NH Police Search Home Near Site Of Maura Murray's Disappearance

CONCORD, NH — A search of a single-family home near where Maura Murray was last seen more than 15 years ago turned up no credible evidence related to the University of Massachusetts student’s disappearance on Wednesday, law enforcement officials said at a North Haverhill press conference. More than a dozen FBI and State Police agents removed concrete from the basement floor, and searched several feet down into the ground, before concluding there was no evidence connected with Murray’s disappearance, and no evidence of human remains.

Murray was 21 years old in February 2004 when she left the Amherst campus of UMass and was involved in an apparent single-car crash on Route 112 that night about 7:30. While a witness reported talking with Murray at the scene, she was not there when police arrived, and has not been seen since.

The Woodsville home searched on Wednesday is located close to the crash scene and had been searched before during the investigation. New Hampshire Associate Attorney General Jeffrey Strelzin said that in recent months the home had become a target of increased speculation by a variety of private citizens. He said those citizens told police they believed there was a body buried beneath the basement.

He said police reviewed video of dog searches and ground-penetrating radar, and concluded there was no credible evidence to support those theories. However, with the consent of the homeowners, they conducted an additional search that Wednesday he said concluded with the discovery of “absolutely nothing” related to Murray’s disappearance.

“We continue to work a great deal on this case cooperatively between the Attorney General’s Office, the State Police, the FBI and other individuals,” Strelzin said. “We also want to extend our appreciation to the family that lives in that home. They were gracious enough to allow us, and the FBI, and the State Police, in there to conduct that search.

“This has obviously been difficult on the Murray family, their friends and family. It’s also been difficult on the residents in that area.”

Despite numerous police searches near the crash scene over the years, there had been no break in the cold case.