St. Albans, Vermont - June 15, 2004
Three months later and police still have little to go on in the disappearance of Brianna Maitland of Sheldon. Police have been looking at all possibilities in the case, but now say the amount of time that has passed makes it more likely she has been the victim of a violent crime.
"We have continued to be skeptical that this could be a case involving foul play," Captain Bruce Lang of the Vermont State Police said. "We are now saying that after almost three months and not a word coming in anywhere in regards to Brianna's location, that this is very much so a case where we're suspecting we probably have foul play."
Lang says that's based on information that Maitland had been associating with people involved in drugs. It's a revelation her father says was confirmed by friends.
"To this day," Bruce Maitland said, "from what I've gathered from all her friends, I don't think she was a heavy drug user. But I think she was, from what I found out, she was definitely hanging around with some people who were probably some pretty bad people."
Police have been questioning some of those people, but say they suspect they are being less than forthcoming. However, it is an angle they intend to explore further.
"I can tell you there was a belief through an interview or two that she did owe someone some money for drugs," Captain Lang said. "And that's one of the avenues that we followed up with extensively."
Lang did not indicate what had changed since police continued to rule out foul play in the case last week, saying only the amount of time that has passed since her disappearance leads them to believe she has been the victim of a violent crime.
Mark Bosma - Channel 3 News
