Disappearance of Maura Murray - Disappearance

Disappearance

"At a hairpin turn, she went off the road. Her car hit a tree. At that point, a person came along who was driving a bus. It was a neighbor. He asked her if she needed help. She refused. About 10 minutes later, police showed up to the scene and Maura Murray was gone."

At 7:29 pm, police dispatch received a call from a Woodsville, New Hampshire resident, who reported an accident near her house on Route 112. At 7:43 pm another Woodsville resident reported a black Saturn partially in the road. A bus driver says that he spoke to a girl he later identified as Maura, and asked if she wanted him to call the police. She told him not to bother, as she had called AAA. However, there was no cellphone reception in the area and AAA says no call was made to them.

At 7:46 pm, an officer from Haverhill Police arrived on the scene. The girl who was seen by the second caller and the bus driver was not present. The car was facing westbound in the eastbound lane, locked and with a cracked windshield and two deployed airbags. A damaged box of Franzia wine was found on the rear passenger seat. Other items found in the car include Maura's AAA card, the insurance forms she retrieved for her earlier accident, her gloves, music CDs, her makeup, directions for Burlington and Stowe, a favorite stuffed monkey, and the Nicholas Howe book, Not Without Peril, a book about climbing in the White Mountains. A rag from Maura's emergency roadside kit was discovered stuffed into the Saturn's muffler pipe.

The EMS and a fire truck arrived just before 8 pm, and quickly cleared the scene. Maura's car was towed to a local auto repair garage by 8:49 pm, and the police officer left to attend another call at about 9:30 pm. A New Hampshire State Police trooper stopped by the scene of the accident, but it is unknown at what time he arrived, if he was dispatched or if he stopped on his own accord. The family reports that they were told there was no radio communication between the officer and his station for approximately two hours upon arrival to the scene. There was no immediate search as it was assumed that Maura had left the scene by herself. Her bank card, credit cards, and cellphone have not been used since.