Further Down The Rabbit Hole, Part 2: Podcasts Discuss The Disappearance of Maura Murray

I recently wrote about the twists, turns and lack of resolution in The Disappearance of Maura Murray: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/further-down-the-rabbit-hole-part-1-the-disappearance_us_59dd3942e4b0df59e2613cd1. The newly revamped, “full-time true crime” Oxygen network is now airing its six-part series with this very title.

THE DUE DILIGENCE OF TRUE CRIME PODCASTS

In part 1 of my deep dive, I discussed the devotion of true crime podcasts to this case. Maura Murray was a U Mass student who vanished after crashing her car on route 112 in Haverhill, NH. This happened on February 9th, 2004. She had spoken with a bus driver named Butch Atwood and pleaded with him not to call police, claiming she had already phoned AAA. Knowing cell service was shoddy in the White Mountains, the bus driver alerted authorities anyway when he got home. When officers arrived, Maura's locked car was at the accident site as well as all of her belongings, with the exception of her wallet. In a short span of time, Maura had disappeared and all are stumped as to what transpired while (presumably) no one was watching her. By 2017, many podcasts had designated entire episodes to the mystery. In the process, they explored personal issues Maura faced prior to her disappearance. The Oxygen network partnered with the Missing Maura Murray podcast for their series. The podcast hosts Lance Reenstierna and Tim Pilleri (who are making their own documentary about the case) appear on the series discussing the case with investigative journalist Maggie Freleng and former US Marshall Art Roderick, a friend to Fred Murray who is dedicated to solving this.

TRUE CRIME GARAGE PODCAST

The True Crime Garage Podcast does not appear in the Oxygen series, but are highly respected in the podcast world and by those who follow true crime. Their intense commitment to thoroughly investigating each case they cover is noted by appreciative listeners. I became familiar with True Crime Garage (TCG) upon the recommendation of Kari Martin, co-host of the podcast White Wine True Crime. I spoke with the TCG hosts, who go by the names Nic and The Captain:

“Nic stays neck deep in this case constantly,” says The Captain of the disappearance of Maura Murray.

“Do you think Maura could possibly be alive?” I ask “Do you think, as one of writer James Renner’s theories goes, she may have gone to Canada and started a new life under a new identity?”

MOST LIKELY SCENARIO - ACCORDING TO TRUE CRIME GARAGE

“I think she got into someone else’s vehicle,” says Nic, “I think she may have been picked up by someone she knew and I think that person ultimately ended up killing her for one reason or another. I don’t know the reasons. I don’t know who that person would be, though I have some suspicions. Maura showed a sign of ‘I’m not getting into a stranger’s vehicle’ when telling Butch Atwood that she called AAA. I think she was paranoid about the police. She was either intoxicated or working on getting intoxicated because there was red liquid found in her vehicle, alcohol she had purchased.”

“I think she was tailing a friend or someone she thought to be a friend and getting tipsy along the way. In the Oxygen documentary, they said those roads seem to be roads you have to have experience driving and I agree. Those are winding roads and maybe she took her eye off the car she was tailing for a minute. Then there’s a dirt road that is off the side of that turn. It was getting darker and it would appear at a distance to not be a turn to the left. I think she took her eyes off the road just long enough to lose control of the car. Whoever she was traveling with took some time to notice she was no longer behind. We’ve all done trips in a convoy, and you realize at some point, the person is no longer behind you. When we did our episode on this case, we got questions about what took her so long on that ride. There is time that is unaccounted for - that’s included in the series as well. She likely made stops that we are not aware of.”

The Captain adds: “This is also one of (true crime writer) James Renner’s theories, that she was traveling as part of a group. For some reason, the police did not reveal the ATM footage when Maura stopped and withdrew $200.”

“That really opened up my eyes,” says Nic, “Because that footage could have shown her with somebody. A friend could have walked up with her and been visible on camera and then we might have known who she was potentially traveling with.”

THE ATM WITHDRAWALS - EXPLAINED BY TIM AND LANCE OF THE MISSING MAURA MURRAY PODCAST

I consult with Tim and Lance of the Missing Maura Murray podcast. The documentary talks about how Maura basically depleted her checking account before she took off, leaving the barest minimum to keep the account open.

Prior to that, there were some other withdrawals. Those were made by her dad Fred who had visited a few days before Maura went missing. They discussed purchasing a new vehicle because Maura’s Saturn was falling apart and the withdrawals were reportedly made so he could help her purchase that car. There are reports of Fred Murray’s house being in foreclosure, but he had enough money to withdraw cash from eight different ATM machines.

“I know it seems weird that someone went to 8 different ATMs to get cash,” says Lance, “but it was 2004 so maybe it was a little more typical back then. i remember going to several ATMs myself. It also fits Fred’s personality. He was an old school guy who used old-school sayings. The withdrawals seem to fit everything I know about his personality and fits the situation with the car she was operating. It wasn’t safe. It was down a cylinder. With Fred’s old school mentality, he wanted to pay for the car in cash. You can look at this case almost like a fun-house mirror because there are so many red herrings that get examined. With Maura’s withdrawal of 200 from her own bank account days later, we see it as her needing cash to go for a trip. At this point, a lot of people look at it like she intended to never come back, but she still left a balance keeping the account open.”

Addressing True Crime Garage’s point about the never released ATM stills from Maura’s withdrawal, the Missing Maura Murray hosts tell me: “The Oxygen show was (in fact) able to get the stills from the ATM and can confirm there was no person there with her. She was alone and there’s nothing really fishy about the photos. The police don’t necessarily have to release anything to anybody during an open investigation. So that was their decision - to not release the photos at that time.”

THERE ARE MANY “WHY”S WHEN IT COMES TO THE POLICE

Fred Murray is frustrated by the police and feels they withheld information. He even lost a court case against them that he brought forth for this very reason. Part 4 of the Oxygen documentary shines some light on the police department in Haverhill. A witness reported seeing a vehicle - that may have belonged to an officer who had a history of driving while intoxicated - nose to nose with Maura’s car the night she disappeared. In the most recent episode (ep. 4) of the Oxygen series, Maggie and Art question some of the officers in Haverhill including one that searched for her that night from his car.

THE TRIBULATIONS OF ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS IN ONE’S 20’S

Maura’s boyfriend at the time, Billy Rausch, may have been unfaithful. Maura may have been involved with her track coach. I don’t like the idea of speculating about the personal life of a college age woman who went missing when so much is uncertain about that personal life. On the other hand, we need to figure out what happened so it’s nearly impossible to avoid the speculation. There are theories that Maura was pregnant when she disappeared, so then there is the idea that she may have been pregnant while she was drinking the night of her disappearance.

Psychotherapist Dawn Livorsi cautions against what some have tried to do, ascribing a diagnosis to the missing young woman (who was not under psychological or psychiatric care at the time of her disappearance). Some have actually wondered if Maura Murray was a psychopath who took off for a new life with little regard for those she left behind. “No one should diagnose a condition based on speculation, particularly a condition as complex and potentially stigmatizing as Psychopathy,” says Livorsi, “That’s unfair to the person and the family. Only trained mental health professionals should be in the practice of considering such a diagnosis, after appropriately assessing the client.”

There is also the matter of putting the spotlight on Billy who could be entirely innocent and had an alibi being 1700 miles away that night. My own 20’s were filled with romantic trials and tribulations and lots of tangled relationship-related webs.

Of Billy, The Captain says: “Did she want to get away from this guy? Who knows? I think the evidence points to her wanting to get a break - to mentally get away from the guys in her life. It’s possible she felt overwhelmed by her relationship with Billy. It’s possible she was also overwhelmed trying to please her dad. She was a former athlete, a star student who was now down on her luck because she had stolen some items, had to face a disciplinary committee and then had to transfer from West Point because of that trouble. Enough evidence shows that she embarked on that drive that night in order to take a break. A break of some sort. However, I don’t think there’s a tons of evidence that points to her going off to start a brand new life or identity.”

DOES THE MISSING MAURA MURRAY PODCAST HAVE A ‘THEORY’?

Tim and Lance say “We purposely try not to have theories. We won’t even have a theory when this (the Oxygen series) is done airing necessarily. However, the information that the series provides is helping us formulate better ideas of what may have happened.One particular outcome will be kind of obvious at the end of the show. The way Maggie and Art have investigated things in this series has really narrowed down some of the theories that are out there today. With the investigation happening, they eliminate a lot of popular ones and we’re left with realistic opinions. That’s as close as we can get to saying we have a theory. It looks like it’s honing in on one particular thing.”

BLAME CANADA?

The series has explored one of writer James Renner’s theories that Maura may be living in Canada under a new identity. A shopkeeper in Quebec thought she had recognized Maura Murray, but with age progression technology presented to her by Maggie and Art, she decided it was probably not in fact Maura who she had seen.

“We have a lot of connections with law enforcement and the more we’ve discussed this, the more this idea (of Canada) is being shot down,” say the hosts of True Crime Garage.

THE DOGS

Nic says he’s even more convinced that the answers lie with “the tandem driver” because of search efforts: “There has been talk of how this track and field star could have taken off running, but then there’s evidence of the K-9 units - the dogs who went searching for her - losing scent in the middle of the road.This is just more evidence to us that someone picked her up and she took a ride from there with that someone.”

THE SKEPTIC TALKS TO THE PSYCHIC

I am the biggest skeptic, but my friend Kate Casey says she has a friend she vouches for who is a psychic. Yes, a psychic. Her name is Jen Yates and she spoke about Maura’s disappearance on Kate’s podcast Reality Life with Kate Casey. She will also be interviewed on an upcoming episode of the Missing Maura Murray podcast.

Since Jen tells me that my back and knees are bound to feel better once I take certain measures, I’m inclined to believe in her. (Don’t we all want to hear positive predictions? I am a former runner by the way.)

“Maura wants people to know that her death was an accident,” says Jen, “But somebody picked her up from the accident site and I’m getting that they were driving a truck. After her accidental death, she was buried in a place that’s hidden and it’s more than just someone dug a hole...There was a lot more effort to hide her..”

I’m not entirely sure what to make of the conversation after we hang up the phone. There is one thing though: It completely matches rumors that have been quietly swirling around Haverhill for years.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF HAVERHILL

Every small town has its secrets and its busybodies. There has been a lot of talk in Haverhill over the years about young adults of college age who ran around with the “wrong crowds” back in 2004. Tim and Lance tell me there was a significant drug problem in Haverhill in 2004. There is a drug problem there today. Rumors abound regarding who may have been involved in Maura’s murder and where they may have hidden her body. Some of these rumors are actual leads that are being looked into.

Tim and Lance call some of the Haverhill chatter the “I know what you did last summer syndrome.” In many of these missing persons cases, there are the theories that an accidental death occurred, someone panicked and then hid the body. Then everyone is terrified, never discusses it and gets away with it. Whether these are narratives, legends, or factual accounts is anyone’s guess. However, the podcast hosts say that the rumors should not be ruled out just because they don’t fit an individual’s narrative.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS ABOUT THIS CASE IN PARTICULAR?”

Tim and Lance say that the amount of intrigue and red herrings that become rabbit holes is what attracts people to this case. There is the famous “rag in the tailpipe” that was found in Maura’s car. The rationale was that somebody may have tried to sabotage Maura’s drive, but Fred Murray had actually advised Maura to use the rag as a temporary solution to stop the car from smoking. He advised this so she wouldn’t be pulled over by the police. In episode 4 of the Oxygen series, an expert mechanic proves that the rag in the tailpipe would not have caused the car to break down.

Tim and Lance say that the detours provided by these types of red herrings are what attract more and more people to this case.

Says Lance: “People are captivated by a good mystery and that image of the empty car on the side of the road. We look at a clue and it will lead to something that’s very strange. Then there are the characters and it all comes together...But, there’s still no solution which frustrates people! They say ‘I cant go back now! I’ve devoted time to it and want to solve it.’ It’s a challenging one.”

“We cover a new case every week and have 5-6 days to uncover information,” says The Captain of True Crime Garage, “This case is like a puzzle piece and every clue can mean something...or it can mean nothing. People like Renner and Tim and Lance have to cover a million steps before and a whole bunch of steps after Maura went missing. Your mind starts racing as you hear each one and then you’re trying to figure out the puzzle.”

LANCE AND TIM COMMUNICATE FREQUENTLY WITH MAGGIE AND ART

Tim and Lance say that leads have been pouring in and they are in constant contact with Maggie and Art who they were introduced to via the Oxygen project. They are hopeful that there will be answers soon. So are their many listeners and the armchair detectives who have been following this case from before and after the TV series began airing.

Continue following the mystery by watching The Disappearance of Maura Murray, Saturdays 7/6c & 9/8c on Oxygen. You can subscribe to the Missing Maura Murray and True Crime Garage podcasts on iTunes.