brianna’s personality was one of trust and sensitivity, it sometimes led her to be a bit naive. Her parents said that their daughter always wanted to see the best in everyone, which wasn’t always a good thing. She thought of others before herself, which sometimes led her into dangerous situations. One time, her mother said that she came home to find Brianna with a hitchhiker that she picked up while driving home. Though nothing bad happened, this kind of decision making made Kellie nervous.
Though Brianna had a relatively good relationship with her parents, she, like most other 17-year-olds, wanted independence. She wanted to make her own rules and come and go on her own terms. Her friends lived about 15 miles away from her family’s farm and they went to different high schools. Her friend, Shauna LaBelle, said that despite Brianna’s outgoing and friendly personality, she sometimes had trouble making friends. People in high school were very judgemental, and Brianna didn’t have the nicest and newest of everything.
Finally in October of 2003, when Brianna turned 17, she moved out of her parents’ home and into a friend, Katie Manning’s, house who lived near the high school that she wanted to attend in Enosburg. When that housing situation fell through, she bounced from house to house, living with other friends and boyfriends. It’s reported that she even spent some nights living in her car. In late February of 2004, Brianna dropped out of high school. The instability of her living situation had taken a toll on her grades and her ability to succeed in school. She moved in with a childhood friend named Jillian Stout and finally felt more comfortable with those living arrangements. Once she was settled, she joined a high school equivalency program in order to get her GED. Things seemed to be settling down for the Maitland family.
The Day of the Disappearance
On Friday, March 19, 2004, Brianna woke up early and her mother picked her up to have breakfast. Brianna was going to take her GED exam afterwards and then the two were going shopping. Around 12PM, Kellie picked Brianna up from her exam and the two went to a local store to shop. Brianna had recently been hired for 2 part time jobs, one as a dishwasher at the Black Lantern and another at KJ’s Diner. She needed black pants for the job at the diner. As they stood in the checkout line at the store, Kellie noticed something catch her daughter’s eye outside. Brianna told her mother that she’d be right back and walked out of the store and out of her mother’s view.
Kellie finished paying and met her daughter out in the parking lot at her car. She noticed that Brianna’s entire demeanor had changed. She was agitated and secretive. Kellie decided not to ask her what was going on, wanting to respect her privacy. The car ride back to Jillian’s house was quiet and tense. Kellie felt that something had happened in the parking lot that had upset her daughter. Once they arrived, Brianna gave her mother a hug and exchanged ‘i love yous.’ Brianna headed inside to get ready for her shift at the Black Lantern Inn. Around 3:30PM, Brianna left her roommate a note saying that she’d be back later that night, then she drove herself to work.
It was a busy night at the Black Lantern, and Brianna was working hard in the back washing dishes and helping the rest of the staff. Kellie and Bruce, her parents, were at an establishment not too far down the road. When they headed home, Kellie asked Bruce if he thought they should stop by and see their daughter on the way home. Bruce said that they shouldn’t embarrass her in front of her co-workers and the couple headed home.
At 11:20PM, the staff at the Black Lantern clocked out. Most of them hung around to socialize and decompress after closing, but Brianna said she needed to head out and get some sleep before her shift the next morning at the diner. Co-workers saw her pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road. This was the last time that Brianna was ever seen.
Where’s Brianna?
Jillian saw the note Brianna had left for her that night, then she left to spend the weekend away at her grandparents’ house. She returned home 2 days later on Sunday, the 21st to find the note untouched and no sign of Brianna. She assumed that her roommate might have gone to stay at her family’s house or with a friend, and didn’t really think too much of it. On March 23rd, without having heard or seen anything from Brianna, Jillian called Bruce and Kellie and asked if their daughter was with them. Kellie said, no, I thought she was with you. Kellie started contacting everyone she could think of that might’ve known where her daughter was. Bruce was in New York making sales calls and couldn’t get ahold of his daughter either. He immediately hopped in his car and began driving back home. Kellie didn’t waste much time before calling 911 to report Brianna missing. She was immediately entered into the National Crime Informations Center as a missing juvenile, an alert which would go out to all law agencies.
The following day, Wednesday the 24th, five days after Brianna was last seen, Kellie and Bruce made more phone calls and drove around the area looking for her anything that might indicate where their daughter was. Kellie wondered if Brianna could’ve ran away, possibly to go see her aunt, Tammy Fisher in Pittsburgh. The two were very close. When Kellie called Tammy to see if Brianna had called or turned up at her home, Tammy didn’t know anything.
The possibility of Brianna having run away seemed crazy, but wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. Her friend Shauna said that Brianna often talked about dreams of leaving Vermont and moving to the big city. Some of her friends even said that this is what they thought had happened when they first heard that she was missing. She wanted more than what was around in her rural town. Despite this, Shauna said that there was no way her friend would’ve left without telling anyone. She had a huge heart and wouldn’t hurt her friends and family like that.
On Thursday, March 25th, Kellie and Bruce went to the nearest Vermont State Police station in St. Albans. They showed police photos of Brianna and of her green Oldsmobile that she’d been last seen driving. An officer showed them a picture of a car that had been found off of Route 118, just a mile or two down from the Black Lantern. Her parents confirmed that the car belonged to Brianna. Kellie said that when she saw the photo, she immediately got chills and thought she was going to vomit.
On Saturday, March 20th, the day after Brianna was last seen leaving work, a state trooper had been dispatched to an abandoned vehicle off of the road on Route 118. When he got there, he found a green Oldsmobile that was a short ways off the road that had been backed into an abandoned farmhouse. The house was locally known as the Dutchburn house and wasn’t far from the Black Lantern Inn. There wasn’t significant damage to the vehicle, however there was a good sized hole in the side of the farmhouse. Despite the odd presentation of the car, the trooper wasn’t very concerned about the vehicle or how it’d gotten there. He didn’t notice anything abnormal inside the vehicle, just some personal effects and two unopened Black Lantern paychecks addressed to Brianna. The trooper assumed it had been a drunk driver who’d abandoned their vehicle in hopes of avoiding a DUI. He recorded the license plate, drove down the road to the Black Lantern Inn, and found that it was closed. The trooper resumed his patrol and didn’t think much more about the car. The car was towed to a local autobody shop.
Bruce was livid. He couldn’t understand why they weren’t notified sooner that their vehicle was located, particularly since the assumed driver of the vehicle had been underage. Waylon, their son, found Brianna’s car at a local shop. Bruce immediately went to the shop and found that the trunk still hadn’t been opened since the keys weren’t with the vehicle when it was found. Despite his fear that he might find his daughter’s body in the trunk, Bruce pried it open with a crowbar. Fortunately, the trunk was just filled with Brianna’s personal belongings and some things that belonged to friends. Inside of the car, Bruce found Brianna’s contact lenses and her migraine medications, two things that he didn’t think she would go anywhere without. This was when Bruce and Kellie really began to consider that their daughter might have been a victim of foul play. Kellie said that Brianna wouldn’t have been easy to contain. She was significantly trained in martial arts and was a fighter.
On Friday, March 26th, everyone in the community was searching for Brianna. The Maitland’s house was was hub, with police, volunteers, and media everywhere. Kellie helped make and distribute flyers. Bruce spent the day at the Black Lantern talking to everyone, getting as much information as he could. Police deployed search dogs in the area surrounding the car, but nothing was found. On March 30th, police examined Brianna’s car for evidence, and collected DNA and fingerprints. Back at the Maitland’s farm, they were getting tons of phone calls, mostly rumors or creepy people with nothing better to do than harass the Maitlands. Brianna’s aunt Tammy who was helping with the search was answering calls at the home when she received a call from another family with a missing daughter: Maura Murray’s family member. Maura was 21 years old when she disappeared in New Hampshire, about 90 miles from Brianna. Maura’s car had been found abandoned on the side of the road, just about 5 weeks before Brianna’s disappearance. Maura’s family were wondering if the two disappearances were connected, if there was possibly a serial killer in the area.
Two weeks after Brianna was last seen, The Klaas Kids Foundation came to Vermont to aid in the search. The Klaas Kids Foundation was founded by Mark Klaas the father of 12-year-old Polly Klaas who was abducted and murdered in 1993. The non-profit advocates for laws protecting children from crime. They’ve also conducted hundreds of searches for missing people and trained over 1600 professional search and rescue volunteers. On April 3rd, 4th, and 5th, the foundation brought more than 500 volunteers to help canvas areas within a 5 mile radius of where Brianna’s car was found. Unfortunately, nothing was found.
Any Clues? Anything??
Though police and the Maitlands were coming up empty-handed in their searches, the widespread publicity was paying off. Witnesses had come forward saying that they’d seen Brianna’s car the night she’d disappeared. A man driving down Route 118 remembered seeing the vehicle backed into the Dutchburn house, sometime between 11:30PM and 12:30AM. He believed the headlights were on. Another driver saw her vehicle in the same spot between 12PM and 12:30AM with a turn signal possibly flashing. Later that morning, around 2:30AM, Brianna’s ex-boyfriend, James Robitaille, who was returning from a party drove by the Dutchburn house and saw her car. Recognizing the vehicle, he pulled over.
There are two different accounts of what James did that night. One says that he continued on by the vehicle, recognizing it, but not stopping. Another said that he found the headlights on and both the driver’s side and passenger’s side doors open. James turned off the lights and shut the doors and continued on. James’ story has varied a bit since he was admittedly drunk that night and didn’t want to get in trouble. Even later that morning, a group of hikers driving down Route 118 saw Brianna’s vehicle and were so curious, that they pulled over and took photos. They found the situation to be very odd. They saw loose change, a water bottle, and a broken necklace on the ground nearby that was later determined to be Brianna’s. Luckily these hikers took photos, because they ended up being some of the only photos taken of the crime scene.
Three weeks after Brianna was last seen, the Maitland fami;ly launched another MASSIVE search in rural northwest Vermont. Again, they found nothing.
Some Events Leading Up to That Night
In late February, about 3 weeks prior to Brianna’s disappearance, she was involved in an altercation at a party. Keallie LaCross and Brianna were good friends in high school. There were six girls in their friend group and the girls were hardly ever seen without each other. Both Keallie and Brianna were often interested in the same guys. While Keallie was out of town one week, she found out that Brianna had stayed at Keallie’s boyfriend’s house that week, James Robitaille. James admitted that he’d cheated on Keallie with Brianna. Though the girls had been close for a while, Brianna had grown slightly distant from the girls as she wasn’t attending school with them anymore. After returning to Vermont, Keallie saw Brianna in James’ car, which really made her angry. She shouted at them as they drove off.
A few days later, Brianna showed up to a party with James. Keallie was there and was livid that the couple had showed up. She admittedly antagonized Brianna throughout the night, but got no reaction from her. When Brianna finally had enough and went out to sit in James’ car. Keallie went out to the car and knocked on it. Brianna rolled down her window. Keallie punched her twice in the head, shouting at her and asking if she was going to come out and fight. Brianna sat there with her head down, crying. Finally, James came outside and Keallie walked away. Brianna was taken to the hospital with a broken nose, black eyes, and a concussion. Her friend, Shauna, encouraged her to file a police report about the assault. Brianna did so, with hesitation. When her parents asked her why she didn’t fight back, she told them that she didn’t want anyone to not like her.
On April 9th, the assault complaint against Keallie was dropped, despite Brianna’s parents’ objections. Keallie ended up being one of seven people that were subpoenaed to testify about Brianna’s disappearance. Keallie was very cooperative with police and was questioned multiple times. Police don’t seem to have any belief that she was involved in Brianna’s disappearance.
Theories
At the time of Brianna’s disappearance, there was a drug epidemic in Vermont. Crack cocaine was particularly popular. There were plenty of teenagers who didn’t have anything to do other than try drugs. There was more than one drug ring active in the area, however one that stood out to police was run by Ramon Ryans aka “Street” and Nathaniel Jackson aka “Low.” The two were from New York and came to Vermont specifically to traffic and distribute drugs. There were rumors that Brianna was involved with drugs and initially it appeared to be casual usage. However, it soon came to light that Brianna was a bit deeper into drug use than initially believed. Her friend, Shauna, said that Brianna had told her she’d used crack cocaine and marijuana at parties. Greg Overacker, a private investigator hired by the Maitlands, said he was able to place Brianna with Ryans and Jackson many times, some in one on one situations. Four weeks after her disappearance, the Maitlands received an anonymous phone call saying that Brianna was being held against her will in a farmhouse on Reservoir Road in Berkshire, about 10 miles from where her car was found. Bruce told police that either they needed to execute a search at the farmhouse, or else he would gather a group of friends and do it himself.
Vermont State Police went to the residence to find that it belonged to Ryans and Jackson. Both denied knowing where Brianna was. The other two teenagers in the home also denied any knowledge about her. Ryans and Jackson allowed police to search the home. They found nothing that tied the men to Brianna, however found guns and drug paraphernalia. The four were arrested on drug charges. After their arraignments, Jackson left Vermont and moved to the Carolinas where he was eventually arrested again on drug charges. Ryans moved in with a Gia Collins. A few months later, Collins was reported missing by Ryans and her remains were found shortly after. A woman was arrested after she admitted to murdering Collins after robbing her during a drug deal. Ryans was never convicted of any involvement. Both Ryans and Jackson continued saying that they knew of Brianna, but didn’t know her very well. Overacker said that was complete bullshit and there were plenty of witnesses who said otherwise.
One theory is that Brianna owed someone money for drugs. Police strongly believed this and the newspaper even printed an article stating that her disappearance was the result of drug debt, DESPITE there not being any proof of this. They eventually published a retraction and apologized to the Maitlands. There are many people who believe that Brianna’ disappearance may have been the result of a group trying to scare her because she owed them money. It was theorized that she met them out by the Dutchburn house after work and their plan went wrong, ending in her death inadvertently. It wasn’t out of the ordinary in Vermont for teens to meet in fields, drink, and do drugs, so meeting near the Dutchburn house was a plausible theory.
In the middle of June 2004, police said they’d ruled out any connection between Brianna’s disappearance and Maura Murray. Despite this, some people still believe that the two disappearances could be the result of a serial killer.
On January 17th, 2006, a Vermont business owner was at a blackjack table at Caesar’s Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey when he spotted a female who he thought looked exactly like Brianna. She was with a bald, middle-aged white male. The man did not approach the woman, but quickly contacted law enforcement. Police retrieved surveillance video from the casino to show her family. Within five minutes of watching the video, Waylon knew that the woman wasn’t his little sister. Her parents were hesitant and likely biased as I’m sure they hoped it was her. Eventually, after pausing the video and seeing the woman at a certain angle, Kellie said she was confident that it wasn’t her daughter. The woman has never been identified.
Greg Overacker said that he was told by someone that the day that Brianna disappeared, she’d been threatened in the parking lot earlier. Remember when Brianna was shopping with her mother and she left the store? When she returned to her mother, her mood had shifted, but Kellie didn’t press her. Overacker said that he was told that Brianna saw someone she recognized outside. She went to speak to them and they told her that she shouldn’t go to work that night. The source said that the person who told him this, was told it reportedly by the person who spoke to Brianna. This has never been confirmed.
The creators of the Podcast, Missing Maura Murray, have at least 20 episodes where they dig deep into Brianna’s disappearance. During this, they interview several of her friends. Katie Manning and Megan Jefferson were close friends of Brianna’s in high school. They remembered how friendly she was and that she was a great person. In their interviews, they both said that they believe there are between 2-4 who still live in the area who know what happened to Brianna. They alluded to the fact that they believe Brianna’s death was an accidental overdose and the people who were with her, rather than call 911 for fear of getting in trouble for their own drug use, they let her die, disposed of her body, and covered up her death. Though the girls don’t name the people they believe were involved, they mention that they were close to at least one of the people before and just after Brianna’s disappearance.
Katie said that the police were told about these rumors, and even drained a manure pit at the house of one of the guys, but found nothing. In another article, Keallie LaCross said that after Brianna’s disappearance, they came to her boyfriend’s house to drag his manure pit. Though the man’s name isn’t reported, it’s clear that it was someone who was involved with Brianna’s group of friends. In Megan’s interview, she said that it’s possible that the people were scared when Brianna overdosed since she was only 17-years-old and they were all above the age of 18. The people still live in Enosburg and Katie said she still runs into them occasionally.
In 2007, a Vermont newspaper published a story that a local police officer gave a sworn statement that a local woman told him that Brianna was murdered and dismembered by several people, including Ramon Ryans. Police were never able to substantiate any of this information.
As to why Brianna’s car was backed into the Dutchburn house, there are a few theories. Some think that she was meeting someone there and was attacked. While trying to fend off her attacker, she inadvertently reversed into the building. Others believe that Brianna had multiple attackers at that scene, and that after getting her into another car, someone tried to take her vehicle with them, but accidentally reversed it into the farmhouse.
There are rumors that there is evidence that was possibly found in Brianna’s car that hasn’t been released to the public. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much public movement in her disappearance. If you have any information regarding Brianna’s disappearance, please contact the Vermont State Police at 802-524-5993.
