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| New Hampshire AG releases info on Maura Murray |
| By Justin Graeber |
| Thursday, August 23, 2007 08:00 PM |
|
In a continuing effort to shed light on even the smallest pieces of information, the New Hampshire Attorney General has released a number of documents pertaining to the Maura Murray case that, until now, had never been seen by the public.The list of accident reports, police logs, and court documents paint a picture of a desperate father trying to find his daughter, but butting heads with bureaucracy every step of the way.
The information was released in response to a Right-to-Know request from Express Publisher Josh Cutler. The Right-to-Know law is the New Hampshire version of Massachusetts's public records law. Until this point, many of the documents had only been seen by Maura's father, Fred Murray.
The information includes the police report of an Hadley Accident Report, Massachusetts, the day before she disappeared.
At 3:30 a.m., according to the Hadley police, Maura crashed her father's 2004 Toyota Corolla at the intersection of North Maple Street and North Hadley Road. Officer Mark Ruddock took the report.
"Due to operator inattention she went through the 't' intersection and struck the snow bank and guard rail," reads Ruddock's report.
Maura's car was towed and she was given a ride to a local motel.
Maura was not cited by police in the accident, but there has been some speculation that this crash may have upset her and led to her wanting to get away to New Hampshire -- although Fred Murray told the Express he was not angry about the crash.
"She was upset, but it was okay," said Fred. "If this is the only trouble a kid ever causes, then you're pretty lucky as a parent.
The car she was driving that night was her father's newer car, and the vehicle she took to New Hampshire was her car, an older Saturn sedan.
The entire Sheriff's Dispatch Log was also released for Feb. 8 and 9, where earlier only the log item pertaining to the accident was given to the press. That item was interesting because it contains the description by witness Faith Westman of a man smoking a cigarette inside the car -- a description that was never confirmed.
Later that night, police responded to two reports of a suspicious person, one at 11:38 p.m. and one at just before 1 a.m. on Feb. 10. The earlier item doesn't get much description in the log, but notes that two officers spoke with someone near Central Street.
In the later item, police went to speak with a white male, about 5' 10', sporting a goatee and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. When the officers neared, he took off, according to the log. He was never located. This call took place near Pine and Beech Street in Haverhill, the town where Maura crashed.
At 5 :44 p.m. on Feb. 10, Fred Murray called the police saying that no one had gotten back to him about the disappearance. Police at that time had put out a "be on the lookout" or BOL order.
Later on that night, at 10:10 p.m., police responded to neighborhood dispute in Littleton, a town 15 minutes north of Haverhill. The narrative notes that one of the neighbors in a registered sex offender who had not updated his address with authorities.
The packet from the Attorney General also included several Freedom of Information Requests sent to various New Hampshire authorities by Fred Murray. (Since the case did not involved federal authorities, most of Murray's requests were responded to using the New Hampshire Right-to-Know law.)
In an ironic twist, Murray received a letter from the Attorney General stating that he would be entitled to some of the materials he asked for, but anything pertaining to his daughter's case -- they very thing he wanted to know about -- would be redacted because of the ongoing investigation.
The denial of Murray's most recent appeal contains a revealing sentence, written by Judge Timothy Vaughn.
"Even though Maura's disappearance occurred almost two years ago, the respondents [the various law enforcement agencies] continually represent that her case is still active. Furthermore, the respondents persist that foul play has not been ruled out as a possible theory for Maura's disappearance. Considering that it sometimes takes several years -- even decades -- for the State to prosecute major crimes, a lapse of two years is not a long period of time."
Although these items may at first glance seem small, as Maura's grandmother said, every little tidbit may bring the family closer to an answer.
"Maybe they were the one who drove by and thought they didn't see anything other than a car in a snow ban, but happened to notice the time?" wrote Maura's Grandmother Ruth Mehrman on a missing persons poster. "Maybe they saw one of your neighbors driving by and waved. Maybe they listened to the scanner and heard the calls? The point here is that it could be the least little piece of information that could be helpful."
Until they finally have an answer, all the family of Maura Murray can do is collect those small pieces of information and wait.
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