Needs some rework after public release of ATM video - would probably amount to some of the discussion being removed.
We do have reason to suspect that Maura Murray was not driving the Saturn on the night she disappeared. However, its unreasonable to believe Maura Murray never left Massachusetts. Here are some facts and evidence that are relevant:
The Saturn was in such bad shape that it was towed by her and her dad 100 miles via AAA Plus to umass Amherst and dropped off in the parking lot.
Firecat, in response to a question from Whiston on 1-29-2009 said the following, as linked here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/findmauramurrayfr/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3&p=828
"We have been told by family members that Fred and Maura piggybacked the Saturn and the Toyota to within 100 miles of UMass and then called AAA to tow it. Why can you not accept that as a fact? I’ve done goofier things with cars and AAA than this."
Maura Murray and her dad shopped for a replacement car. Her dad planned on buying her a Geo Prism to replace the Saturn the following week. This is a fact that is supported by statements several times over:
"Fred came to UMass that weekend to help Maura go car shopping. Maura’s black 1996 Saturn sedan was in rough shape, running on just three cylinders. Maura drove the Saturn as little as possible. The father and daughter were looking at a three-year-old Geo Prizm. 'She would have had a new car by next week,' Fred said later." See: https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7khnzt
Fred says the same thing here: https://youtu.be/WxJHPT9fNlo?t=2m6s
From the the February 27 2004 Caledonian Record, here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6r6rfb?st=isqeseho&sh=8361ffd9 "Rausch said she understood the vehicle was not running on all of its cylinders."
From the Disappeared documentary, here: https://youtu.be/WxJHPT9fNlo?t=2m18s "Maura's Clinicals required long drives and both her and Fred Murray felt she needed a new car."
Therefore, it is unreasonable to believe that Maura Murray suddenly decided that it was OK to drive the Saturn to New Hampshire.
There is no explanation for Maura Murray's change in behavior with regard to her willingness to drive the Saturn. Therefore, we have reason to suspect that Maura was only a passenger in the Saturn and not the driver.
However, based on the discussion in the second part of this post below, it is not reasonable to assume that Maura Murray was not, at least, a passenger in the Saturn.
Note: The driver side to driver side corner collision theory weighs against the idea that someone else drove the Saturn and therefore, transported two people to the accident site.
As a practical matter, it would be almost impossible to flee a DUI after colliding head on with another car. Usually, after an accident, the individuals involved have a reason to find out who the other driver is, namely for insurance purposes. In this case, the Saturn was kept in the same general location. If the other party to the accident saw the driver flee the scene on foot, one would expect that they would report this fact to someone.
Obviously, if there was a driver side to driver side corner collision, no one has come forward to say it happened, or what they saw after the accident took place.
On the other hand, if this hypothetical car's driver had reason to flee the scene, they might not have seen the Saturn's driver. If the driver fled, Maura would have no reason to get into the other vehicle, and if forced, I would expect that she would scream, as discussed here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4xxmgp/the_law_of_noisy_abductions_opinion/
The theory that attempts to explain the accident damage is discussed here:
But what of the question that Maura never left Massachusetts, is it reasonable to suppose that she was deceased prior to the Saturn being Driven to New Hampshire? I believe that it is unreasonable to believe she was harmed at Amherst and, therefore, was not at the accident site in New Hampshire.
The Evidence, as presented by authorities or witnesses, shows that:
Maura talked to her dad late Sunday and then looked for accommodation until 4:00 AM, Monday morning, the day she left:
1. Talked to her Dad at 11:26 PM:
https://youtu.be/WxJHPT9fNlo?t=7m53s
"That evening at 11:30 p.m. Fred talked to Maura on the phone and reminded her to pick up accident forms from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Maura agreed to call her dad on the phone the next night (Monday) at 8 to go over the forms and fill out the insurance information."
https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7khnzt
2. Looked For accommodation until 4:00 AM:
https://youtu.be/78TfLz9KBeg?t=50s
3. I assume she went to sleep. My guess is she woke up at 10:00 or 11:00AM.
I was wrong about her talking to Sara Alfieri...Sunday was the day after the party. I had a 4th point here.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7gix3d
5. Continued to look for accommodation, calling the Salamones at 12:55 PM
https://youtu.be/78TfLz9KBeg?t=2m15s
6. She was still looking for accommodation at 2:05 PM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78TfLz9KBeg&feature=youtu.be&t=4m12s
7. Before 3:47 PM, she went to the ATM machine. She was at the liquor store at 3:43PM
https://youtu.be/78TfLz9KBeg?t=6m40s
Note: Scarinza doesn't provide a time that she visited the ATM machine. However, he does seem to believe it was Maura Murray at the ATM Machine. The time 3:43PM (When she visited the liquor store) is provided here:
https://youtu.be/s0O1jPqDWms?t=22m20s
Note that whoever went to the ATM machine would have needed to know Maura's ATM PIN number as well
Given the evidence above - the Key Question is: Could the Police Have Misidentified Maura Murray in two videos that place her in Amherst alive?
I don't believe the police could have misidentified Maura Murray in both videos.
If she was alive at 3:43 PM at Amherst, it stretches credible belief to assume that she was harmed at Amherst right after 3:43 PM, and thus never traveled in the Saturn to New Hampshire. After all the accident took place about 150 miles away about 3 hours and 45 minutes later, at 7:29 PM.
It simply isn't reasonable to believe, that in the additional hour that that might be unaccounted for (Link Below), that whoever might have harmed her, could, in one hour:
A. Find an individual that could at least pass for being Maura Murray
B. Convince the Maura-look-alike to volunteer to dispose of the Saturn all the way in the backwoods of New Hampshire
C. Convince the Maura-look-alike to purposely crash the car in front of 3 occupied homes, but not in an area where no one lived
D. Decide to be picked up by a tangent driver and hope that no one saw her get into it when she was picked up
- If she was alive on Monday afternoon, it means Maura was the individual that sought accommodation in Vermont on her computer.
- If she sought accommodation on her computer, then we have reason to believe she was in the Saturn at the accident site, because it was near locations that she sought accommodation.
Summary: It stretches credibility to believe that a Maura-look-alike, hastily sought after, would not only know Maura's ATM PIN number, but additionally, looked so identical to Maura that she was misidentified by police in two videos and Butch Atwood in person.
But if we still want to press this almost unbelievable notion and assume that the police misidentified Maura in two videos then where does that leave us?
If we assume that Fred Murray wasn't fooled and that he did talk to his daughter, then we an only say that Maura was alive up until after the 11:30 PM phone conversation with her father ended.
It was after that conversation ended, that accommodation in Vermont was sought, and the hypothetical Maura-Look-Alike started behaving consistently -- the directions this individual sought approximated the direction the Saturn actually drove in.
The hypothetical remaining hour discussed is here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yagz8/the_law_of_91_or_parallel_opinion/
A portion of Maura's last known activities at Amherst are discussed here, in addition to the above:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yaimu/time_maura_left_amherst/
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