The Disappearance of Maura Murray is a six-part docuseries that premiered on Oxygen on September 23rd, 2017. The series focuses on the mysterious disappearance of the show’s main subject, Maura Murray and the countless pieces of evidence, many key players, and the conspiracy theories that are involved in the case. Was Maura Murray ever found? Read our Maura Murray wiki to discover all of the key facts regarding this case.
As part of their initiative to showcase in-depth analyses and ongoing investigations of some of the most gripping unsolved mysteries of the 21st century, on September 23rd, 2017, Oxygen launched the six-part docuseries, The Disappearance of Maura Murray. Their intent was to shed light on the elusive question of whether Maura Murray was ever found, and if so, what happened to Maura Murray? Our comprehensive Maura Murray wiki outlines all of the major details, important witness accounts, and even a few of the most popular conspiracy theories that have risen since the fateful night of February 9, 2004 when Maura mysteriously vanished into thin air. Who is Maura Murray? Prepare to get sucked into a world of intrigue and conflicting conspiracy theories because once you start on the trajectory of amateur sleuthing, you won’t be able to stop! And there’s a lot to unravel about this case, so let’s get started.
Who is Maura Murray and What Happened to Her?
Maura Murray was a very bright and hard working individual who was on the fast track to becoming a nurse in Massachusetts…or so it seemed. On the surface, she seemed to have a pretty normal life: she was young, incredibly attractive, and a former high school track star. In 2004, the then 21-year-old nursing student at the University of Massachusetts allegedly vanished into thin air following a destructive car accident. Ever since then, people have been obsessed with her case and finding out what happened to Maura Murray. As time went on, new and often contradictory pieces of information, witness accounts, and conspiracy theories devised by self-proclaimed pseudo Internet sleuths have come to light. It seems that different layers of this unsolved mystery keep unfolding. Countless Maura Murray wikis have spread all over the Internet, each of them unveiling ostensibly minute details about the case that are all somehow interconnected to make up a much bigger picture than a simple abduction or murder case. The Disappearance of Maura Murray docuseries is just one of many all-encompassing attempts at uncovering the truth to the question; is Maura Murray still alive?
Fascinating Facts About the Case
As with any major case of interest, the passing of time is one of the greatest obstacles when it comes to finding out verifiable facts. It’s been 13 years since Maura Murray went missing, and not to perpetuate further possible conspiracy theories, but almost anything could’ve happened to her in that time. So, rather than focusing on some of the outrageous conspiracy theories that already exist—and believe us, there are some truly “out there” speculations circulating the Internet—let’s focus on what we do know. Here’s a breakdown of some of the more ubiquitous facts about this bizarre case:
- The morning of February 9, 2004 (the day Maura went missing), Maura emailed faculty members of UMass, as well as her employer, to let them know she was taking a week off due to a death in her family. Yet, every one of her family members denies that anyone died around that time.
- Maura had a pre-existing criminal record. Among a few other petty crimes, Maura was charged with credit card fraud. The details of how she acquired said credit card are a little murky, but it appeared that she only ever used it to purchase food.
- That same day, Maura withdrew the entire sum of her bank account—which was only $280. She later spent $40 of that money on various types of alcohol. All security footage from the bank and liquor store shows she was alone. Around this time, she also dropped by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to pick up accident report forms regarding a previous car accident she’d sustained while driving her father’s car. Those forms were later found at the scene of the second accident from which Maura surreptitiously went missing.
- Reports show that she’d also made calls to inquire about a condo for rent in New Hampshire and she had printed directions from MapQuest to two different locations in Vermont: the Berkshires and Burlington.
- Some speculation has risen that perhaps Maura Murray’s boyfriend (Bill Rausch) was involved, as she was allegedly attempting to escape their tumultuous relationship at the time. Other speculators have also pointed the finger at her father and the notion that Maura was allegedly having an affair with a track coach at UMass named Hossein Baghdadi.
- Three different witnesses saw Maura crash her car into a snowbank on Route 112 in Woodsville, New Hampshire. One of the local residents who merely heard the crash from her home phoned the police as soon as it happened. Another resident of the area, a school bus driver named Butch Atwood, approached the vehicle and started speaking with Murray, who was outside of the car. He offered to phone the police for her, but she begged him not to for reasons that were never disclosed. She claimed she’d already called AAA on her cell phone, but he knew she was lying because there was very limited cell phone service in the area. So, he decided to drive home and call the police himself. Some people believe that Atwood was very likely the last person to see Murray alive and for that reason, a few conjectures have come up that he might have murdered her.
- When the police arrived at the scene of the accident 10 minutes later, they found a locked car that was damaged to the point of being inoperable, a box of spilled wine in the backseat along with an empty beer bottle, and the rest of the alcohol Murray had purchased. However, there were no signs of Murray anywhere and no one knows what happened to her after that.
- One man said he thought he saw her walking or running along the side of the road on Route 112 and there was even a massive search party conducted in the area including in the woods. Canine units were brought in and they were able to briefly capture her scent in the woods, but lost it as soon as they reached the main road. This lead some people to believe that Murray was picked up by someone. But, who? Was she hitchhiking? Did she call someone to come pick her up? Was the whole thing a setup? Or, was she just the victim of a so-called opportunistic psychopath who just happened to come across a young woman drifting along the side of the highway? This is where things get really interesting and new detailed information is constantly coming out about this case.
Is Maura Murray Alive?
Sadly, there’s no easy answer to this question and the reality is that we may never find out the truth about what happened to Maura Murray. There certainly are a lot of interesting theories out there, though—some of them even paint a more hopeful picture of her having escaped her repressed life and reinventing herself in Quebec, Canada. Others claim that Murray might have discovered that she was pregnant with an illegitimate child and that she was too ashamed to come forward about it, which is why she was looking to run away. To get a more detailed look into this fascinating case, we recommend that you tune in to The Disappearance of Maura Murray on Oxygen tonight at 9:00 p.m. There’s also a popular podcast available on iTunes that’s aptly titled, Missing Maura Murray.