Investigators: Bone fragments not connected to Maura Murray case

LINCOLN, N.H. (WCAX) - A discovery that looked like it might be a break in a New Hampshire cold case did not pan out after all.

New Hampshire State Police say bone fragments found in Lincoln, New Hampshire, are not those of Maura Murray or related to any other current missing person case.

The human bone fragments were found in September at a construction site on Loon Mountain. That’s about 25 miles east of where Murray crashed her car in North Haverhill in 2004, the last place the nursing student was ever seen.

Police say based on radiocarbon dating of the bones, the person likely died between 1774 and 1942. The bones do not appear to have been recently moved. Investigators also say there was no apparent trauma found on the fragments. They say the person was probably an adult woman or small man.

Based on the investigation and testing, police say they do not think the bones are related to any open missing person case or recent criminal activity.

When news of the discovery broke in September, there was renewed hope from Maura Murray’s family that the mystery surrounding her disappearance might soon be solved.

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

The bones were just 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 Mountain. Murray also had checked online for hotels in the Burlington area.

Maura’s brother said 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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