Missing UMass Amherst student Maura Murray’s family hopeful after human remains found in NH

HAVERHILL, N.H. — Seventeen years after 21-year-old UMass Amherst nursing student Maura Murray vanished in New Hampshire, her family is hoping there could soon be a major break in the case.

Recently, New Hampshire authorities said a construction crew found human bone fragments on Loon Mountain.

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Maura Murray’s family is paying very close attention to this investigation.

“There have been other remains found, but this is right at Loon. And this just gives me a different feeling than the past ones, when human remains that were discovered,” Julie Murray, Maura’s sister told Boston 25 News reporter Bob Ward in a Zoom interview.

Maura Murray disappeared on February 9, 2004 after a single car crash on Route 112 in Haverhill, New Hampshire. Maura refused help from a neighbor and then completely disappeared.

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Earlier in the day, Maura unexpectedly left the UMass Amherst campus and drove north. No one knows why she left and no one knows her destination.

Since Maura’s disappearance, her fate has been the subject of countless theories in books, podcasts, and TV shows.

For Julie Murray, the significance of the discovery is where it was made.

“This is so close to the accident scene. And actually, would have been on her route, if she was going to the Conway/Bartlett area. Although we don’t know where she was headed. This was on the way,” Julie Murray told Ward. “My family and I have spent time at Loon. Maura’s been to Loon. So, it’s definitely a familiar area. This one sits a little different with my family and I.”

New Hampshire State Police are analyzing the bone fragments; it is not clear if the fragments belonged to a man or a woman.

In the meantime, Julie Murray is urging supporters to have patience and give New Hampshire investigators time to work.

The answers, she believes, could be close.

“This is how it’s going to happen. This is how these cold cases get solved: somebody stumbles upon something. There are answers out there. somewhere. Maybe this is the answer for my family and for Maura,” Julie said.

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