Student wrecks car on snowy road, disappears

Maura Murray and William Rausch were college sweethearts and had just gotten engaged.

Student wrecks car on snowy road, disappears
Story Highlights
Maura Murray told her professors there had been a death in the family

There was no death, relatives say

Car was found crashed into a tree along snowy New Hampshire roadway

A $40,000 reward is offered. Tips? Call 603-271-2663

By Rupa Mikkilineni
Nancy Grace Producer
CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Every weekend for more than four years, Fred Murray has walked the road where his daughter, Maura, vanished. Family, friends and volunteers help him look in the woods and mountains near Haverhill, New Hampshire, for clues to what happened to her.

Maura Murray, a 21-year-old nursing student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, disappeared on a cold and snowy night in February 2004. She was last known to be driving from Massachusetts through New Hampshire. It is still unclear where she was heading in her black 1996 Saturn.

The car was found abandoned, its front end crashed against a tree. It apparently had skidded off a road at a sharp curve.

Shortly after the accident, a passing bus driver stopped and asked Murray if she needed help. She said no.

Ten minutes later, police arrived. Inside the crumpled Saturn, they found some of Murray's belongings -- school books, running gear, snack foods and alcohol -- police won't say what kind.

But Murray was gone, along with her car keys and a backpack she always carried.

There was nothing to hint she'd be motivated to run away, according to her fiancé, William Rausch, and her father, Fred Murray.
Watch why this cold case is a true mystery »

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