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The Disappearance of Maura Murray (Part 2): America's Most Baffling Missing Person Mystery · Kat Has Questions: True Crime and Unsolved Mysteries

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Kat Has Questions. Curiosity, stories, and the strange
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: corners of everyday life. Hello, hello, I'm Kat. And today
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: is part two of the Mara Murray case. So let's
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: get right into it because I'm sure you're dying to
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: find out the rest. If you haven't listened to part one,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: go back to last week's episode to catch up and
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: meet us right back here. On February 9th, 2004, Mara Murray,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: a 21-year-old nursing student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: disappeared after a single-vehicle crash on Route 112 near Woodsville,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: a village in the town of Haverville, New Hampshire. Earlier
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: that afternoon, she had emailed her professors and work supervisor
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: to say she would be away for a week due
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: to a death in the family, which her relatives later
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: said had not occurred. Mara left campus in her car
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: and drove north for reasons that remain unknown. At 7.27 p.m.,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: a local resident reported a car off the road near
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: her home, and a passing motorist briefly spoke with the driver,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: who declined assistance and said she had already called for help.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: When police arrived at 7.46 p.m., Mara was gone, leaving
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: behind her vehicle and personal belongings. She has not been
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: seen since, and her whereabouts remain unknown. When Mara Murray
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: failed to return to her crashed Saturn, what had initially
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: appeared to be a routine motor vehicle accident quickly became
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: something much more serious. At first, however, no one knew that.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: From law enforcement's perspective, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Drivers involved in crashes, especially if they've been drinking, sometimes
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: leave the scene on foot to avoid getting into trouble.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: They might walk to a nearby house, accept a ride
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: from a passing motorist, or simply try to put some
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: distance between themselves and the accident before returning later. Officer
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Cecil Smith and other responders initially considered exactly those possibilities.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: They searched the immediate area around Route 112. They spoke
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: with nearby residents. They looked around the roadway in both directions.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: But there was no sign of Mara. As the hours passed,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: concern continued to grow. The temperature that evening hovered around freezing,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: with snow covering most of the ground. Once the sun
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: went down, the White Mountains became an unforgiving place to
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: be on foot, particularly for someone who may have been
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: injured or unprepared for a long trek through the woods.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: By the following day, what had started as a search
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: for a driver who had left the scene had evolved
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: into a missing persons investigation. There is some controversy, I
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: would say, between the family and law enforcement about as
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: far as how quickly they acted upon discovering Mara's car
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: and came upon the scene. From what I can read,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: the family feels like the police maybe didn't do as
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: much as they should have and taken it as seriously
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: as they should have right away. Police traced the vehicle
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: to Mara and initially treated her as a missing person
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: on the belief that she may have wanted to disappear voluntarily.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: This speculation was based on her travel preparations... about which
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: she had not confided in with her friends and family,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: and there was no obvious evidence of foul play. At 12.36 p.m.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: on February 10th, a Be On The Lookout report for
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Mara was issued. She was reported as wearing a dark coat, jeans,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: and a black backpack. A voicemail left on Fred's home
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: answering machine at 3.20 p.m. the next day stated that
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: her car had been found abandoned. Fred was working out
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: of state and did not receive this call right away.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: At 5 p.m., one of Mara's older sisters contacted her
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: father to tell him the situation. Fred then contacted Haverville
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: police and was told that if Mara was not reported
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: safe by the following morning, the New Hampshire Fish and
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Game Department would start a search. At 5.17 p.m. on
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: February 10th, so almost 24 hours after the accident, Mara
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: was first referred to as missing by the Haverville police.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Fred arrived before dawn in Haverville and on February 11th
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: at 8 a.m. He dropped everything, as well as Mara's
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: family and New Hampshire Fish and Game, and others began
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: to search for her. At 5 p.m., Mara's boyfriend and
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: his parents arrived in Haverville. So her boyfriend got leave
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: from the military and got leave from his post in
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Oklahoma to come help too. Mara's boyfriend was interrogated in
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: private and then was joined by his parents for questioning.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: He was on duty in Oklahoma, so was quickly ruled
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: out as a suspect. By 7 p.m., police said they
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: believed Mara came to the area either to run away
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: or to attempt suicide. Her family believed that was very unlikely.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Mara's boyfriend had turned off his cell phone during the
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: flight to Haverville. At some point, he received a voicemail
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: that he believed was the sound of Mara sobbing or
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: like whimpering and crying. The call was traced to a
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: calling card issued to the American Red Cross, which was
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: a very weird little anecdote here. Law enforcement eventually brought
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: in additional resources when she never showed up and concern
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: was growing as time passed. Law enforcement eventually brought in
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: additional resources when she never showed up and concern was
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: growing as time passed. Search and rescue teams were brought
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: in the following day. Tracking dogs, helicopters, volunteers. The hope
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: was that if Mara had wandered into the surrounding woods,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: the search teams would find footprints, discarded belongings, or some
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: indication of the direction she traveled. Instead, they found almost nothing.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: One of the most discussed aspects of the investigation involves
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: the snow itself. If you've ever walked through fresh snow,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: you know how difficult it is to avoid leaving evidence
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: of your path. Footprints are often unmistakable. Investigators carefully searched
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: the wooded areas surrounding the crash site, expecting that if
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Mara had fled into the forest to hide... there would
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: likely be tracks leading away from the road. According to investigators,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: they found no convincing evidence that she had entered the
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: woods near the scene. That observation has become one of
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: the strongest arguments against the theory that Mara simply ran
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: into the forest and died from exposure. Of course, it's
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: important to recognize the limitations of that conclusion. Snow conditions vary,
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: wind can obscure tracks, Searches, especially after dark, are never perfect.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: And if someone entered the woods farther away from the
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: crash site, they may have done so beyond the area
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: initially examined. Still, investigators have consistently maintained they found no
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: evidence or obvious trail suggesting Mara had left the roadway
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: and headed directly into the surrounding forest. Then there were
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: the tracking dogs. A few days after Mara disappeared... search
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: teams brought in a bloodhound trained to follow human scent.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: The dog was given one of Mara's gloves to establish
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: her scent before beginning the track. Initially, the dog appeared confident.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: It followed a scent trail away from the Saturn, traveling
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: east along Route 112. Then, roughly 100 yards from the
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: crash site, the scent stopped, abruptly, almost as if Mara
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: had simply vanished. That detail has fueled countless theories over
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: the years. Some believe it suggests she voluntarily got into
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: another vehicle. If someone stopped and offered her a ride,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: the scent ending in the roadway would make sense. Others
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: caution that scent tracking is far from an exact science.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Weather conditions, contamination from emergency responders, passing vehicles, and even
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: uncertainty over whether the gloves provided represented a clean scent
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: source could all affect the dog's performance. In fact, some
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: handlers have questioned whether the gloves used had been worn
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: recently enough to provide an ideal scent article. According to
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: her family, she had just gotten the gloves as a
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: gift from her boyfriend for Christmas, so it's actually possible
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: that she never wore them at all. Also, according to Julie,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: her sister, the dog handlers claimed they really didn't think
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: the dogs had picked up on anything given the conditions
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: outside and the fact that so many days had passed. So,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: while the bloodhound's track is certainly intriguing, it isn't definite
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: proof of anything. It's simply another piece of evidence that
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: can support multiple interpretations. Over the following weeks, authorities dramatically
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: expanded their search efforts. Teams searched miles of forest, fields, ponds,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: abandoned structures, roadways. They used helicopters equipped with thermal imaging.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: They conducted line searches with dozens of volunteers walking shoulder
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: to shoulder through dense terrain. Areas were searched again and
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: again and again. Years later, investigators would return with newer technology,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: ground-penetrating radar, cadaver dogs, additional excavations, private searches organized by
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Mara's family, independent investigators, journalists, even television crews documenting renewed efforts.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: Each new search brought renewed hope. Maybe this would finally
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: be the one. Maybe someone had overlooked something. Maybe advancing
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: technology would reveal what had been hidden for years. But
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: every time, the same result. Nothing. No confirmed remains. No backpack.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: No clothing. No cell phone. No wallet. No evidence. showing
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: where Mara went after leaving her Saturn. As time passed,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: the absence of evidence became one of the most unusual
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: aspects of the case. If Mara died in the woods
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: from exposure, why has nothing been found despite repeated searches?
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: If she accepted a ride from a stranger, who was
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: that person? Why has no credible witness ever come forward?
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: If she intentionally disappeared, how did she manage to remain
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: hidden for more than 20 years without using bank accounts,
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: contacting family, or leaving any verifiable trace? Every explanation seems
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: to answer one question, only to create three more. For
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Mara's family, the search never truly ended. Her father, Fred Murray,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: has spent more than two decades advocating for renewed investigations,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: organizing searches, speaking with the media, and refusing to let
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: his daughter's case fade into obscurity. Her siblings have done
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: the same. Each anniversary is a painful reminder that they
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: still don't know what happened. And perhaps that's what makes
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: this case resonate so deeply with so many people. It's
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: not simply that Mara disappeared. It's despite... Everybody trying to help, volunteers,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: media attention, sleuths, online. The mystery remains almost exactly where
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: it began, on a dark stretch of Route 112, with
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: a crashed Saturn in seven missing minutes that no one
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: has ever been able to fully explain. Before we jump
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: into theories, another quick little side note that I just
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: wasn't quite sure where to fit in. So there was
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: an alleged sighting of Mara between 8 and 9.30 p.m.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: the night she disappeared. So between 8 and 8.30, a
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: contractor returning home from Franconia, New Hampshire, reportedly saw a
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: young person moving quickly on foot eastbound on Route 112,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: about four to five miles east of where Mara's vehicle
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: was discovered. He noted that the young person was wearing jeans,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: a dark coat, and a light-colored hood. He did not
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: report the sighting to police immediately due to his own
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: confusion of dates, discovering only three months later when reviewing
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: his work records that he had spotted the young person
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: the same night Mara had disappeared. So he did eventually
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: give this information to police, but I'm pretty sure they
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: don't think it was her, but just a weird little
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: thing that he came out three years later and said, hey,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: maybe I saw her. So the theories as to what
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: could have happened. At this point in the story, we
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: have a young woman who left UMass Amherst without telling
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: anyone where she was really going. We have a fabricated
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: family emergency. We have withdrawal of nearly all the money
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: in her bank account. We have alcohol purchased earlier that afternoon.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: We have a crashed Saturn on a rural road in
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: New Hampshire. We have a witness who spoke to her.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: We have police arriving minutes later. And then nothing. No
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: confirmed sightings, no phone calls, no final answer. And that
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: is why Mara's case has become one of the most
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: discussed disappearances in modern American true crime. Because every theory
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: seems possible for about five minutes. And then you run
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: straight into a wall. So let's walk through the major
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: possibilities carefully. Not as internet entertainment, not as conspiracy bait,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: but as investigators would have looked at them... What explains
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: the facts? What creates more questions? And what, after more
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: than 20 years, still cannot be ruled out? The first
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: and perhaps simplest theory is that Mara left the crash
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: scene on foot and died from exposure somewhere in the
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: surrounding area. On the surface, it makes sense. It's February
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: in rural New Hampshire. It was dark. It was cold.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: There was snow on the ground. Mara may have been
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: injured from the crash. She may have been disoriented. And
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: if she had been drinking, even a small amount of
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: alcohol could have affected her judgment. There's also the possibility
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: that she was afraid. Afraid of getting in trouble. Afraid
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: of police arriving. Afraid of a DUI. Afraid of calling
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: her father after crashing another car just two days after
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: wrecking his Toyota. If you recall, his car was, like, totaled,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: and she literally did that two days before. So she
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: was probably like, oh my god, I just crashed another car.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: So maybe when Butch Atwood left to call police, Mara panicked.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Maybe she grabbed the items she didn't want to leave behind,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: her phone, wallet, backpack, and started walking. Maybe she intended
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: to hide for a few minutes until police left. Maybe
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: she thought she could reach a nearby house, walk until
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: she could find cell service. Maybe she simply just wanted
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: to get away from the car. And then once she
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: left the roadway, maybe she became lost. This theory is
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: probably the least complicated. It doesn't require a secret meetup,
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: a cover-up. It doesn't require a second person. It only
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: requires a young woman under stress making a desperate decision
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: in a dangerous environment. And that's possible. People make irrational
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: choices after accidents all the time. Especially when they're scared.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: But there are problems with this theory. Big ones. The
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: most obvious is the lack of physical evidence. Searchers found
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: no clear footprints leading from the crash site into the woods.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: And they never found any of her belongings either. And
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: not just in the first few days. Over the years,
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: the surrounding area has been searched repeatedly by law enforcement, volunteers,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: private investigators, dog teams, and search crews. If Mara died
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: close to the crash site, why has nothing ever been found? Now,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: to be fair, the woods are large. Searches can miss things.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Snow can conceal evidence. Animals can scatter remains. And if
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Mara walked much farther than expected before entering the woods,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: searchers may have been focusing in the wrong areas. To
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: be fair, she was a cross-country runner, so she could
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: probably get pretty far. So the exposure theory cannot be dismissed.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: But it also doesn't fully satisfy the evidence. Because if
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Mara walked into the woods that night, she did so
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: without leaving behind any kind of trail that investigators would
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: have expected to find. Theory two is that Mara accepted
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: a ride from someone. This theory begins with one of
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: the strangest details from the search. The bloodhound track. A
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: tracking dog reportedly followed Mara Scent a short distance east
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: from the crash site before the trail stopped near the roadway.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: Some people interpret that as a clue that Mara had
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: gotten into a vehicle. And if that happened, the case
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: changes completely. Because now we're no longer talking about a
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: young woman lost in the woods. We're talking about someone
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: else entering the story. Maybe a passing driver stopped and
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: offered to help. Maybe Mara accepted because she was cold
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: or embarrassed or trying to avoid the police. Maybe she
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: thought it was safer to leave with a stranger than
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: to stay with the car. And that sounds terrifying now.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: But in the moment, from Mara's perspective, it may have
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: not felt that way. Imagine being 21 years old. Your
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: car is wrecked. You're in a rural area in the dark.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: You don't have cell service. A bus driver just told
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: you he's calling the police. You may have alcohol in
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: the car. You may have been drinking. You may be
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: worried about consequences. Then another driver pulls up and says,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: do you need a ride? Would she have said yes?
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: It's possible. And if she did, the window of opportunity
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: was incredibly small. Whoever picked her up would have had
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: to pass by in those missing minutes after Butch left
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: and before police arrived. The person would have had to stop.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: Mara would have had to trust them very quickly, and
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: then they would have had to leave without clearly being
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: noticed by any nearby witnesses. And that sounds unlikely, but
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: it's not impossible. Rural roads can be quiet, but they're
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: not empty. Cars do pass. And sometimes the most important
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: vehicle in a case is the one no one realizes
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: they saw. The biggest strength of this theory is that
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: it helps explain why no footprints or remains were found
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: near the crash. If Mara got into a car, there
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: would be no trail into the woods. It also helps
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: explain why her scent may have ended near the road.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: And it explains how she could disappear so quickly. But again,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: there are problems. No one has ever come forward and said,
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: I picked her up. No confirmed witness saw Amara enter
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: another vehicle. And no reliable sighting placed her somewhere else
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: later that night. And if the driver was innocent, if
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: they simply dropped her off somewhere, why has no one
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: said so after all these years? Of course, there are
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: possible answers to that. Maybe the driver harmed her Maybe
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: the driver was afraid to come forward. Maybe the driver
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: didn't realize who she was until later and still chose silence.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: Or maybe the driver is dead now. But once again,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: we're left with the possibilities, not proof. There were some
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: theories floating around her disappearance could be possibly linked to
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: a serial killer. However, that has been dismissed by law enforcement.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: But serial killer is always going to get thrown around
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: in there, I feel like, when there's just like no idea.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: The third theory is that Mara encountered someone local who
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: harmed her. This is one of those theories her family
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: and many independent investigators have taken seriously over the years.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: The logic is simple. Mara vanished in a very specific place,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: not on an interstate, not in a busy town, not
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: at a gas station, but on a rural road near
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: a small community where someone familiar with the area would
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: have known the back roads, the isolated properties, and the
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: places a person could disappear. If Mara accepted a ride,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: a local person may have seemed less threatening. They may
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: have known exactly where to take her. and they may
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: have known how to avoid being seen. They may have
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: known which homes were empty, which roads were quiet, and
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: which areas searchers were unlikely to check immediately. Over the years,
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: there have been rumors about nearby houses, suspicious individuals, and
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Cadaver dog hits, possible evidence, and people who allegedly act
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: strangely after Mara disappeared. Some of the leads were investigated,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: some turned out to be unsupported, and some remain part
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: of the case's long shadow. But the difficult thing with
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: local foul play is that it can become a very
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: broad theory very quickly. A local person did it. A
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: nearby house was involved. Someone knows something. Those statements may
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: be true, But without evidence tying a specific person to Mara,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: they remain only theories. Still, the possibility has one major strength.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: It explains how Mara could disappear so completely. If someone
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: harmed her and concealed her body on private land, in
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: a structure, in a remote area, or somewhere searchers never
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: had access to, it could explain why repeated searches found nothing.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: And it could also explain why no one has come forward.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: Because in this version, the person who knows what happened
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: has every reason to stay silent. But the weakness is obvious.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: There's no publicly confirmed suspects. No confirmed crime scene. No
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: recovered weapons. No confession. No remains. And no physical evidence
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: publicly linking Mara to a specific person after the crash.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: So while this remains possible, it also remains unproven. The
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: fourth theory is that Mara intentionally disappeared. This theory usually
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: starts before the crash because Mara's behavior earlier that day
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: was undeniably unusual. She withdrew nearly all of her money.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: She emailed professors and work supervisors saying there had been
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: a death in the family, even though that wasn't true.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: She packed belongings. She searched for directions. She left campus
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: without telling anyone where she was really going. Those are
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: not random details. They suggest some level of planning. So
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: some people believe Mara intended to leave her life behind.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Maybe temporarily, maybe permanently. Maybe she was overwhelmed and just
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: wanted a few days where no one could reach her.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Maybe she wanted to escape school, family pressure, relationship stress,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: legal trouble, or her own internal spiral. In this version
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: of events, the crash was not part of the plan.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: It was the thing that interrupted the plan. She was
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: already trying to get away. Then she crashed. Then police
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: were coming, so she improvised. She took what she could
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: carry and vanished. This theory is emotionally complicated because it
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: can sound like blaming Mara. But wanting to disappear for
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: a few days is not the same as wanting to
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: vanish forever. Sometimes people run because they're overwhelmed. They want distance.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: They don't even know what they want. They just know
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: they can't stay where they're at. And Mara's actions on
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: February 9th do suggest she was trying to create space
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: between herself and her normal life. But could she have
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: really started over? This is where the theory becomes harder
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: to believe. Mara had very little money. She left belongings behind.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: Her car was disabled. Her case became nationally known. And
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: her family searched relentlessly. Her face was all over the news.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Her name became famous online. And there has never been
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: confirmed bank activity, phone activity, employment record, medical record, or
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: credible sightings proving she survived. In 2004, it was easier
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: to disappear than it is today. But it still was
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: not easy. Especially not for a 21-year-old with limited cash,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: no known support network, and a family fighting publicly to
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: find her. Could someone vanish intentionally and stay hidden for
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: more than two decades? Technically, yes. But in Mara's case,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: there is no confirmed evidence that she did. The fifth
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: theory is suicide. This is one of the most sensitive possibilities,
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: and it has to be handled carefully. Some people point
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: to Mara's behavior before she disappeared and see signs of
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: emotional distress. The breakdown at work. The vague reference to
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: my sister when she was in that kind of catatonic
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: state after talking to her sister on the phone. The
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: car accidents. Stealing the credit card. The sudden departure, the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: false family death, the alcohol, the packed dorm room. To some,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: these details suggest a young woman in crisis. And it's
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: possible Mara was struggling more deeply than people around her realized.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: And it's possible she drove north intending to harm herself.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: It's possible that that crash interrupted the plan. Or it's
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: possible that after the crash, overwhelmed and afraid, she left
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: the scene and died intentionally somewhere else. But there are
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: serious limitations to this theory. No note has ever been confirmed.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: No remains have been found. No location has been identified.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: And people close to Mara have pushed back against this
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: idea hard that she planned to end her life. The
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: danger with this theory is that it can flatten a
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: complex person into a list of warning signs. Yes, Mara
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: was under stress. Some of her decisions were strange. But
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: stress does not automatically equal suicide. A lie to professors
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: does not automatically equal suicide. A car accident does not
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: automatically equal suicide. And unless evidence emerges, this remains only
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: one possibility among many. I should also note from all
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: the investigating I've done, her family vehemently denies this. The
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: sixth theory is that someone Mara knew was involved. This
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: theory usually focuses on the idea that Mara may have
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: been traveling to meet someone, Maybe someone she knew from school.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: Maybe someone she knew online. Maybe someone connected to her
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: personal life. Maybe someone no one close to her knew about.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: This theory exists because her destination remains unclear. Why was
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: she driving north and, like, why that area? Why that day?
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: Why did she lie about a death in the family?
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Was she going somewhere alone or was she planning to
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: meet somebody? If she was meeting someone, that person has
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: never publicly come forward. And that alone raises suspicion. But again,
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: absence isn't proof. Maybe she wasn't meeting anyone. But you
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: would think if she was meeting someone and she never
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: made it there, that person would come forward like, hey,
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: she was traveling to this cabin because we planned to
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: meet there, but she never made it. You would think
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: that person would come forward. Maybe she had considered multiple destinations.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: And maybe she did plan to stay alone. The someone
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: she knew theory can explain some things. It could explain
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: why she left campus secretly, and it could explain why
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: she packed, and like why she wouldn't tell her family
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: or her boyfriend, and could explain why she wanted cash.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: But it doesn't explain the crash scene. If someone she
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: knew was involved, where were they? Were they following her?
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Did they pick her up after the crash? Did she
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: call someone else from there? There is no public evidence
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: proving that anyone she knew was physically present on Route
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: 112 that night. So while this theory remains possible, it
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: depends on a hidden relationship or plan that has never
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: been confirmed. Then there is the police involvement theory. So
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: this is one of the most controversial theories, and it
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: largely comes from perceived inconsistencies in the timeline. The arrival
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: of police vehicles and the account of Witness A, who
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: reported seeing what she believed was a police SUV parked
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: near the Saturn, before the official documents arrived. Before the
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: official documented arrival time. For some people, this raises a
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: serious question. Was an officer there earlier than the records say?
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: Did Mara encounter police before she vanished? So was there
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: a police car there? And then by the time the
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: actual quote-unquote police dispatched car arrived, had she gone with
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: that officer? Was there confusion about which vehicle arrived when?
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: This theory has gained traction online because the timeline is
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: so tight. If Mara disappeared in only a matter of minutes,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: any discrepancy feels important. And when a witness says she
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: saw a police vehicle earlier than expected, police naturally wonder
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: whether the official story is incomplete. I think people also
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: wondered if this is why they didn't hit the ground
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: running looking for her at the beginning. instead of just
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: saying she voluntarily left and would show back up later
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: and kind of start the search, you know, 24 hours
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: later or so. But there's a major difference between a
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: timeline discrepancy and proof of police misconduct. Memory can be imperfect.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Times can be misremembered. Vehicle types can be mistaken. And
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: dispatch records can be confusing. There's no public evidence proving
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: that police harmed Mara. No forensic evidence, no confirmed cover-up,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: no official findings that an officer was responsible. I think
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: this also comes up too because the family felt like
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: they were kind of given the cold shoulder a little
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: bit or kind of felt like they were in the
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: way when they were trying to get this investigation underway.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: The police involvement theory remains one of the most debated
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: but also one of the least supported by public evidence.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: And finally, there is one final possibility that that more
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: than one of these theories can be true. Maybe Mara
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: was overwhelmed and trying to get away. Maybe she had
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: no intention of disappearing forever. Maybe she had been drinking
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: and crashed. And maybe she panicked to hide in the
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: woods for a short time and accepted a ride from
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: the wrong person. In that version, the case isn't one
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: clean theory. It's a chain reaction. A young woman under
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: pressure makes an impulsive decision, and that decision leads her
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: onto a dark, rural road. And then the accident creates
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: a crisis, and fear pushes her away from the car.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: And then, in the worst possible moment, she crosses paths
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: with someone dangerous. This may be why the case is
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: so hard to solve. Because people often argue over one question.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Did Mara disappear voluntarily? or was she harmed? But the
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: answer could be both. She may have voluntarily left campus,
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: voluntarily left the crash scene, and voluntarily accepted help. And
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: then at some point after that, she may have no
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: longer had control. And that possibility is haunting because it
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: fits the emotional reality of the case. And I think
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: this is kind of where I land. I think that
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: she was trying to get away, but I think it
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: was just like, a trip. I don't think it was
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: a permanent thing. I think she needed to just clear
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: her head. She had a lot going on as we've
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: talked about. And I think she came across somebody and
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: foul play occurred. I think someone picked her up in
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: a car, whether it was someone she knew or not.
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: I don't think it was somebody she knew and vanished.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: Mara may have been running from one problem only to
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: encounter something far worse. So where does that leave us?
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: More than 20 years later, Investigators still classify Mara Murray
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: as missing. Her case remains open. Her family continues to
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: search for answers, and the public continues to debate the
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: same handful of questions. Did she walk into the woods?
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: Did she get into a car? Did someone harm her?
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Was she trying to disappear? Was she meeting somebody? The
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: truth is we don't know, and that is the hardest
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: part of the case. Because Mara's disappearance doesn't feel impossible,
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: it feels like it should be solvable. There were witnesses,
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: a timeline, locations, searches, a car, people nearby. And yet,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: at the center of the story, she's still missing. A
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: 21-year-old woman stood beside her crashed Saturn on Route 112.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: A bus driver offered to help. She said she had
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: called AAA, and he knew she couldn't have because she
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: wouldn't have had cell service, so he called the police.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: And within minutes, she was gone. And every theory has
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: been trying to fill that silence ever since. So where
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: did that leave the investigation after the days, weeks, months,
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: even years, up until right after this happened? For many
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: missing persons cases, the investigation slowly fades away. Leads dry up,
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: media attention disappears, searches become less frequent, and eventually the
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: case is remembered only by anniversaries. But that has not
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: happened with Mara Murray. More than 20 years after she vanished,
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: Investigators are still actively receiving tips, searching, and reviewing evidence.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: The case remains open, and authorities continue to classify her
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: disappearance as suspicious. Over the years, there have been moments
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: when it seems the mystery might finally be solved. One
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: of the most widely discussed developments involved an abandoned A-frame
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: house located roughly a mile from the crash site. For years,
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: the property had been the subject of speculation among investigators, volunteers,
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: and members of the public. In late 2004, so within
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: the year of her disappearing, a man allegedly gave Mara's
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: father a rusty, stained knife that belonged to that man's brother,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: who had a criminal past and lived less than a
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: mile from where her car was discovered. His brother and
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: the brother's girlfriend were said to have acted strangely after
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: the disappearance. and the man's brother claimed he believed the
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: knife had been used to kill Mara. Several days after
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: the knife was given to Mara's father, the man's brother
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: allegedly scrapped his Volvo. Family members of the man who
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: turned in the knife claimed he had made up the
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: story in order to obtain reward money in the investigation,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: and that he had a history of drug use. However,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: in October 2006, volunteers led a two-day search within a
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: few miles of where Mara's car was found. In the
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: closet of that A-frame house approximately one mile away, cadaver
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: dogs possibly identified the presence of human remains. The house
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: had formerly been the residence of that man, implicated by
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: his brother, who had given Fred the rusty knife in 2004.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: A sample of carpet from the home was sent to
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: the New Hampshire State Police, but the results have not
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: been released to the public. Those alerts alone were never
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: considered proof that Mara had been there. Eventually, after the
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: property changed ownership, investigators were finally able to conduct a
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: more extensive excavation of the basement. For many people following
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: the case, this felt like the breakthrough they'd been waiting for.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: Could this finally explain where Mara had gone? Search crews
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: carefully excavated portions of the basement, and they processed the
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: property slowly. Evidence was collected, and then nothing. No human remains,
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: No forensic evidence publicly linking Mara to the house. Just
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: another lead that ended the same way as so many had.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: And this pattern repeated itself time and time again. In 2021,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: authorities announced that bone fragments had been discovered near Loon Mountain,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: approximately 25 miles from where Mara's Saturn was found. There
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: was also something called the Loon Mountain Three, where there
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: was supposedly three killers who were on Loon Mountain. Loon
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: Mountain's the name of one of the mountains there. And
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: they had kind of looked into this theory, too, for
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Mara as well. So when they filmed these bone fragments,
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: almost immediately, hope returned. Could investigators finally have located Mara?
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: For weeks, her family waited for DNA testing. And then
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: the results came, and the remains did not belong to Mara.
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: Once again, promising lead ended in disappointment. And law enforcement
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: has never stopped examining the case. In 2022, the FBI
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: created a violent criminal apprehension program, better known as VICAP,
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: and they made a profile for MARA in this system.
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: The system allows information about violent crimes and suspicious disappearances
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: to be shared more broadly among law enforcement across the country.
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: making it easier to identify potential connections that may have
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: otherwise been missed. Investigators have said this was intended to
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: generate new leads and encourage information sharing, not because of
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: one specific new piece of evidence. Then, in 2024, as
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: the 20th anniversary of Mara's disappearance approached, investigators released a
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: new FBI-produced, age-progressed image showing what she might look like today.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: Officials emphasized that the image did not mean they believed
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: she was alive. Rather, age progression photos are commonly used
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: in long-term missing persons investigations to encourage fresh tips and
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: remind the public that the search continues. So in the
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: most recent developments as of this recording, in March 2025...
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Stephan Baldwin, formerly Finkelstein, who had been a classmate of
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: Mara at West Point, was convicted of running a fraudulent
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: Ohio animal rescue charity, according to a Campbell, Ohio, police
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: officer who investigated Baldwin's fraud. When he was arrested in 2020,
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: an unidentified fingerprint on a CD or CD case that
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: had been in Mara's car was matched to him via
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: police databases. Author and journalist James Renner reported that Mara
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: and Baldwin had been in a relationship at West Point.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: Baldwin was told in 2024 that his fingerprints were found
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: in her car, but he denied any involvement in her disappearance, which,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: to be fair, if they had dated, like, it wouldn't
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: be weird for his DNA to be in her car,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: I feel like, especially if it was within the last, like,
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: couple years. This case has taken on a life far
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: beyond law enforcement. Few disappearances have generated as much public
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: discussion as Mara's. There have been documentaries, books, TV specials, websites,
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: online forums, and countless podcasts examining every known detail of
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: the case. Some of that attention has undoubtedly helped keep
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: Mara's name in the public eye. Without it, it's possible
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: the case wouldn't still receive the same amount of national
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: interest more than two decades later. But that attention has
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: also come with challenges. Over the years, rumors have spread
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: just as quickly as verified information. Unconfirmed suspects have been named,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: theories have been presented as facts, and speculation has sometimes
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: overshadowed the actual evidence. Mara's sister, Julie Murray, has spoken
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: publicly about both sides of that attention, expressing gratitude to
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: those who have genuinely helped keep the case alive, while
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: also urging people to remember that behind every theory, there's
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: a real family waiting for answers. Perhaps no one has
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: searched more tirelessly than Mara's father, Fred. For more than
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: 20 years, he has organized searches, worked with investigators, spoken
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: to the media, and refused to let his daughter's name
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: fade into history. Her siblings have done the same. They've
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: continued publishing, pushing for renewed investigative efforts, and encouraged anyone
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: with information, no matter how insignificant, to come forward. Because
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: after all this time, they still believe someone knows something.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: And maybe they're right. As of today, the central question
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: remains exactly as they were in February 2004. Why did
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: Mara leave UMass that afternoon? Where was she planning on going?
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: And why did she tell her professors that there had
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: been a death in the family? I think it's because
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: she just needed a few days to herself. I get it.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: What happened during those missing minutes between Butch Atwood driving
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: away and police arriving? Did she leave on foot? Did
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: she get in a vehicle? If so many people have
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: searched so extensively for so many years, how can there
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: still be so little evidence? Those questions continue to define
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: one of America's most enduring missing persons cases. And until
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: they're answered, the story of Mara Murray remains unfinished. February 9, 2004,
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: remains one of the most haunting disappearances in American history.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: If you have information about the disappearance of Mara Murray,
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: no matter how insignificant it may seem, you're encouraged to
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit or the New
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: Hampshire State Police. Even the smallest detail can help investigators
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: revisit old assumptions or uncover new leads. Thanks for listening
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: to Cat Has Questions. If you liked the show, as
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: I've mentioned, I'd really appreciate it if you'd follow the
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: show on Apple or Spotify or literally anywhere and leave
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: a rating or review. It helps more people discover these
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: stories and allows me to continue researching cases that deserve
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: to be remembered. If you want to discuss today's case,
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: share your own thoughts, or suggest another case for me
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: to go into, you can find me on Instagram and
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: TikTok at Cat Has Questions, and I promise I will
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: respond to you. I also mentioned this in part one,
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: but if you... want to get all the details all
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: the correct details about this case you really should listen
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: to Media Pressure by Julie Murray it's Mara's sister who
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: hosts the podcast it's like 10 episodes I binged it
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: all in the week of recording this and when I
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: was writing this because I wanted to make sure I
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: was getting it right so go check that out it's
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: really really good it's called Media Pressure and until next
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: time stay curious Thanks for listening to Cat Has Questions.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: If you liked this episode, follow the show and share
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  Speaker 1: it with someone who loves a good spiral. See you
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: next week.