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Subject Fact SummaryRausch Family Quotes and Mentions (self.MauraMurrayEvidence)

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The New Hampshire Union Leader
February 13, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6u9mse
Family members, including her brothers and sister, as well as her boyfriend, Bill Rausch, who flew in from Oklahoma when she was reported missing, fanned out from Haverhill to Lincoln, across the Kancamagus Highway to Conway and Bartlett, putting up flyers along the way, in the hope that someone may have seen her in the days since Monday.

Their search has been concentrated in the White Mountains, since Murray and her family have vacationed in the Lincoln and Conway areas for years.

"We went to every spot we thought she might go to hotels and motels and put up flyers," Bill Rausch said.

But so far, their efforts have come up empty.

The only thing they do have to go on is a call Bill Rausch received on cell phone after he flew back to Massachusetts late Tuesday.

There was just someone breathing on the other end, and the number was unknown, said Bill Rausch, who is planning to ask Murray to marry him. “I tried calling the number back, but it turned out to be a (number for a) phone card."

Police were attempting to track down from where the card may have come, he said.

Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise / New Hampshire Union Leader / Lowell Sun / Nashua Telegraph / Boston Globe
February 13/14, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6pri2p
Murray’s family along with her boyfriend, Army Lt. Bill Rausch, and his family have flown into the state to help. The family has been passing out fliers with her picture on both sides of the border, hoping someone might have seen her.

Sharon Rausch, the boyfriend’s mother who flew in with her husband, Bill, from Marengo, Ohio, to help said she had been told Murray “had made arrangements to be away from work for a week.”

She worked at an art gallery while going to nursing school at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where she is a junior, Rausch said.

She said Murray crashed her car two days after wrecking her father’s car in a crash.

“She’s extremely responsible, an extremely frugal girl. I think she wanted to get away and get her head on straight,” Rausch said.

“We have no reason to believe she was running away.”

“She’s a jewel of a girl,” she said.

She said Murray left an e-mail message with her son on Monday afternoon that said she wanted to talk to him.

Murray and her son met at the US Military Academy at West Point, where both were students, Rausch said. She left after 1 1/2 years. Rausch said Murray is an outstanding athlete who ran in high school and college.

Boston Globe
February 15, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6r6xlu
The day after the accident, she called her boyfriend, Army Lieutenant Bill Rausch, who is stationed in Oklahoma, in tears. A day later, on Monday, she got into her Saturn and headed north.

Rausch, who got a leave of absence from the Army, arrived in New Hampshire on Thursday. Joined by his parents, who drove from Ohio, and by Murray's father and some of her siblings, Rausch has spent the past few days driving across both New Hampshire and Vermont, stopping at local gas stations, bus stations, and police headquarters, asking whether anyone has seen Murray.

Yesterday morning, Rausch and his father were told that Murray might have been at a McDonald's in St. Johnsbury, Vt. They drove there, but no one had seen her.

"Obviously, we're hoping for the best. If I just got some news, although I guess no news is good news," Rausch said.

Rausch said Murray fled with a backpack, but left many of the other items she'd packed, including the stuffed monkey he gave her and her favorite book, "Without Peril," behind in her car.

A witness told local police Murray appeared to have been intoxicated at the time of the crash, and Rausch said that there was an open bottle of alcohol in the car. However, he said he'd never known Murray to drink and drive, and guessed she might have fled out of fear she'd broken the law.

WCAX
February 16, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6u5i8g
Maura Murray's boyfriend, Bill Rausch, was also searching again Monday. Her family and friends said they don't know what else to do. They've covered a 50-mile radius from Woodsville with posters, but police said there is still no sign of her. Her father believes she's no longer in the area.

The Patriot Ledger
February 16, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7sc946
Murray's father, Frederick; her brothers, Frederick and Kurtis; her sister, Kathleen; and her boyfriend, Army Lt. William Rausch of Oklahoma, are distributing fliers in New Hampshire near the Vermont border.

CNN - American Morning
February 17, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6ssxhg
Joining us this morning from a motel in Wells River, Vermont, which has now become a home base for the searchers, Maura's father, Fred Murray, and her boyfriend, Army Lieutenant Bill Rausch.

Lieutenant Rausch, I'd like to start with you. The details are bizarre. Maura disappeared on Monday under very strange circumstances. Why don't you describe what you know about what happened?

LT. BILL RAUSCH, U.S. ARMY, MISSING WOMAN'S BOYFRIEND: Well, as far as we know, we are not exactly sure what did happen. However, I did receive a phone call from Maura as well as an e-mail Monday afternoon that said that she wanted to talk with me and for me to call her back.

I received Tuesday morning last week right after the accident another voice mail, a chilling voice mail that was what I believed to be Maura whimpering and crying in the background.

O'BRIEN: Did she say anything in that message, anything specific? Or was it only what you can hear was crying?

RAUSCH: I could only hear breathing, and then towards the end of the voice mail I heard what was apparent to be crying and then a whimper, which I'm certain was Maura.

O'BRIEN: She called you on a voice mail, Lieutenant Rausch, after this accident, and a local person stopped to help her, and she kind of waved them off. They say maybe she had been drinking even, but waved them off and said, no, no, no, I'm fine, I'm fine. She had sort of plowed into a little bit of a snow bank. Give me a sense of what the locals have been able to tell you about what happened after that, the last person who saw her, because other people saw her around the car, isn't that right?

RAUSCH: Yes. In fact, according to the local authorities, as well as eyewitnesses, Maura was seen at the vehicle not more than a minute before the authorities arrived at the scene, which leads us to believe that she was either picked up by an individual immediately after eyewitnesses saw her, or she walked up the road and was picked up then. The police themselves conducted a very thorough search with the Fish and Game folks here in the area, and with a dog scent leading only a few hundred feet from the accident and abruptly stopping, which again suggests that someone did, in fact, pick her up.

O'BRIEN: So, with her professor saying that nursing students are notoriously reliable young people, what do you think has happened? Do you think that there has been foul play at all? Do you think, especially in light of this phone message that you have of crying and whimpering, do you have any theories on what might have happened to Maura?

RAUSCH: Well, we're uncertain obviously of exactly did happen. But as Fred said, this is completely out of character in regard to her not being able to contact us. She had planned to call Fred that evening, her father. She had planned on calling me, wanted me to return her phone call. And if she were able to do so, we are 100 percent certain that she would have done exactly that.

RAUSCH: Thank you.

Massachusetts Daily Collegian
February 17, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6r7nx8
The email to the nursing community also stated that Murray called her boyfriend, Army Lieutenant Bill Rausch, Tuesday morning. At the Friday meeting police said that Rausch only heard someone breathing on the other line. The police were unable to trace the call.

According to Sharon Rausch, the boyfriend’s mother, Murray had e-mailed her boyfriend on Monday afternoon, saying she needed to speak with him.

Murray’s family, including Rausch, and his parents, have flown to New England and are passing out fliers along the New Hampshire-Vermont state boarder, hoping someone will recognize Murray.

Murray and Rausch met at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. As of yesterday afternoon, the Haverhill police have had no leads in the case and hope that Murray will try to contact a friend or family member.

Boston Globe
February 17, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7giinb
As best they can determine, Murray got a ride from someone in a car shortly before police arrived at the accident scene on Wild Ammonoosuc Road, said her boyfriend, US Army Lieutenant William Rausch.

No one saw her do so, but residents on the street saw her standing on the road before police arrived, and search dogs lost her scent less than 100 yards from her wrecked car, Rausch said.

"It seems apparent that she most certainly jumped in a vehicle," Rausch said. "An older couple who lives here put her at [the Saturn] one minute before the police arrived."

The Caledonian-Record
February 18, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6sq8jj
Maura's father and her fiance, Bill Rausch, who is a second lieutenant with C Battery, 119th Field Artillery at Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla., have been joined by relatives and friends in their search for the 21-year-old woman. She is a student in the University of Massachusetts nursing program at Amherst.

They have been scouring areas on both sides of the Connecticut River, hoping to find someone who may have seen Maura or have information as to what happened to her after the accident.

Journal Opinion
February 18, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7dqed9
Family Members from Massachusetts, Murray's boyfriend, Bill Rausch, from Oklahoma, and his parents from Ohio have searched the length of the Kancamagus highway in hopes of finding her.

They have posted fliers with Murray's picture at hotels and stores throughout the area. Family members are hoping that she took a ride with someone as there were few footprints near the car.

The father of the missing girl, Fred Murray, said he was concerned that the girl is troubled and possibly suicidal. A phone call to Rausch, on Feb. 10, is the only possible lead. When Rausch answered the call there was only breathing on the other end. The call made to Rausch's cell phone was dialed using a phone card. Police are attempting to track the origin of the card.

WCAX
February 19, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6sqfft
"The way we're getting through is the same way we want Maura to get through, just not giving up. We're not giving up and we don't want her to give up," says Bill Rausch, Maura's boyfriend.

The Caledonian-Record
February 20, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7gnia1
Sharon Rausch, the mother of Bill Rausch, who is Murray's fiance-to-be and a second lieutenant with C Battery, 119th Field Artillery at Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla., was present at the press conference.

"It's been a long, long 10 days," Rausch said. "We are very worried. We believe she is somewhere and someone is preventing her from contacting us.

"She loved her family and there is no way she would put her father and my son through this."

Rausch, who is from Marengo, Ohio, wanted to send a message to Murray.

"Maura, we love you," she said. "Don't you give up. We will never give up. We will find you."

The Brockton Enterprise
February 20, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6r6j2b "She definitely was very responsible," said her boyfriend, Army Lt. Bill Rausch, a West Point graduate who has been in New Hampshire since last week with his parents and Murray's family.

Rausch said he cannot explain Murray's disappearance in the rural area where she has climbed mountains and vacationed with her family.

Her father, Fred, of South Weymouth, and older brother, Freddy, also searched the woods along Route 112 in the past week and have not found any footsteps to indicate she had been there, Rausch said.

"She has that intense radiant smile in every photo," Rausch said. "She's such a radiant, happy girl that you just can't help falling in love with her."

He said his parents, who drove from Ohio to join the search, feel the same way.

Rausch said Murray was excited about the challenges she faced in a new semester at school after they spent the holidays together. Her desire to follow her parents into the medical field prompted her transfer from West Point to UMass, he said.

Although they are separated because of his military assignment in the South, Rausch said he and Murray spoke regularly, sharing a cell phone account.

"We talked about marriage quite a bit, when we were going to be engaged," Rausch said.

He said he received a voice mail from Murray on the afternoon of Feb. 9.

"Regardless of why she went up here, I'm certain that she wanted me to know," he said in a telephone interview from the Vermont motel. "She told me she missed me, she loved me."

She also asked him to call her or, if she did not hear from him, she would call him again, he said. The call never came.

Now, Rausch and Murray's family call her cell phone many times each day, but she does not answer. The calls go to voice mail. They also access the voicemail, but he said, there are no messages related to her disappearance or her whereabouts.

"If Maura is not contacting us because she's unable to, we most certainly don't want her to give up," Rausch said. "We won't give up. Our mission right now is to find her."

New Hampshire Union Leader
February 20, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7oplit
"She loved her family and friends, and there is no way she would put the two most important people in her life -- her father and my son -- through this nightmare," said Sharon Rausch, the mother of Murray's boyfriend, Army Lt. Bill Rausch.

Her son must report back for duty in Oklahoma tomorrow, she said, and other family members who have put their lives on hold must also return to their homes. But, she said, that does not mean they are giving up trying to find her.

"There are countless friends clamoring to help," Rausch said.

After more than a week of heartbreaking days, Rausch said the family can only conclude that Murray is unable to contact them.

"It's been a very long 10 days, and we are very worried," she said. "We are all convinced in our hearts that she is somewhere and someone is preventing her from contacting us."

Rausch and her husband must return to their Ohio home on Monday, but she said their efforts would continue to find Murray.

"Maura, we love you," she said. "We are never going to give up hope and don't you give up hope. We'll bring you home."

Rausch said Murray was in contact with her son during the day on Monday, leaving him a telephone message that said, "I love you, call me," she said.

The Patriot Ledger
February 21, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7sbhms
Leave is up for Maura Murray's boyfriend, Army Lt. Bill Rausch of Oklahoma, who is heading back to his military post. Maura Murray's father Frederick and her brothers and sisters are still handing out fliers in Vermont and New Hampshire.

The Caledonian-Record
February 21, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7go0as
Sharon Rausch and her husband, Bill, have been helping Fred Murray search for his daughter since Feb. 11.

So has the Rausch's son, Billie, who is Murray's fiance-to-be and a second lieutenant with C Battery, 119th Field Artillery at Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla.

They have been going non-stop in their search for Murray, including walking trails and roads, distributing fliers and knocking on doors in the area of the accident.

Family members and friends are at times upset about the lack of information or difference in information obtained by police investigators and what they have been able to glean from knocking on doors and asking questions.

Last week, they were told by investigators it was believed Murray had headed toward the Rausch's home in Marengo, Ohio, because she was having family trouble.

Sharon Rausch said although she didn't believe that, she had one of her children, who had stayed behind, put notes on the door for Murray and left the home unlocked.

However, Murray has not turned up in Ohio. Nor have signs of her surfaced in Vermont. And the only hint of a sign of her in New Hampshire was Feb. 11 when a canine tracked her scent from her car to about 100 yards east of the accident site, in the area of the Butch Atwood residence.

Rausch said a dorm mate saw her leave the campus about 4 or 4:30 p.m. Feb 9. She said Murray's father and her son went through Maura's stuff again and found an index card with the Mapquest directions for Burlington, Vt.

Rausch said the Saturn was having mechanical problems, possibly only running on three cylinders, when Murray set out for Burlington. She said, possibly, because the car was running poorly, she decided to leave Interstate 91 and pick up Route 302 and head toward the Lincoln area.

And Rausch discounts any thoughts Murray would have just walked away from her family, boyfriend and friends because she loved them too much.

She and Fred Murray said Maura wouldn't have picked up insurance forms for her father to fill out if she had not planned to return home.

Lowell Sun / The New Hampshire Union Leader / Foster's Sunday Citizen / Nashua Telegraph
February 22, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6psz81
Sharon Rausch, the mother of Maura’s boyfriend, said Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has donated an undisclosed amount to the fund. Rausch said the coach met Maura at Madison Square Garden over the holidays. Krzyzewski’s daughter is friends with Maura and her boyfriend, Army Lt. Bill Rausch.

The Caledonian-Record
February 27, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6r6rfb
"With all the attention from the media, if a good person had picked her up, he would have come forward," said Sharon Rausch, mother of Bill Rausch, Murray's boyfriend. "It leads us to believe a bad guy picked her up.

"I just wish they would treat this as a criminal investigation. If they treated it as such, the FBI could become more involved."

Rausch said her son Bill, Murray's father, Fred, and Murray's siblings, Freddy, Kathleen and Julie, are all frustrated with the lack of leads and the apparent belief by law officials that Murray's disappearance is nothing more than a person not wanting anyone to know where she is.

They believe Murray would have fought anyone trying to abduct her.

Rausch said she understood the vehicle was not running on all of its cylinders. Believing that, Murray may have left Interstate 91 and exited onto Route 302. She then picked up Route 112 and was headed east when her accident occurred.

Rausch said family members were told by at least one person living near the accident site a man was seen in Maura's car after the accident.

Rausch said despite the appearance of Murray's dorm room, she and family members don't believe that's the case.

She said Murray, on the day of the accident, had picked up insurance forms related to an accident she'd had on Feb. 7. Murray was going to call her father the night of Feb. 9 to have him help her fill out the insurance forms.

Those forms, according to Rausch, were found in Murray's car along with school books, clothing and expensive jewelry.

The insurance forms and school books indicated to Rausch that Murray was going to return to Massachusetts and the university and was planning to study while she was away.

Family members and friends also are upset with no information coming from someone who placed a calling card call to Bill Rausch's cell phone as he was waiting to fly out of Oklahoma Feb. 11 to come search for his girlfriend.

Calling Card Call

Bill Rausch said he heard what he believed to be whimpering and crying.

However, Scarinza said that angle has been eliminated because investigators traced the calling card to the American Red Cross officials who had been attempting to contact Bill Rausch.

Sharon Rausch said, "It's obvious to us something has happened to distress her."

She said Murray had called Bill Feb. 8 and was crying because of the previous Saturday accident, though he didn't feel that was it.

"He told her on a scale of 1 to 10, it was only a 3 or 4," she said. "He had to talk to her a long time to calm her down. We are convinced something happened at school and her Amherst friends know."

Rausch speculated that what happened at the college has nothing to do with what happened to Murray after the accident on Route 112 in New Hampshire.

Murray's family and friends have started a pledge for reward fund. Rausch said donations aren't being accepted. However, pledges for a reward are, in the event information is provided which leads to Murray's return.

People can make pledges to the fund by sending an e-mail to mauramissing@hotmail.com.

Rausch said Duke University Blue Devils basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and his family have pledged an unspecified amount of money to the reward fund.

Krzyzewski met Murray and Bill Rausch around Thanksgiving time and provided them with basketball tickets during the Christmas holiday basketball tourney.

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Sun Journal
March 2, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7knyth
"With all the attention from the media, if a good person had picked her up, he would have come forward" said Sharon Rausch, mother of Bill Rausch, Murray's boyfriend. "It leads us to believe a bad guy picked her up."

"I just wish they would treat this as a criminal Investigation. If they treated it as such, the FBI could become more involved."

The Caldedonian-Record
March 24, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6r84ok
"The DNA (tests) came back yesterday ... negative," Sharon Rausch said. "We are very glad. We are very hopeful." Rausch is the mother of Billie Rausch, Murray's fiance-to-be.

Although it turns out the underwear did not belong to Murray, and that provides a glimmer of hope, Rausch said the family is also realistic. "None of us believe she is willfully in hiding," she said. "But we are hopeful."

Rausch said Murray has money in her bank account. However, that money has not been touched. Her credit cards have not been used. Nor has her cell phone since the accident at around 7 p.m. Feb. 9.

Rausch said she will never give up hope. She said she was praying on her way home from work Tuesday that something would help lead them to Murray.

She recalled the miraculous story of how Elizabeth Smart had been found and returned safely to her family in Salt Lake City, Utah, in March 2003 after being held captive by a couple since June 5, 2002.

"I lost my father when I was 9," Rausch said. "My mother died when I was 31. Both of those events were very hard. But nothing has been as hard as this."

Although Murray and her son had not yet married, Rausch, with her voice quivering, said Murray's disappearance is even more difficult because she is like a daughter to her.

Whenever Murray enters a room, she said, her big, dazzling smile just brightens it up.

In a renewed effort to get the word out about Murray's disappearance and jog people's memories, Rausch said 15,000 8- by 10-inch color posters of the 21-year-old have been made up.

Rausch said she also has enlisted the help of Beth Drewniak of Hanson, Mass., to help distribute the posters. She said Drewniak's daughter grew up with Murray. "We are hoping $40,000 will (jog) someone's memory," she said.

The posters show a picture of Murray with her classic big smile and dimples. It says $40,000 will be paid for any information leading to her safe return.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Caledonian-Record
March 29, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7goaab
When Sharon Rausch heard another young woman has turned up missing, under similar circumstances, and that state police are treating the case as a missing person rather than a criminal investigation, she was upset.

"It's like living it all over again," said Rausch, whose son, Billie, is Maura Murray's fiance-to-be. "I feel so sorry for her."

The Caledonian Record
April 2, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6ss5fy Sharon Rausch, whose son, Billy, is Murray's fiance-to-be, said she, her son and Murray's family have not given up hope she will be found and safely returned.

However, Rausch said they also know a lot of time has elapsed since Murray's black 1996 Saturn was found off the road near The Weathered Barn along Route 112, about a mile east of the hamlet of Swiftwater, Feb. 9.

Rausch said one of the teams is Marilyn Greene, a team trainer and private investigator, and her K-9, Buddy, from Guilderland, N.Y.

Fred Murray, Maura's father, said he was impressed by the teams when they searched the area last weekend. He will be returning to the accident scene this weekend to search areas not being searched by the K-9 teams.

On another front, Rausch is enlisting the help of University of Massachusetts at Amherst officials. Maura was a junior nursing student there.

Rausch is asking them to send an e-mail message to the university's 40,000 students through a blind e-mailer between April 15 and 20.

The e-mail will read, "Please help us find Maura. Please forward this to all the contacts in your address book."

The e-mail will contain information about what Maura looks like as well as information about the accident which she was involved in the night of Feb. 9.

"It will literally (reach) hundreds of thousands of people," Rausch said.

She is holding off sending out the e-mail right now because about 15,000 posters are being distributed in Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as at UMass.

Rausch also wants to do something special for Maura's 22nd birthday May 4. Initially, she wanted to have balloons released.

Pittsfield Berkshire Eagle / Portsmouth Herald / Boston Globe / The New Hampshire Union Leader
April 4, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6pv6k5
Mrs. Murray said she also wants to help distribute new fliers announcing that the reward for information leading to Maura Murray has risen to $40,000 Sharon Rausch, whose son, Billy, is Murray's boyfriend, said she her son and Murray’s family have not given up hope she will be found and safely returned.

Meanwhile, Rausch is enlisting the help of University of Massachusetts at Amherst officials. Murray was a junior nursing student there Rausch is asking them to send an e mail message to students this month reading: “Please help us find Maura. Please forward this to all the contacts in your address book." The email will contain a description of Murray and information about the accident on the night of Feb. 9. "It will literally (reach) hundreds of thousands of people," Rausch said.

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The Caledonian-Record
April 8, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7gomwo
Sharon Rausch, whose son, Billy, is Maura's boyfriend, is also glad Seventeen is interested.

"I am thrilled," Rausch said. "This has been in the works for awhile."

The Caledonian-Record
April 14, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6svcod
"The Haverhill Police Department will honor their wishes to remove unwanted vehicles and/or ask trespassers to leave immediately," Williams wrote in his letter. "Repeat offenders will be arrested." Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter." Sharon Rausch, whose son, Billy, is Maura's boyfriend, was flabbergasted when she learned about the letter.

"I am amazed!" Rausch exclaimed. "He gets a written note, not a phone call, that he will be arrested. It's callous. I think it's callous to put something like this in writing."

The Caledonian-Record
April 30, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7goeta
Simultaneous ceremonies will be held by Maura's boyfriend, Billy Rausch, in Lawton, Okla.; Rausch's parents, Bill and Sharon, in Marengo, Ohio; friends and family in Hanson; friends at UMass at Amherst; and by her sister, Julie, in Fort Bragg, N.C.

Sharon Rausch said blue ribbons and balloons are being used because blue is Maura's favorite color.

Maura left her Amherst dorm the afternoon of Feb. 9, driving a black 1996 Saturn, which Rausch said was not operating on all of its cylinders.

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The Caledonian-Record
May 4, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7goco6
Sharon Rausch, who is the mother of Maura's boyfriend, said the ceremony in Marengo, Ohio, also was very emotional and was attended by about 20 people. "We joined hands and every person said something," Rausch said. "By the time everyone finished, tears were streaming down our faces."

The Caledonian-Record
May 6, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7gnrl4
Before heading north, she packed her black 1996 Saturn with some clothing, books for her college classes, expensive diamond jewelry from her boyfriend, Billy Rausch of Fort Sill, Okla., and computer-generated directions for locations in Vermont.

Sharon Rausch, Billy's mother, said she believes the news of an eyewitness is wonderful.

"It gives me renewed hope she is still alive," Rausch said. "If she sees this in print, we want her to know she's more loved than ever."

The Patriot Ledger
May 6, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7slnii
Murray's boyfriend, Army Lt. Bill Rausch of Oklahoma, said the family doubts the veracity of Baron's visions, but when a loved one has been missing for as long as Maura, you're willing to try anything.

The Caldedonian-Record
June 9, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6r8fyy
New Hampshire State Police Troop F Commander Lt. John Scarinza described Maura as having had a difficult long-distance relationship with her boyfriend, Billy Rausch, who is stationed at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

Regarding his daughter's relationship with Rausch, Murray said it was a strong, loving, very, very good relationship.

The Caledonian-Record
July 1, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6r8jcl
Scarinza said the book is about tragedies regarding search and rescues in the White Mountains.

"Mrs. (Sharon) Rausch tells me that is Maura's favorite book," he said. "What does that mean? I don't know." Haverhill police, in a press release issued two days after Murray's disappearance, said she possibly was suicidal.

The Patriot Ledger
July 5, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7smvj4
Maura Murray's boyfriend, Army Lt. William Rausch of Weymouth, said he told police from the beginning of the investigation that he does not believe she would take her own life.

"In no way shape or form did I say that was the most likely explanation. They should be focusing on finding Maura," said Rausch, who is stationed at Fort Sill, Okla.

Rausch complained that local police did not bring FBI officials onto the case once they ran out of leads.

"It's been disheartening to see the many mistakes they've made," he said.

"It's difficult because it's human nature to want to know what happened," said Rausch.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Comments by Sharon Raush
About August 2004

Maura Murray has been missing since Monday, February 9, 2004. There was a light snow falling, 2 1/2 feet of snow on the ground and a temperature of 12 degrees and falling when Maura slid off Route 112 into a snow bank on a hairpin turn around 7:30 PM near Haverhill, NH. A motorist who also lived nearby offered her assistance, but she refused. He reported that she appeared to be shaken, but uninjured and told him that she was going to call AAA. However, cell phones do not work in the area. The motorist called the police who arrived approximately 10 minutes later to find Maura gone and her car locked. Along with Maura, the only items missing were her cell phone, bank card, cash, driver's license and a small black backpack. The cell phone and the bank card have not been used. Law enforcement did not notify Maura's family until 24 hours after the accident and no search was begun for her until after 36 hours. At that time, an air scent dog traced her 100 yards on the road and lost her scent. The area in which Maura went missing is in The White Mountain National Forest. The area is sparsely populated in summer and during the winter most homes are vacant. There are many mountains, ravines, rivers and creeks. According to the police there are no leads as to her whereabouts. It is as if she vanished into thin air. Maura will be missing 6 months on Monday, August 9. Many friends, family and loved ones have been praying for Maura's safe return. Maura's father has spent every weekend searching for her since she disappeared.

I ask you to forward this message to everyone you know to join us in earnest prayer that God will bring Maura home. I am also asking that you request your church to have a moment of prayer for Maura in your worship service on Sunday, August 8th and to request that each member make it a priority to pray throughout the week that God will comfort, strengthen and provide answers to all of the people that love Maura as they deal with her being missing for 6 months . Most importantly, please pray that God will bring Maura home. We fear that Maura is no longer with us, but we need her home. Please help us and give God the glory!

I would appreciate your reply to me at mauramissing@hotmail.com if you feel led to pray and/or to ask your church to pray with us.

Thank you.

With Hope in Christ, Sharon Rausch "Our help is from the Lord, who created heaven and earth." Psalm 24:8

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Caledonian-Record
August 5, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6u6wfm
Sharon Rausch, whose son, Billy, is Maura's boyfriend, said Maura's friends, family and loved ones have been praying for Maura's safe return.

Now, they are asking for others to join with them in the hopes Maura will be safely returned to them.

"I am also asking that you request your church to have a moment of prayer for Maura in your worship service on Sunday, Aug. 8, and to request that each member make it a priority to pray throughout the week that God will comfort, strengthen and provide answers to all of the people that love Maura as they deal with her being missing for six months," Rausch said. "Most importantly, please pray that God will bring Maura home.

"We fear that Maura is no longer with us, but we need her home," she continued. "Please help us."

Rausch said she has sent out 350 e-mails to churches in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and across the country.

She said she has received between 75 and 100 responses, including two from churches in Haverhill, Mass., stating people will be praying for Maura as Monday marks the sixth month since she was last seen.

The Patriot Ledger
November 19, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6pky1b
Sharon Rausch, the mother of Murray's boyfriend, Army Lt. Bill Rausch, said she discovered the call to the Salamones last month when she looked over Murray's cell phone bill for February.

"It blew our minds that it's now eight months later and we're finding out that (police) never even called these people." Rausch said.

The Hanson Express
November 24, 2004

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6u72xh
According to Sharon Rausch, the mother of Maura's fiance' Billy Rausch, the last two calls made from Maura's cell phone were to a UMass number and to a couple who is part of a condo association in the area of New Hampshire where Murray appeared headed.

The UMass number is pretty much a dead end for investigators, since the person who lived in the room Maura called in February has most likely moved on.

But the other number is more troubling in its omission from the investigation. The number Maura called belonged to a Wakefield couple, Linda and Domenic Salamone. When Rausch called them, she learned that they rent a condo in the same New Hampshire complex where Murray and her family had often stayed.

Although the call to the Salamones was one of the last Maura Murray made before she went missing, the Salamones only learned of their part in the story when they were contacted by Rausch, nearly eight months later. According to Rausch, they were appalled" by the lack of action by the police and were willing to talk to the press to get the word out that they were never contacted.

Rausch came upon the Salamones' phone number while looking over Maura's phone bills for the month of Feburary. The phone was a gift from Billy Rausch to Maura and was still listed under Sharon Rausch's name.

The New Hampshire Union Leader January 9, 2005

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7osa83
Condo rental call - Salamone, of Wakefield, Mass., did not know she had talked with Maura Murray until Sharon Rausch, working from the cell phone billing records, dialed her number in October. Rausch, of Marengo, Ohio, is the mother of Murray's boyfriend, Army Lt. William Rausch.

"Only then did it all clicked," Salamone said on Friday of how her conversation with Mrs. Rausch last October made her realize she was one of the last people to talk with Murray before she disappeared.

Salamone does not remember details of her conversation with Maura Murray, but presumes it had to do with renting her condo in Bartlett. Salamone said she likely told Murray that the condo was taken because people rent it months in advance of the ski season.

Massachusetts Daily Collegian
January 26, 2005

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6su89v
In a June interview with WCVB-TV, the police officer in charge of the investigation, Lt. John Scarinza of the New Hampshire State Police, Troop F, claimed that authorities had found a note in Maura’s dorm room that she had wrote to her boyfriend, Army Lt. Billy Rausch of Ohio, indicating troubles in their relationship.

Maura’s mother, Laurie Murray, told the Daily Collegian in August that the relationship between her daughter and Rausch was a “very, very good relationship.”

Raush’s mother, Sharon Rausch, reiterated that statement in a recent interview. She said there was a point where the couple’s relationship was rocky in the spring of 2002, but they had resolved their problems by summer and had a good relationship since then.

Her son arrived at Maura’s dorm room with police just two days after she went missing. He said there was no recent letters to him from Maura that were found. “There is no note,” Sharon Raush said.

While the Murray family has been disputing facts about the police investigation, yet another troubling piece of information came to light in October 2004 when Sharon Rausch was reviewing Maura’s cell phone records. The cell phone was given to Maura by her boyfriend, which was purchased in his mother’s name. Rausch came across the last two numbers Maura called three hours before she disappeared.

The first number was to a UMass Amherst dormitory. The number appeared to be a dead end for investigators because the person who lived there likely moved on.

Rausch decided to call the second number, which was to Dominic and Linda Salamone of Wakefield, Mass. In the course of Raush’s conversation with Linda Salamone, she claims that she realized the Salamones own a condo in Bartlett, NH — the same condo association the Murray family vacationed in years past.

Although the phone call was one of the last Maura made before she went missing, the Salamones said police never once contacted them. The couple did not learn of their part of the story until being contacted by Rausch, eight months after Maura vanished.

“I was speechless,” Rausch recalled, “and that doesn’t happen to me very often.”

Sharon Rausch and Fred Murray have both said they could not be unhappier with the police investigation.

“It’s clear they have their own agenda and it has nothing to do with the truth or finding Maura,” said Rausch.

More bad news hit the Murray family this past October. Maura’s mother, Laurie Murray was diagnosed with throat cancer. According to Rausch, she has already undergone 30 days of chemotherapy and radiation treatment and has been doing better. Rausch said Murray has told people she is going to beat the cancer so she can see Maura come home.

Rausch asks anyone who would like to help keep hope for Maura to pray, wear a blue ribbon, or light an electric- or battery-operated candle until she comes home.

The Patriot Ledger
February 9, 2005

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7snaiw
"I just want them to have some ownership of the situation and everything that has evolved over the past 12 months," said Murray's boyfriend, Army Lt. Bill Rausch of Oklahoma.

"It seems more than a reasonable request," Rausch said of the records request.

"They said there is no foul play involved and no leads so I would think there wouldn't be a valid reason why they couldn't be released," he said.

Hanson Express
February 9, 2005

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7m1lpz
Just recently, members of Maura's family discovered that police did not look into Maura's phone records from the day she disappeared. Sharon Rausch, the mother of Maura's fiancé Bill Rausch, got a copy of Maura's last cell phone bill and found that the last call she made was to members of a condo association near where she was last seen. When Rausch contacted the people, she was shocked to find out they had never been questioned by police.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Caledonian-Record
December 21, 2005

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7r4mmo
The television program "20/20," which airs on ABC, will highlight Murray's disappearance on its Jan. 6 show, according to Sharon Rausch, the mother of Billy Rausch, Murray's fiance.

Rausch said she and her son were flown to ABC headquarters in New York, Dec. 7 for two days. They were interviewed from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. She said Fred Murray, Maura's father, was interviewed in Wells River, Vt., and at the site of the crash.

Donna Hunter, an assistant producer for "20/20," told Rausch "20/20" staff have been following Murray's case for awhile, according to Rausch.

The TV show's interest in Murray's case has been welcomed by Rausch, her son and Murray's family.

"My greatest hope is she is living and we will find out," said Rausch.

Rausch is encouraged that John Healy of Warner, N.H., and other retired law enforcement officers are going to investigate Murray's disappearance.

"Our hearts won't let her go," Rausch said. "That is where my greatest hope is ... if she is alive, she is well. If she has run away, let us know she is well."

The New Hampshire Union Leader / Nashua Telegraph
December 25, 2005

Sharon Rausch, whose son is engaged to Murray, says she and her son were interviewed in New York earlier this month for a show to be aired Jan. 6. Murray’s father also was interviewed.

The New Hampshire Union Leader
December 28, 2005

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6u7xoi
The ABC news magazine 20/20 is preparing a segment on the case to be aired Jan. 6, according to the mother of Maura Murray's fiance. According to published reports, Sharon Rausch said she and her son were flown to New York earlier this month to be interviewed for the segment.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Patriot Ledger
January 5, 2006

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7snk0k
"We all still feel that the odds are that Maura isn’t living, but it’s important for us to bring her home," Rausch said. "We loved her, and if someone harmed her, they ought to be brought to justice."

Boston Globe
January 29, 2006

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6st245
Maura Murray's boyfriend does not understand the decision either. ''I really don't see why such a request would not be granted," said Army Captain Bill Rausch, 25, now stationed in Lawton, Okla. ''If nothing else, we're just asking to be put on the same playing field."

The Patriot Ledger
February 8, 2006

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7snq4s
Still single, Rausch, 25, said he finds strength by dedicating himself to his job at Fort Sill, Okla., and staying close with friends from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he and Murray met. Some of his colleagues knew Murray from the year she spent at West Point and have fond memories of her, Rausch said.

"It seems evident that whatever happened is concrete," Rausch said, "but I still love her like many others do, and I feel lucky to have had what we had."

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

NMCO.ORG
About April 2006

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7m3vpj
A ‘Circle of Hope’ was held by Fred Murray’s family and friends in Weymouth, MA. Laurie Murray’s brother, Ricky Mehrman, family and friends met in their ‘Circle of Hope’ in Yankton, SD. Maura’s sister Julie and Maura’s boyfriend Bill Rausch, both lieutenants in the army, joined in their ‘Circle of Hope’ at their respective army posts of Fort Bragg, NC and Fort Sill, OK. In Marengo, OH, Bill’s parents Bill and Sharon Rausch invited their family along with friends of Maura for a ‘Circle of Hope’ at their home.

Northcountry News
Around July 28, 2006

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6suso8
Despite some of what was in the newspapers, she was not having difficulty in her relationship with her boyfriend, Billy Rausch. In fact had sent him an email that day telling him I love you more--". Although Billy had not yet given Maura her diamond, they were openly making plans to be married after she graduated in 2005. Maura had made arrangements in January 2004 to be employed for the summer of 2004 at a hospital near Billy in Lawton OK.

The Caledonian-Record
February 9, 2007

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6uac5y
She said a lot has happened during the time Maura has been missing. Maura's sister, Kathleen, got married and Maura's boyfriend and unofficial fiance, Billy Rausch of Fort Sill, Okla., was promoted to captain and sent to Iraq.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whitman & Hanson Express
July 3, 2007

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7m25a1
Did Maura make the mysterious phone call?While a search was beginning in Woodsville N.H., Billy Rausch was walking through security in a Dallas airport. He had just shut off his phone when he received a voice message.

Sharon Rausch, Billy's mother, described the message: "It was very short -- consisted of a shivering, soft whimpering sound with labored breathing as if someone was very cold."

The number traced back to an AT&T calling card. Coincidentally, Sharon said she had bought two AT&T calling cards for Maura the previous Thanksgiving holiday. After an investigation, N. H. State Police traced the calling card to the American Red Cross.

Sharon had called the Red Cross sometime between Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning to request an emergency leave for Billy, but she doubts the mysterious call could have come from the Red Cross.

"I will say with a certainty that contrary to N.H. State Police info, the call could not be traced," Sharon later told a reporter for this series. Private investigators and local law enforcement in Ohio later tried to track the call, but without the card number and PIN, it was not traceable, Sharon said.

"It just doesn't make any sense that the call was from the Red Cross because if they had been trying to call Billy, they never called back." The "soft crying, sniffing and muffled sobs" didn't seem to make sense coming from the Red Cross, she said.

Billy had been having problems with his phone where callers were sometimes sent to voicemail without realizing it, which could explain why a message was left and no one spoke, Sharon said.

Whitman-Hanson Express
July 12, 2007

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7khnzt At 4:49 on Sunday morning a little while after the accident Maura called her boyfriend, Billy Rausch, on her father's cell phone. Billy consoled her over the phone, though he would later say he thought there was more than just the accident on Maura's mind.

Billy was an army lieutenant who was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Just a few weeks earlier Maura had arranged for a summer job at a hospital in Oklahoma to be closer to Billy. "They would have ended up married," said Fred. Later, Billy would tell a local newspaper that he and Maura were "engaged to be engaged."

The couple met while studying at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and began dating in the fall of 2001. After three semesters, Maura transferred to UMass to continue her studies. "Military just wasn't for her," said Andrea Connolly, a high school friend who ran on the track team with Maura.

Billy and Maura remained close after her transfer, traveling between their schools to spend time together.

Also on Monday, Maura sent an email to her boyfriend, Billy Rausch. Maura's email to Billy that day read: "I love you more stud I got your messages, but honestly, i didn't feel like talking to much of anyone, i promise to call today though" The message was signed "love you, maura."

At 2:18 p.m. Maura called Billy on his cell phone and left a brief voicemail message. She said something along the lines of "I love you, I miss you, I want to talk," according to Billy's mother, Sharon Rausch. The cell phone Maura used was a gift from Billy, but Sharon's name was on the account.

Billy would later be shipped out to Iraq.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7khx6v Maura met her boyfriend, Billy Rausch, in the fall of 2001 while attending West Point. Maura was following in her sister Julie’s footsteps, but later decided military life wasn’t for her and transferred to UMass. Despite the distance Maura and Billy remained close.

Maura must have packed her college textbooks as well since they were later found in her car. Maura had been getting rides from friends at school due to her car problems, says Sharon Rausch, so it is unlikely the textbooks would have already been in the car.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7ki910 Atwood doubted that Maura could have reached AAA due to the sparse cell phone coverage in the area. "I knew better," he said later. Family friend Sharon Rausch also confirmed that AAA did not receive a call from Maura that night.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7kiiea That same Wednesday morning 1,800 miles away, Maura's boyfriend, Army 2nd Lt. Billy Rausch, headed to the Dallas Fort-Worth Airport to catch a flight north. Once he heard that Maura was missing Billy requested a leave of absence from his unit at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, to join the search in New Hampshire.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7kimwk As the day's search drew to a close, police spoke with the Murray and Rausch families.

Billy Rausch had arrived in Woodsville earlier Wednesday and met up with his parents, Bill and Sharon, who travelled from their home in Marengo, Ohio.

Around 5 p.m. Wednesday the Rausch family arrived at the Haverhill Police Department, located on Route 10, about nine miles from the scene of Maura's accident. "Billy was extensively interrogated in private, and then Bill and I were questioned in the room with Billy," Sharon Rausch later recounted. Before walking through airport security Billy shut off his cell phone. Shortly after, a mysterious call came in that would later be a source of dispute.

Sharon Rausch did not share that opinion. "I cannot believe," she said, "that there would be any problem in her life that would cause her to run away from three close groups of people in her life; her family, Billy and his family and the very close knit group of Hanson high school girl friends."

In New Hampshire, the search efforts continued on Thursday. Fred and other family members posted flyers and canvassed the area. "We went to every spot we thought she might go to -- hotels and motels -- and put up flyers," Billy Rausch said later.

Haverhill police were suspending their search efforts until new leads developed, Billy Rausch told reporters that evening.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

New Hampshire Sunday News / New Hampshire Union Leader
October 28, 2007

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6ste89 Did she call on a calling card sobbing and shivering to her boyfriend, Billy Rausch, 36 hours after she disappeared?

Sharon Rausch thinks Maura hadn't yet unpacked her things after a long Christmas break. During one of Maura's visits to the Rausch home, Mrs. Rausch tried to loan her an extra suitcase, only to discover it hadn't been unpacked.

That made Maura laugh, Sharon Rausch said.

"Maura said, You're just like me. I unpack as I use my things.' That's out of her own mouth. Maybe she just never unpacked."

Trembling message

After finally getting emergency leave to head north to search for Maura, Billy Rausch -- at the time an Army lieutenant stationed at Fort Sill, Okla. -- was going through airport security early Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004, and had to shut off his cell phone.

When he turned the phone back on, he discovered someone had left a voice-mail, he later told his mother.

"He said, Mom, it's Maura. She didn't say anything. She's shivering and cold,'" Mrs. Rausch said.

Billy tried to return the call but found its source to be a prepaid calling card.

Since that time, police say, they have tracked that call to a Red Cross assigned to working on Billy's emergency leave. And the troubling sounds in the recorded message, they say, were merely the result of a bad connection.

That explanation doesn't make sense to Mrs. Rausch, who said she was working with the Red Cross on Billy's leave, and therefore any calls from the organization would have gone to her, rather than to her son.

Distraught on the job

Mrs. Rausch said Maura worked security late Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004, into Friday morning checking students in and out of a UMass dormitory. Maura's supervisor that night said she found her sobbing at about 1:20 a.m. and had to help her back to Murray's room.

"We'd always talk about boy troubles. She was with Billy Rausch and every time they got into a fight or if had a fight with my (now) husband, I'd call her. It was girl talk, always late at night," Carpenter said.

She believes her sister went to the White Mountains to sort out her troubles with Billy.

"I think it was stress. I don't know what her and her boyfriend were going through," Carpenter said. "I kind of think that might have triggered it. They weren't getting along at that time.

Sharon Rausch doesn't believe Maura was involved in the accident that injured Petrit. Murray couldn't have left her job long enough to be at the accident scene and return to the dorm, Rausch said.

New Hampshire Union Leader / New Hampshire Sunday News
October 28, 2007

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6uak2q
Adding to the mystery, her then-boyfriend, Billy Rausch insisted a sobbing, shivering Maura placed a calling-card call to him 36 hours after her disappearance, then hung up.

The boyfriend

Sharon Rausch of Marengo, Ohio, loved Maura like a daughter. She said her son, Billy Rausch, was planning to become engaged to Maura. Though the young couple's relationship had been rocky at times, in early 2004 it was headed toward wedding plans, Mrs. Rausch said.

Billy was an Army lieutenant stationed at Fort Sill, Okla., when Maura disappeared. They had met as cadets at the U.S. Military Academy and continued a long-distance relationship after Maura left West Point and transferred to UMass.

(Billy graduated with Maura's older sister, Julie. Maura has another sister, Kathleen, and two brothers, Fred and Kurt.)

Billy Rausch spent time last week with his parents at their Ohio home, having recently returned from a year and a half in Iraq with a promotion to captain, Mrs. Rausch said. He was also awarded the Bronze Star, she said. He is scheduled to leave the Army in December.

Sharon Rausch had been very active in the search for Maura, reaching out to many media outlets and anyone who might be of help. The story has been told with talk-show hosts Montel Williams and Greta Van Susteren and on the TV news magazine "20/20."

Mrs. Rausch responded to an e-mail request to interview her son saying: "Billy is out of town on a job interview. However, even upon his return, he has decided that he does not want to comment. I agree with Fred (Murray) about Billy "getting on with his life.' I know that each time (Billy) becomes actively involved with the media that it truly re-opens his intense heartache from Maura's missing.

"If Fred ever wants/needs Billy's input, he will be glad to participate, but until then, he wants to remain out of the picture."

Police initially pointed to difficulties in Maura and Billy's relationship to support the theory of a possible suicide, but Mrs. Rausch said the couple was very happy together.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The New Hampshire Union Leader
October 29, 2007

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7ot882
When police assembled the Murray and Rausch families to brief them on the investigation, Maura's father "moaned and rubbed his head and said, 'Oh, no,' " according to Sharon Rausch, the mother of Billy Rausch, Maura's then-boyfriend.

"I remember Fred said, 'I always have told the kids when I got old and worthless I was going to climb my favorite mountain with a bottle of Jack Daniels and drink myself to death.' That was emotional. He thought what if there was something he didn't know about," Rausch said.

She said authorities thought the alcohol and Tylenol PM Maura brought may have been indications she was going to kill herself. "That's what people do, they drink, take a bunch of pills and die peacefully," she said.

But Rausch doesn't believe that was Maura's plan. The Kahlua, vodka and Bailey's Irish Creme Maura reportedly brought with her would likely have been about a week's worth of the drinks Maura liked, Mudslides, Rausch said.

When visiting the Rausch family in Marengo, Ohio, Maura would add Bailey's to her coffee in the morning and drink Mike's Hard Lemonade with lunch, she said. Maura and Billy always had their stash of alcohol because Rausch doesn't drink, but she said Maura didn't drink excessively.

Private get-away

She believes Maura left the University of Massachusetts without telling anyone why or where she was going to have a private getaway to think things over.

Rausch believes Maura had all her school books in the car to keep up with her school work while she decided whether to leave school and go to work to pay for the damage she had done to her father's car after crashing his new Toyota the previous weekend.

She said Billy was upset after arriving from Fort Sill, Okla., where he was stationed.

"Fred arrived in Haverhill early Wednesday. We arrived Wednesday around 7 p.m. They interviewed Billy. He was a prime suspect. He was totally distraught. I'll never forget the look on his face. He said 'I feel as dirty as Scott Peterson. They think I've got something to do with it.'" Rausch said.

For the next two weeks, both families believed Maura was alive, that she had broken into a cabin because she was a survivor, was in excellent health and ran five miles a day, Rausch said.

Book lead

The book "Not Without Peril" subtitled "150 Years of Misadventure on the Presidential Range of New Hampshire" by Nicholas Howe was found in Maura's locked car. A gift from her father, the book chronicles tragedies and rescues in New Hampshire mountains.

Rausch said police told the family the book had a photo of Maura's younger brother as a "bookmark" at a chapter entitled "A Question of Life or Death."

But even that is a red herring, Rausch believes, because it was Maura's favorite and she often re-read it, having brought it once on a visit to the Rausch home.

"While it's all true stories about people hiking and either dying or surviving a snow storm, it's also a survivor's manual more than about suicide," Rausch said.

Rausch said Maura was planning to become a physician's assistant after nursing school. She recalled how her son loved Maura, coming home one day to say he found someone with beauty, brains and wit -- and someone who could even outrun him.

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The New Hampshire Union Leader
October 30, 2007

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6ub07t
Sharon Rausch, the mother of Billy Rausch, Maura's boyfriend at the time she disappeared, praised Murray's dedication in searching for Maura.

She said she hasn't been as active in the search this year because of family commitments at home in Marengo, Ohio.

"Fred, he is still up there searching. God love him, he's just hurting."

Murray enjoyed spending time with Billy Rausch, who was dating Maura in a long-distance relationship when she disappeared. Rausch, now a U.S. Army captain, has been serving in Iraq for a year and a half and just recently returned to the states. He was stationed in Oklahoma when Maura disappeared.

Rausch and Maura met at West Point before she transferred to UMass.

"I want the kid to be able to get on with the rest of his life without carrying this as an obligation," Murray said.

"We've always been here for him," Mrs. Rausch said.

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ABC News - 20/20
August 14, 2008

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6yh2n0
Maura was an excellent student. Before attending nursing school at the University of Massachusetts, she had attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where she met a young man, Bill Rausch, and fell in love. After Rausch graduated West Point, he was stationed in Oklahoma as Maura finished school in Massachusetts. But that distance only seemed to deepen their commitment to each other.

Shocked and upset, Rausch called his parents after learning that Maura had gone missing. "I answered the phone, and I heard panic in his voice," his mom, Sharon Rausch, said.

Rausch's parents were devastated by Murray's disappearance. "For all of us that love Maura, life is like a nightmare. I can honestly say that I can't imagine loving anyone that's not my child anymore than I love Maura," Sharon Rausch said.

Sharon Rausch saw how Wilberger's community rallied around the family and joined the search, and she wanted similar action for her son's missing girlfriend.

The two families began to share e-mails. "We talked about our faith in God and that we would not give up hope and that Brooke and Maura were in God's hands," Rausch said.

CNN
November 26, 2008

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d6yhspo
There was nothing to hint she'd be motivated to run away, according to her fiance', William Rausch, and her father, Fred Murray.

Maura Murray had just gotten engaged to Rausch, her college sweetheart and an Army lieutenant stationed in Oklahoma. They planned to marry after she graduated from nursing school in June 2005. She'd found a summer nursing job in Oklahoma. She had everything to look forward to.

ABC News 20/20
September 21, 2009

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7lxenf
Like Wilberger, Murray was an excellent student. Before attending nursing school at the University of Massachusetts, she had attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where she met a young man, Bill Rausch, and fell in love.

After Rausch graduated West Point, he was stationed in Oklahoma as Murray finished school in Massachusetts. But that distance only seemed to deepen their commitment to each other.

Shocked and upset, Rausch called his parents after learning that his girlfriend had gone missing.

"I answered the phone, and I heard panic in his voice," his mom, Sharon Rausch, said.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7lxenf Rausch doesn't believe the woman he planned to marry would simply run away. He got an emergency leave from the Army to search for Murray.

"I kept hearing, well, she's an adult, and I was the only one out there walking up and down the street, looking over snow banks, trying to find footprints, trying to find some sign of her," he said.

"For all of us that love Maura, life is like a nightmare. I can honestly say that I can't imagine loving anyone that's not my child anymore than I love Maura," Sharon Rausch said.

Sharon Rausch saw how Wilberger's community rallied around the family and joined the search, and she wanted similar action for her son's missing girlfriend.

The two families from opposite sides of the country, but with a tragic common ground, comforted each other.

"We talked about our faith in God and that we would not give up hope and that Brooke and Maura were in God's hands," Rausch said.

SOCO Magazine
April 2011

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d87xt05
Two more mysteries about this case involve a rag that was stuffed into the tailpipe of Maura's car and a phone call Billy Rausch received on his way to help with the search.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d87y4zg

Aside from theories about the rag in the tailpipe, many are also mystified by the phone call Billy Rausch received on his cell phone on Feb. 11, 2004. While traveling from Oklahoma to New Hampshire to assist with the search for his missing girlfriend, Billy Raush had turned his cell phone off while going through airport security. He turned his phone on afterward and had a new voice message. The voice message is a woman breaching, sniffing, and whimpering. According to Helena Murray's account of events, many, including Rausch, believe it was Maura. Rausch called the number back, but couldn't reach a person because whoever called had used a prepaid calling card issued to the American Red Cross. Before Maura got a cell phone, she used to use prepaid phone cards to call Billy in Oklahoma, and Billy's mom gave Maura two prepaid cards at a previous Thanksgiving dinner, said Raush 's mother, Sharon Rausch, during an interview included in "Disappeared."

On the day of her disappearance, at 12:55 p.m. Maura called for information about renting a condo in Bartlett, N.H. The call lasted for three minutes and she did not rent a condo. At 1 p.m. she sent Rausch an e-mail saying that she didn't feel like talking to anyone but that she would call him later that day. She also called 1-800-GOSTOWE at 2 p.m., but the number was out of order.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d87y6rt
The official search for Maura began on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004. Maura's family, the Rausch family, police, and New Hampshire Fish and Game personnel combed the area of Route 112 where her car was found and BOLO (Be on the lookout) messages were sent to neighboring towns. Billy Rausch also told police about the mysterious phone call he received while going through security at the airport on his way to New Hampshire.

Boston Magazine
January 28, 2014

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7m2pb2
Montel Williams and Greta Van Susteren covered the story, and on February 17, eight days after the disappearance, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien interviewed Maura’s father, Fred Murray, and her boyfriend, Bill Rausch, who flew in from Oklahoma. Rausch told O’Brien that, while traveling, he received a voice-mail message: “I could hear only breathing and then towards the end of the voice mail, I heard what was apparent [sic] to be crying and then a whimper, which I’m certain was Maura.” The number was from a prepaid calling card. Two weeks later, as leads remained elusive, the Globe asked, “Where Could Maura Be?” Ominously, the paper noted, “The more details are revealed, the more baffling the case becomes, police acknowledge.”

https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yq4rq/newspaper_articles/d7m2t2c
And so you can read the history of her case as a parable about the evolution of online sleuthing. In the months after Maura vanished, one of Rausch’s friends launched a site in an attempt to publicize the case. Long-gone sites like alt.true-crime and crimenews2000.com began reposting newspaper articles, as well as the standard details.

Fred, his ex-wife, Laurie, and Bill Rausch’s mother, Sharon, all became increasingly, and very publicly, critical of the official investigation. (Laurie died of cancer in 2009.)