Possible break in 2004 disappearance of Maura Murray

LINCOLN, N.H. (WCAX) - A potential lead in a 17-year-old missing person case after construction crews uncovered human remains on Loon Mountain in New Hampshire. Now, the family of Maura Murray is hoping this is the break in the case they have been waiting for.

On Feb. 9, 2004, the UMass nursing student’s car was found crashed on Route 112 in North Haverhill, New Hampshire. Murray hasn’t been seen since.

But human remains were recently discovered in Lincoln, New Hampshire, about 25 miles away from where Murray disappeared.

There have been several leads in the case over the years but all have turned up empty. Now, there is renewed hope from the family of Maura Murray that the mystery surrounding her disappearance may soon be solved.

“We are still not exactly sure how old these bones are or the gender, so it is still sort of up in the air,” said Julie Murray, Maura’s sister.

The bones were found at a construction site on Loon Mountain located just 25 miles east of where Murray crashed her car in North Haverhill.

At this time, investigators are analyzing the bone fragments to determine who they belong to but that could take months.

“If it is truly Maura, the people who are responsible can be brought to justice,” Julie Murray said.

This is the latest in a string of leads into what happened to the young college student. In 2019, the basement of a home in North Haverhill was ripped up after cadaver dogs identified a spot on the floor. That search came up empty, to the sorrow of Maura’s grieving father.

“She wants to come home and be buried in her hometown. And she can’t. She’s buried up here,” dad Fred Murray said in 2019.

What Maura was doing in the area also remains a mystery. There have been reports that she could have been heading to Loon. Murray also had checked online for hotels in the Burlington area.

When I spoke with her brother two years ago, he told me that the search for answers will continue until Maura is found.

“Maura was an absolutely amazing human being. There was a reason why we have been fighting so hard for her for the last 15 years. We couldn’t give up the search, we never will,” Kurtis Murray said in 2019.

Maura Murray’s disappearance is still considered a missing person case. Anyone with information is asked to call the New Hampshire state police.

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