I could write a book - based on my experiences with Brianna Maitland and Maura Murray and maybe I will. But first, for those of you out there intrigued by "missing persons" I can tell you at the heart of the story it's darkness you'll find.
Brianna Maitland woke up 9 years ago still hurting from injuries sustained in a fight three weeks previous, with a girlfriend of hers and the girlfriend's cousin. The cause of the fight was jealousy. Brianna had spent the week decorating Easter eggs with another friend, working at a restaurant, and shopping that day with her mother and anticipating her receiving her GED which she had completed at a local community college.
Already I've gotten ahead of myself... need to take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Brianna's story is HERE - Slam Dunk's Blog. Slam Dunk is an ex law enforcement officer, whom I met around late 2005 when Brianna's family had a website up and running. I started blogging after being a guest writer for Slam Dunks in late 2009 around Chapter 14. There are at least 27 posts on his blog that he began and I completed. If you're interested in the whole story I encourage you to visit his site. My purpose here, now, is simply to summarize events and to get you up to speed on progress made, if any, in both cases. This is also a memorial to both persons... missing, but hardly forgotten.
Yeah, I had a desire to make a difference nine years ago. And I was naive. Perhaps others will learn from my mistakes, one, know shorthand when you ask questions over a phone; and two, relax.
I didn't act right away upon new information regarding Maura Murray, when I discovered she'd vanished just an hour north of where I lived at the time. I had been researching other cases farther removed, as a hobby interest of sorts, and I guess now it was inevitable I would get involved in a real case, but it wasn't something I actually thought would happen.
Not until I read about the story revolving around Brianna Maitland's disappearance.
I don't know if many of you know about metal detecting - it's a hobby and occasionally you might recall reading stories about persons finding valuable treasure - old coins, caches and such. I was that sort of person... had been metal detecting for around twenty years when I read about Brianna Maitland - she'd vanished, her car was found backed/crashed into an old, uninhabited farmhouse in Montgomery VT.
Her car keys were missing. Eight months had passed since the "accident" and it was presumed the keys were lost near her car.
There was another caveat to the story, which piqued my interest. VSP had written off her disappearance according to news sources due to the fact she was "a drug user", marijuana in particular. It was assumed she's fallen on hard times, had owed money to drug dealers and couldn't pay up. She'd run away.
To say the least, I was quite skeptical of that assessment. I read every article I could find, and each one of them said the same thing - Brianna Maitland had an illegal drug problem, was "of questionable character" and her disappearance came as no surprise. I for one didn't buy it.
I researched the Maitland family online, found a phone number and called. Bruce Maitland answered the phone. I said, "Hi, I'd like to help... I'd like to try and locate her missing car keys... I'm experienced with metal detecting."
His response shouldn't have surprised me. He asked if I was a "voyeur?" I'd never even seen Brianna's picture... just pictures of her car. Yet I had this idea in my head she was a wild woman... and why not? Based on news articles one could rightly have such a picture. But I calmly as I could I answered, "no, I'm not a voyeur, I just want to help".
There was a pause and finally Bruce said, "okay, I'd appreciate your help". We agreed to meet the following Saturday, at the farmhouse.
It was a cold, miserable, drizzling rain day. I drove three hours to get there, at this god forsaken place that was boarded up in the middle of nowhere. A small blue car kept driving past... a guy by the name of Davey I would learn. When Bruce finally showed up around 1 PM he came with two other people and a little dog. I didn't even know it was Bruce Maitland when he arrived as he didn't hardly acknowledge me being there. It was one of the other guys who arrived that said "Hi".
It turned out the two people with Bruce were part of a missing person's association from Indiana. They were good people, though not what I'd call like the CIA. But every weekend for more than the next year they showed up, as I did as much as I could. But again, I get ahead of myself.
It was obvious from the start that Bruce was a grieving parent. He finally introduced himself after coming to grips with the locale where his daughter went missing. My impression was that Bruce was a powerful guy consumed by grief. I spent three hours detecting the area, as as always I will not reveal whether I found her car-keys... I will admit I found a few coins where her driver's door would have been, in sync with the story she had been wearing her work-apron that contained tips from her job as a waitress - that she'd been hoisted and the change had fallen out of the apron onto the ground.
After the hunt Bruce bought me dinner at a local pub. I had chicken fingers and a beer while he had just a beer. We talked. About Brianna and I have to say, I expected my part in all of it was done, but that was hardly the case.
I guess it should be noted I'm an old hippie from the 1970's... I've smoked my share of cannabis, worked as a custodian at colleges and know people. I am able to be open-minded enough to blend in with a persons of any age, any mindset and Bruce saw that in me. He asked for my help. He asked if I could talk with her friends. He asked if I could do something about the "fact" that his daughter was being ignored because of "drugs" and a reputation she'd gained being of "questionable character"? She was everything but that, he told me.
I couldn't have agreed more and the more I learned about her the more convinced I became.
The idea that she ran away, for example, was most ludicrous. At age 17, just that year she had moved out on her own and acquired legal status as an emancipated adult. That's the term for a person under the age of 18 who lives as an adult, independent of her parents. If only I'd have been as smart when I was 17. Or even when I was 24. Alas, I wasn't.
When the police found her car and inspected it they saw this:
Brianna Maitland woke up 9 years ago still hurting from injuries sustained in a fight three weeks previous, with a girlfriend of hers and the girlfriend's cousin. The cause of the fight was jealousy. Brianna had spent the week decorating Easter eggs with another friend, working at a restaurant, and shopping that day with her mother and anticipating her receiving her GED which she had completed at a local community college.
Already I've gotten ahead of myself... need to take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Brianna's story is HERE - Slam Dunk's Blog. Slam Dunk is an ex law enforcement officer, whom I met around late 2005 when Brianna's family had a website up and running. I started blogging after being a guest writer for Slam Dunks in late 2009 around Chapter 14. There are at least 27 posts on his blog that he began and I completed. If you're interested in the whole story I encourage you to visit his site. My purpose here, now, is simply to summarize events and to get you up to speed on progress made, if any, in both cases. This is also a memorial to both persons... missing, but hardly forgotten.
Yeah, I had a desire to make a difference nine years ago. And I was naive. Perhaps others will learn from my mistakes, one, know shorthand when you ask questions over a phone; and two, relax.
I didn't act right away upon new information regarding Maura Murray, when I discovered she'd vanished just an hour north of where I lived at the time. I had been researching other cases farther removed, as a hobby interest of sorts, and I guess now it was inevitable I would get involved in a real case, but it wasn't something I actually thought would happen.
Not until I read about the story revolving around Brianna Maitland's disappearance.
I don't know if many of you know about metal detecting - it's a hobby and occasionally you might recall reading stories about persons finding valuable treasure - old coins, caches and such. I was that sort of person... had been metal detecting for around twenty years when I read about Brianna Maitland - she'd vanished, her car was found backed/crashed into an old, uninhabited farmhouse in Montgomery VT.
Her car keys were missing. Eight months had passed since the "accident" and it was presumed the keys were lost near her car.
There was another caveat to the story, which piqued my interest. VSP had written off her disappearance according to news sources due to the fact she was "a drug user", marijuana in particular. It was assumed she's fallen on hard times, had owed money to drug dealers and couldn't pay up. She'd run away.
To say the least, I was quite skeptical of that assessment. I read every article I could find, and each one of them said the same thing - Brianna Maitland had an illegal drug problem, was "of questionable character" and her disappearance came as no surprise. I for one didn't buy it.
I researched the Maitland family online, found a phone number and called. Bruce Maitland answered the phone. I said, "Hi, I'd like to help... I'd like to try and locate her missing car keys... I'm experienced with metal detecting."
His response shouldn't have surprised me. He asked if I was a "voyeur?" I'd never even seen Brianna's picture... just pictures of her car. Yet I had this idea in my head she was a wild woman... and why not? Based on news articles one could rightly have such a picture. But I calmly as I could I answered, "no, I'm not a voyeur, I just want to help".
There was a pause and finally Bruce said, "okay, I'd appreciate your help". We agreed to meet the following Saturday, at the farmhouse.
It was a cold, miserable, drizzling rain day. I drove three hours to get there, at this god forsaken place that was boarded up in the middle of nowhere. A small blue car kept driving past... a guy by the name of Davey I would learn. When Bruce finally showed up around 1 PM he came with two other people and a little dog. I didn't even know it was Bruce Maitland when he arrived as he didn't hardly acknowledge me being there. It was one of the other guys who arrived that said "Hi".
It turned out the two people with Bruce were part of a missing person's association from Indiana. They were good people, though not what I'd call like the CIA. But every weekend for more than the next year they showed up, as I did as much as I could. But again, I get ahead of myself.
It was obvious from the start that Bruce was a grieving parent. He finally introduced himself after coming to grips with the locale where his daughter went missing. My impression was that Bruce was a powerful guy consumed by grief. I spent three hours detecting the area, as as always I will not reveal whether I found her car-keys... I will admit I found a few coins where her driver's door would have been, in sync with the story she had been wearing her work-apron that contained tips from her job as a waitress - that she'd been hoisted and the change had fallen out of the apron onto the ground.
After the hunt Bruce bought me dinner at a local pub. I had chicken fingers and a beer while he had just a beer. We talked. About Brianna and I have to say, I expected my part in all of it was done, but that was hardly the case.
I guess it should be noted I'm an old hippie from the 1970's... I've smoked my share of cannabis, worked as a custodian at colleges and know people. I am able to be open-minded enough to blend in with a persons of any age, any mindset and Bruce saw that in me. He asked for my help. He asked if I could talk with her friends. He asked if I could do something about the "fact" that his daughter was being ignored because of "drugs" and a reputation she'd gained being of "questionable character"? She was everything but that, he told me.
I couldn't have agreed more and the more I learned about her the more convinced I became.
The idea that she ran away, for example, was most ludicrous. At age 17, just that year she had moved out on her own and acquired legal status as an emancipated adult. That's the term for a person under the age of 18 who lives as an adult, independent of her parents. If only I'd have been as smart when I was 17. Or even when I was 24. Alas, I wasn't.
When the police found her car and inspected it they saw this:
Continued in Part Four...
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