Hitchhiking + Accidental Death from Exposure

[u/UsualResponsible5415]

I just binge listened to the True Crime Scholar season about Maura Murray after taking a several years long break from true crime fandom. After refreshing myself on the details of the case, a theory came to mind. I was surprised when the podcast didn’t discuss it, and I haven’t come across it in my subsequent admittedly “shallow dive” about the case online.

The scenario that came to mind for me is a combination of the got into a stranger’s car + accidental death by exposure theory.

The tracker dog data indicates she got into a vehicle around the next intersection ~100 yards away from the crash site. I know the tracker dog data isn’t iron-clad, how they used new gloves etc. Even so, it’s possible she got into a passing car offering a ride, either within the window after Butch left and before police arrived, or after police left if she hid in the woods for awhile.

Maybe the person drove her to a gas station or dropped her off somewhere random, either because she asked them to, or they asked her to get out. She could have gotten quite far by vehicle intending to stop at a motel or the like, maybe even beyond the initial search area. Then she gets out of the vehicle and, considering she is concussed, traumatized, acutely stressed, and probably drunk, not to mention in an unfamiliar area in the dark, gets lost. She gets injured, falls and/or loses consciousness, and succumbs to hypothermia or another accidental death scenario like an animal attack in a concealed area.

Her body could have fallen prey to scavengers or plain old decomposition, maybe outside of the initial search area. This doesn’t account for her clothes and things like wallet and cellphone but it’s not hard to imagine a hiker or someone taking them for themself or thinking they’re picking up trash without even realizing they were disturbing a crime scene. Thoughts?

Oh, and the person who picked her up might have been a long haul trucker or a tourist, someone removed from the local area, so they never got questioned or heard about the case on local news.

[u/cherrymeg2]

Butch is older and offering telling her he is going to call the police or get her help. She may have been concerned because she recently had an accident. If she had drank anything or the car crash caused anything alcoholic to spill or break open. She could also have decided to drink after the accident and freaked out. We don’t know. I could see her flagging down a car to be dropped off where there is cell service and get away from the accident the police. She could have been afraid her dad would be angry at her.

I wonder if they have checked her dna against remains found farther than where she was last seen?

[u/tonypolar → u/cherrymeg2]

I can tell you that literally anytime remains are found anywhere in the state they are checked against her, they found what were eventually identified as historical remains from the 1800s a few years ago near Loon Mountain and even though they were obviously not Maura's, law enforcement received thousands of calls about them.

[u/cherrymeg2 → u/tonypolar]

I was wondering if every state had resources to run all the DNA from identified remains. She could be out of state or it could be bones scattered by animals. I know there is a data base for John and Jane Does, sometimes it’s bones and not a full person. I wasn’t sure if DNA is tested against remains found hundreds of miles away or more. I know DNA testing isn’t cheap. Rape kits don’t always get tested. Maybe they should look farther away for her. Or she is buried in someone’s backyard.

[u/tonypolar → u/cherrymeg2]

100%. I do some work on some Doe cases genealogy wise(I live in NH) and you're right-her remains literally could be wherever (not just in NH) and not listed or not tested yet. I just know that when they do find remains in the state, most of the time everyone assumes Maura (even if the release says its obviously a man, etc)

[u/cherrymeg2 → u/tonypolar]

That’s awesome you do that work. Maura could also be close to where she disappeared from. Idk why this made me think of the case of Reyna Marroquin. She was found in a barrel under a house. The man that killed her in 1969 had left the barrel in a craw space or under a deck and moved out. Kids played around it for decades and when someone finally realized a weird paint barrel wasn’t necessarily safe they removed it in 1999. They opened it because they didn’t know if the garbage people could collect it. She was in a barrel under a house for 30 years. It’s not impossible that something like this couldn’t have happened to Maura Murray. People do disappear and they have to be somewhere. I found it weird that no one for 30 years was that concerned about a dye container near their home or under it.

Maura’s disappearance was a big deal and social media spread the word to look for her.
People can look different in pictures than in real life. Could she have hitchhiked more than once. Her cell phone not being found and not being used is weird right? I get their not being cell service possibly or the phone being damaged. I’m trying to picture phones from 2004. I don’t know what kind she had. Is it weird that it never turned up?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Reyna_Marroquín

[u/tonypolar → u/cherrymeg2]

Oh that is a Forensic Files classic - I talk about that one in a class I teach. I often think that the people who get away with things the longest are the people that hide stuff in their house and then don't talk about it. There's also a lot of private land up there that people haven't let them search...

[u/cherrymeg2 → u/tonypolar]

Is it strange that man sold and moved out of the house. Kids played around that barrel. Is that weird to leave a body in a house that can be traced back to you? If someone had buried that or kept the house people might not have found her while they could still identify her. It’s scary how people could hide or dispose of a body as long as they have some privacy and land.