AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) – Thursday marks the 19th anniversary of the disappearance of UMass Amherst student Maura Murray.
Murray was last seen on February 9, 2004. She left the UMass Amherst campus to drive to New Hampshire in her four-door Saturn sedan. Her vehicle was found around 7:30 p.m. that same day, crashed into a tree on Route 112 in Haverhill.
911 transcripts show a call from a man driving by minutes later. He said she was shaken up and the airbags had deployed with heavy damage, but Murray refused help. By the time an officer arrived, the car was locked and there was no sign of Murray.
Surveillance cameras showed Murray earlier in the day at an ATM wearing a dark jacket and jeans. She was 21 years old and is described as 5’7″ in height and weighing 120-125 pounds with green/blue eyes and light brown hair.
Police have been searching for Murray ever since her disappearance, the most recent search was in July last year when state police searched an area off Route 112 near the towns of Landaff and Easton, New Hampshire.
Erinn Lakin hosts the “107 Degrees” podcast about the case. She and Maura Murray were on the UMass track team when Murray suddenly left campus, “She told her professors that there was a family emergency or death in the family, and she was going to be away for a few days,” but there was no death in the family. Her parents did not know anything about her plans.
One year ago, the FBI issued a nationwide alert on the case. The FBI’s alert was part of their Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, which allows multiple agencies and different jurisdictions to share information.
Recently, a billboard has been placed on the Mass. Pike near the Springfield exit in hopes more people will call the police with any information they have on the case. If you have any information about Maura Murray you are asked to call the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at 603-223-3648 or email at Coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov.