The Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray (Part 3)

Let’s Discuss Possible Theories (Logical Ones):

Maura committed suicide somewhere in the mountains. Perhaps somewhere she had fond memories of as a child.
Maura took off, leaving all of her worldly possessions, family, friends and boyfriend behind to go start a new life. Maybe Canada? Maybe pregnant? Mother died of Cancer, never came back around?
Maura died of exposure deep in the woods, outside of the search area.
Maura was a victim of a serial killer. Discuss Brianna Maitland disappearance. Also, Breya’s favorite speculation: Israel Keyes. (FYI: He was in the NH area in the fall of 1994, long after the disappearance of both Maura and Brianna.
Romantic Rendezvous / Tandem Driver
This is the most popular opinion of many and the same conclusion that Maggie Freleng & Art Roderick came to in the Disappearance of Maura Murray documentary. And that is that Maura fell victim to an opportunistic killer.

The A-Frame House

Former police officer and private investigator, John Smith, who assisted the Murray family for over 10 years provided evidence to Maggie Freleng of the ‘Missing Maura Murray’ documentary. With this evidence, he accused two brothers, local to the area, with the last name “Moulton”, had something to do with Maura’s disappearance. He suggests that one of these men lived in an A-Frame house about a mile from the crash site. Locals speculate Maura was murdered in the house. Fred Murray told John Smith that Larry Moulton mailed him a knife which he claimed he found in his brother, Claude’s, glove compartment. The knife allegedly had traces of blood on it according to Larry. Police initially wouldn’t take the knife as new evidence but later accepted it. To my knowledge, law enforcement has never disclosed whether they are in possession of the knife or have tested it for DNA.

In 2006, the new owners of the A-Frame house allowed Smith to inspect the interior of the home where two cadaver “dogs got a big hit off this upstairs closet for human remains and carpet samples were given to the New Hampshire State Police,” according to Smith. The floors have since been replaced and no carpet samples remain; law enforcement has not commented on whether or not they have the carpet samples or have tested them.

Ten years later, in 2016, Smith returned to the now-abandoned A-frame home with the hosts of the ‘Missing Maura Murray’ podcast. There, the trio observed what appeared to be blood on the wood paneled walls inside the upstairs closet. “We actually took wood chips from that closet and I have those in my possession,” Smith said. He then gave the wood chips to the documentary crew who had them examined by a molecular geneticist, Dr. Maxx Noureddine, who applied phenolphthalein to the samples and noted that they turned pink, indicating the presence of blood. Whether that blood is related to Maura remains to be determined and the samples have been sent off for DNA testing.

One interesting piece of this puzzle, however, is that Forensic Scientist, Lori Baker, determined the blood came from a human, not an animal: “Not only did it test positively for blood but for the blood of two different human beings,” Baker said. “So you have the DNA from humans and you actually have the DNA from two individuals.” One of the contributors to the DNA sample is definitely a male; the other is undetermined — which leaves open the possibility that it could be Maura’s blood. The information was passed along to the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit who determined that the samples were too degraded to determine any other specific characteristics. Despite this, they have assigned 3 task forces into looking deeper into Maura’s disappearance.

The Loon Mountain 3:

The Loon Mountain 3 theory goes alongside with the abduction theory, however it puts a different spin on it. Here it is theorized that Maura was abducted by someone she knew, perhaps casually. Some believe that Maura may have have crossed paths with a group of brothers known as ‘The Loon Mountain 3’ (C. Glynn, W. Glynn, and M. Glynn from Woodsville, NH) Two being brothers and one having the same last name, but unrelated. Using this theory, the 3 men picked up Maura and took her to another location, sexually assaulted, and killed her there. Locals rumored that Maura may have had a boyfriend in the Haverhill area. It is also possible that Maura may have traveled previously to Loon Mountain to ski and interacted with the Glynn brothers during a previous trip. The ski resort, or its vicinity, may have been Maura’s intended destination (the Mountain Club is approximately 27 miles from Maura’s crash site and 2 of the brothers, W. and M., supposedly had a home together near the crash site).

This and the other abduction theories give credence to the search dogs losing Maura’s scent 100 yards east down the road from the crash site. Which would indicate that she may have entered someone else’s vehicle. Allegedly, the men known as ‘The Loon Mountain 3’ did not show up for work on February 9th, This could suggest they were involved with events related to Maura’s disappearance. Their typical route to work included Route 112 and may have seen Maura along the way. If she had known them from being in the area prior, she might have been more inclined to get into their vehicle. Or, if one or more of the Glynn brothers did encounter her, and she turned them or their help down, they could have easily outnumbered & overcome Maura and forced her against her will into their vehicle.

Taken from: https://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/local-news/dna-identified-in-the-vicinity-of-brianna-maitlands-car/

“We consistently go back through this case to see what we have and what we could do more with,” said Detective Sergeant Angela Baker of the VSP. Detective Baker has been leading the investigation for the past five years and says police now identified DNA that was collected on the ground near Brianna’s car, which was found backed up into an abandoned building just a mile away, off of Route 118.

The DNA was compared to 11 ‘persons of interest’ in the case, with no match. “This DNA was collected 18 years ago and there just hasn’t been a hit,” said Detective Baker. “So we had to start thinking of different ways to identify this DNA.”

Investigators sought the help of Texas-based company Othram and genome sequencing, and after months of follow-up work, VSP was able to locate a match. The person is not a suspect in the case as or right now but police say they’ve made contact and the person is being cooperative.

Prior to this new development, Brianna’s father Bruce Maitland shared his thoughts on the case. “It’s a bizarre thing not knowing it really, the chances of knowing to decrease every single day. And then you have to kind of deal with the fact that you know, you just know you may never know.”

Bruce recalled Brianna’s free and independent spirit, and while police admit they still need to determine how the DNA got there and if it’s related to Brianna’s disappearance, Detective Baker calls it an important step forward.

“It’s always been a theory, or a possible lead, there’s been very few things we’ve been able to concretely say we know and that’s why its been so baffling for the past 18 years,” said Bruce. “This information we know concretely who’s DNA that is, we’ve positively identified that. I’m confident the right piece of info will come in and we can determine what happened to Brianna.”

“It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean we have identified a suspect,” said Detective Baker. “We are continuing our active efforts to investigate every lead associated with this case, and we constantly look for new technological advances to aid in our investigation. The use of genetic genealogy to identify the DNA found 18 years ago is just one example of how detectives continue to track down every potential lead in this case.”

Authorities Investigated A Potential Crime Scene In 2019

From Ranker.com: https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-and-theories-about-the-disappearance-of-maura-murray/jacob-shelton

“On April 3, 2019, The FBI and New Hampshire State Police searched a home near the crash site based on evidence obtained by the Murray family. Fred Murray went to authorities stating that cadaver dogs and a radar scan of the home’s basement indicated that something was buried underneath. Murray had suspected for years that Maura had been taken to the house, and he was finally given permission to search it when new owners bought the property.

Upon digging up the basement’s concrete floor, investigators found no trace of Maura Murray. “This one hurts,” Fred Murray said afterwards. “I thought we finally had it. I was pretty sure.”

Bone Fragments Were Found Near The Crash Site In 2021

From Ranker.com: https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-and-theories-about-the-disappearance-of-maura-murray/jacob-shelton

“In September 2021, bone fragments were found at a construction site near Loon Mountain, approximately 25 miles east of where Murray crashed her car. Murray’s family was hopeful that the fragments would lead to answers in her disappearance. At the time of the discovery, Murray’s sister Julie stated, “If it is truly Maura, the people who are responsible can be brought to justice.”

Experts used radiocarbon dating to test the age of the bones, and the process took two months to complete. In November 2021, authorities determined that the bones were from some time between 1774 and 1942, and could not possibly have been the remains of Maura Murray.”

No official suspects have ever been named.
Still considered a “missing persons” case. She has not been declared legally “dead” by her family.

Anyone with any information can contact the FBI @ 1-800-634-4097 or
Sgt. Matthew Koehler at the New Hampshire State Police at 603-223-3648.

Maura Murray FBI Poster (Source: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/missing-persons/maura-murray—haverhill-new-hampshire)

*****END OF PART THREE*****

Sources:

The Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray (Part 3)

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