7 Minutes to Disappear
What happened to Maura Murray?
How does a 21 year old female just disappear for 16 years? In a 7 minute time frame Maura Murray managed to walk away from a car accident and was never seen again.
Maura was the typical all American girl. Collegiate athlete, stellar student in the nursing program, great friends and boyfriend. Despite the normal college stressors nothing was seemingly wrong with Maura's life. On February 9th 2004, she disappeared from a single car accident in the white mountains on her way to an unknown desitnation.
Suspicion was raised earlier in the day when she had emailed her college professors that a death had occurred in her family, and that she needed to be gone for a week. However, after talking with family members they have confirmed that there was not a death in the family. What was her intention? Was she planning to leave and start a new life? Did she stage a car accident to run away?
At the time of her disappearance it was believed by police and others that she had planned to start a new life. There was evidence of an open container of alcohol in the car. She was most likely drinking and driving, got into a single car accident. She did not want to be charged with drinking and driving so she ran off. If that is the case, why has she not been heard from in 16 years?
The search for Maura as an abduction or murder did not begin for about a 4 days after her car accident. This is because it was suspected by many that she just ran off to avoid a drinking and driving charge. However, after she did not turn up, it was believed she was met with foul play.
The accident itself was odd to begin with. With conflicting reports from witnesses and police there is not an exact timeline of what happened. It is suspected she was driving through a town just outside the white mountains, when at 7:27 pm she slid off the road around a sharp corner. Hit a snow bank and ended up in the opposite lane of traffic facing the wrong way. A witness heard this accident and called 911 to report. This report over the years has been changed by the witness so it is unclear what the witness really saw that night. The witness claims that she did not see a female in the car, but that a vehicle had gotten into an accident infront of her house.
Now the question has been raised multiple times by conspiracy theorists and those looking into the case. Why did this witness not go to the car? Knowing that someone had to have been driving that vehicle, why didn’t the witness at least step outside of their house to see if anyone was hurt? The police receiving the call were unclear about the status of those involved until another witness driving in the direction of the accident stopped. This witness stopped at the scene and saw Maura in the car. He got out and talked to her, said he would call police, she said no and she told him to leave her alone. This witness gets back into his vehicle drives 4 minutes up the road to his house, and his wife calls 911. Reporting that a female had gotten into an accident.
The accident happened at approximately 7:27 pm, the first witness calls 911 at 7:28 pm. The second witness drives up to the scene at 7:33 pm and drives to his house to call 911. The police arrive on scene at 7:40 pm. The second witness was the last person to ever see Maura again.
In a 7 minute time window, Maura manages to disappear. Whether on her own free will into the woods or with the help of a friend. It is believed she was met by foul play by someone who wanted to do harm to a young lady.
To this day it is unclear what really happened to Maura Murray. New details with the case are being evaluated closely and yet still no answer. It is unknown her true intentions that night, however many believe she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was picked up on the side of the road.
