Missing: Maura Murray Part 1

In the first semester of 2002, Maura transferred to UMass, continuing her previous major from West Point of chemical engineering. However, in the fall of 2002, she made the decision to change her major to nursing, seemingly following in her mother’s footsteps. Maura and Bill continued dating long distance, and she was welcomed to the track team and made several close friends on the team. Despite being at a new school and being accepted into the nursing program, Maura still found herself in trouble. In the fall semester of 2003, she was placed on probation at UMass after she was caught using a stolen credit card number. The only charges on the credit card were for food, including deliveries from several nearby restaurants. The total of the charges were under $250 and the judge told Maura that as long as she stayed out of trouble for 3 months, they would take the incident off of her record. She was never arrested, but a photo of her was taken by officers outside of her dorm room. Nobody seems to know why Maura did this. 

In order to earn some extra money, Maura had two on campus jobs: working at an art gallery and as dorm security. On Thursday, February 5th, 2004, Maura began her shift at 7PM at the front desk in the Melville dorm. She was there to help check in guests, assist students who’d been locked out of their rooms, and to verify the IDs of students who lived in the dorm.  At 7:17PM, she called her boyfriend Billy, talking to him for 20 minutes. She called him again, talking to him for 6 minutes at 9:56PM. At 10:10, Maura called her sister, Kathleen, talking to her for almost 30 minutes. Kathleen later told police that this conversation was unremarkable, nothing was out of the ordinary and that Maura wasn’t acting strangely. At 12:07AM, still at the dorm working, Maura called Billy again, talking to him for 7 minutes.

Around 1AM, one of Maura’s supervisors was notified that Maura was extremely upset and having a “break-down.” The supervisor, Karen Moyette, arrived at Melville Hall to find Maura sitting behind the desk completely zoned out. Karen tried to ask her what was wrong, but Maura wasn’t answering. She told her that it was okay if she left work now, that she’d walk her back home. Maura didn’t move or make any attempt to start collecting her belongings. Karen walked behind the desk and began putting Maura’s school books in her bag and helped her stand up. Karen tried to ask Maura what was wrong, but all Maura could say was “my sister, my sister.” She didn’t elaborate. When they arrived back at Kennedy Hall, where Maura lived, Karen offered to walk her up to her room and to hang out with her for a bit until she felt better. Maura thanked her, but said it was fine, that she had a roommate upstairs who she could talk to. Karen even suggested that Maura go to an on-campus counselor, but Maura declined. Reportedly, Karen also gave Maura her phone number and offered to bring her Dunkin’ Donuts in the morning. She told Maura goodnight and watched as she walked into her dorm. She had no idea that Maura had lied to her about having a roommate, as she actually lived in a single room. That was the last time that Karen saw Maura. For quite some time, it was widely speculated what happened during Maura and Kathleen’s phone call. Many believed that because all she said was “my sister,” that something had upset her from that phone call. A Murray family member said that Kathleen struggled with alcohol addiction and it was possible she may not remember the conversation. During the Oxygen special, Kathleen told interviewers that her husband had recently picked her up from rehab, then driven her straight to a liquor store. She said that it could’ve been hearing that her sister had relapsed that caused Maura to be so upset that night. However, there was almost three hours that passed between Kathleen and Maura’s phone call and her breakdown.

The next day, Friday, February 6th, classes at UMass were canceled due to a snow storm. On Saturday, February 7th, Fred drove to UMass. At the time, Fred was working away from home in Connecticut and staying at a hotel. Because of this, he was much closer to Amherst. That prior week, Fred withdrew $4,000 from his bank account, saying that it was intended to buy Maura a new car. Julie said that her father was old school and liked to deal in cash. He said that they went shopping around Amherst, looking at used vehicles. The 1996 Saturn that Maura drove was in decent shape, but Fred said it wasn’t running that well. They narrowed it down to two vehicles, but ultimately made the decision to not rush, and that Fred would come back down the next weekend. At 3:21PM, Maura called Julie to talk about the cars they found and which one was her favorite. She told her that she and Fred were going to dinner that night. This was the last time that Julie ever spoke to her sister.

Later that evening, Fred, Maura, and her good friend Kate Markopoulos went for dinner and drinks at the nearby Amherst Brewing Company. At dinner, Maura and Kate decided that they were going to head to a party afterwards at a dorm room on campus. The girls and Fred stopped by the liquor store to grab a few things for the party, then they dropped Fred off at his hotel. Maura took his new Corolla and drove herself and Kate back to campus to the party at Sara Alfieri’s dorm. Sara was a friend of Maura’s from her job at the art gallery. There are conflicting stories about this party. Some say that the room was packed, while others say that it was just a few friends. Unfortunately, both Kate and Sara have said in interviews (just after the disappearance AND throughout the years) that they don’t recall exactly who was there.

The girls enjoyed drinking, music, and socializing at the party. Around 1AM, Sara had “passed out” or fallen asleep, while the party continued around her. Around 230AM, Kate and Maura decided to leave. Some sources say that Maura told people that she was going to head back upstairs to her dorm. This didn’t make sense, as Maura lived in a different dorm. Kate said that Maura insisted on taking her father’s car back to his motel. Kate said that she told Maura to wait until morning, that she should just head back to her room, but Maura continued to insist. Kate left for her dorm room and Maura got into her father’s car. There are conflicting rumors about whether the two girls left the party with a male.  At 330AM, Maura crashed her dad’s car into a T-section of road, just outside of the UMass campus. At 3:33AM, police arrived on scene and found Maura with the vehicle that was totalled. An accident report that was shared by Julie reported that a UMass police cadet was “standing by.” According to the UMass web site, “police cadets are paid, non-sworn, student employees who have an interest in law enforcement or who want to pursue a career in law enforcement.” It’s unclear if this cadet just happened upon the accident scene, or if he was possibly already in the car with Maura??!! Maura had left her cell phone at the party, so she had no way of calling the police, so it’s also unclear how police were notified and on scene so quickly.  According to the same report, the accident was determined to be “due to operator inattention.” Maura was not given a ticket, a sobriety test, or any medical attention. She got into the passenger’s seat of the tow vehicle, who dropped her off at her father’s hotel.

It was early Sunday morning, still dark outside, when Maura arrived at the hotel. She was in the lobby for a while because she didn’t have access to her father’s room. Finally, she was able to get in his room and used his phone to call her boyfriend at 538AM. Later that morning, she admitted to her dad that she’d wrecked his car. Fred was understandably upset. Both he and Julie said that Maura was much more upset and disappointed in herself than anyone was with her. Fred found that insurance would cover the vehicle and provide him with a loaner car. That afternoon, he dropped Maura back off at her dorm. She was still visibly upset. This would be the last time that Fred ever saw his youngest daughter.

That evening, Maura worked a shift at the art gallery, then retrieved her cell phone from Sara. She checked her voicemail at 826PM and called her father later. They spoke about her picking up accident forms from the wreck that morning. She promised she’d get them tomorrow and give him a call.

Sometimes after midnight, Maura used her dorm computer to make several searches for directions to Burlington, Vermont and other locations in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She also had several searches for pregnancy terms, which were later explained by a nursing assignment she had to define certain pregnancy terms and send them to other students. This was confirmed by another student in Maura’s class. Around 4AM, she submitted her homework online and finished her computer work. That afternoon, now Monday, February 9th, at 12:55PM, she called a condo owner in Bartlett, New Hampshire. Maura and her family had stayed at this location before. The call lasted approximately 3 minutes and Maura did not book anything. At 1PM, she sent an e-mail to her boyfriend, Billy, that said, “I love you more stud, I got your messages, but honestly, i didn’t feel like talking to much of anyone, i promise to call today though love you, maura”. 

At 1:13PM, Maura called a fellow nursing student to ask her if it was okay for her to return some clothing that she had borrowed from her. The friend told her not to worry about it. At 1:24PM, Maura sent an e-mail to her professors stating that there had been a death in her family and that she was having to leave campus unexpectedly. There was no death in the family. At 2:18PM, she called a ski resort in Stowe, Vermont. The call lasted for just 1 minute. At 2:18PM, she left a voicemail for Billy. 

Maura’s friend, Erin O’Neill, was the one who she’d called earlier about returning clothes she’d borrowed. During the call, she’d told Erin that there was a family emergency, something having to do with her sister, and that she was going to bring the clothes back. Erin wasn’t concerned, and ended up falling asleep in her dorm room. Around 3PM, she heard a knock on her door, but ignored it and fell back asleep. Later, she found a bag of clothing outside of her door. It seemed that Maura had dropped off the clothing. 

At 3:15PM, Maura withdrew $280 from her bank account at an ATM. This left her with under $20 in her bank account. There is surveillance video and photos of Maura at the ATM, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. At 3:43PM, Maura purchased $40 worth of liquor from a nearby store. Julie noted that on the receipt from the liquor store, there was a line titled “cans and bots” for the amount of $3.95. In the state of Massachusetts, cans can be redeemed for 5 cents a piece. This would have meant that Maura came into the store with 79 cans. Julie said that this was strange to her. At some point, Maura picked up the accident forms that she’d discussed getting with Fred. At 4:37PM, she checked her dorm phone voicemail from her cell phone, which lasted for about 4 minutes. This was the last outgoing cell phone activity found on Maura’s phone. Around 5PM, Maura received a call that pinged within 20 miles of Londonderry, New Hampshire, just north of the New Hampshire border with Massachusetts. It’s unknown who this call was from.

Maura’s big sister Julie, along with the rest of her family, continues to fight for her. Julie answered a few questions for us over email to give us a bit more insight on some of the points of her sister’s life and her disappearance:

We asked Julie what her thoughts were about Maura’s minor theft from West Point; “Yes, West Point is very demanding, by design, especially the first two years. It tests you physically, emotionally, and intellectually.  It is certainly not for everyone.  Maura had no problem with the physical and academic side, but the military part was just not something for her in my opinion.  Cadets have to take an oath after their second year and commit to five years of military service.  I believe in my gut the petty theft of under $5 worth of make-up was a way to avoid having to make that commitment to active duty service.  A way out.  This type of honor violation would probably not have resulted in expulsion (I have many friends who did far worse and were not kicked out, they received hefty disciplinary actions), I think she also knew that too and it impacted her decision.”

Regarding the phone calls that Maura made on the night that she was working at the dorm and got so upset. Remember that she had a call with her oldest sister, Kathleen, around 10PM, then with her boyfriend, Bill later on. Maura didn’t get upset until later in the evening. This is what Julie thinks:  “Yes, she did have a conversation with Bill later on, I don’t know exactly what they discussed.  It could certainly have been upsetting to her though, I don’t rule that out.  It is also possible that Maura was feeling like an empath to Kathleen and stayed strong for her on the 10 pm call, but then the weight of the relapse hit her later.  I’m not sure.  What I’m more curious about is what calls she made on the dorm phone system.  I haven’t seen those records.  Maura shared a cell phone plan with Bill, so if she was talking to another guy she wouldn’t have used the cell phone she shared with Bill.”