Bone fragments found in NH are not Maura Murray's, family confirms

LINCOLN, N.H. – Human bone fragments found near Loon Mountain are not remains of Hanson native Maura Murray, her sister said Wednesday.

​“My heart is heavy upon learning that these remains do not belong to my little sister,” Julie Murray said in a statement. “I urge the (New Hampshire State Police) to work tirelessly until the remains can be identified, so that peace may be given to their loved ones. My family will continue to search for Maura and will leave no stone unturned until we bring her home and hold accountable those who are responsible for her disappearance.”

Maura Murray, then 21, went missing after leaving her dorm at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and crashing her car in New Hampshire in 2004.

New Hampshire State Police said in September that troopers, police in Lincoln, New Hampshire, the state archaeologist, the state medical examiner and the U.S. Forest Service were investigating bone fragments found in the area of Loon Mountain during a construction project.

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But Julie Murray said state and federal authorities conducted radiocarbon testing and found a more than 95% probability that the bones date from between 1774 and 1942. 

Investigators said Murray left her dormitory at UMass-Amherst on Feb. 9, 2004, and drove north, though the reason is unknown They know she made it at least as far as Haverhill, New Hampshire, a mountainside town near the Vermont border. 

Residents reported seeing her along a sharp turn on Route 112 after her car had gone off the road and slammed into a snow bank at about 7:30 p.m. One passerby said he offered help, but Murray said roadside assistance was on its way.

The man drove home and called police. When officers arrived a short time later, Murray was gone, leaving no footprints in the snow and only scattered clues.

SEARCH GOES ON: Journalist, others still search for missing Hanson woman

No one has heard from Murray since, and her family has been waiting 17 years for answers. To keep her sister's disappearance in the public eye, Julie Murray said her family has remained active on social media and on the website mauramurraymissing.org.

There has been international interest in Murray's disappearance and potential leads in the case before, but none have led to answers. 

In 2018, public radio producer Maggie Freleng and former U.S. Marshal Art Roderick set out to discover what happened to Murray in the Oxygen TV network's true crime TV series “The Disappearance of Maura Murray.” They worked with Lance Reenstierna and Tim Piller, who host a podcast about Maura Murray’s disappearance, and James Renner, who wrote a book about the case.