3 Disturbing Unsolved Mysteries In New Hampshire That Will Leave You Baffled
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Kelly A. Burch
Author
Unsolved mysteries aren’t typically associated with New Hampshire. We’re a state more known for summer fun and beautiful views than brutal crimes. But despite being one of the safest states in the nation, New Hampshire still has a few cold cases. These three are seeped in mystery, and will leave you wondering what happened.
In 1985, a hunter came across human remains in an overturned drum near Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown New Hampshire. The bones were those of a woman, and a little girl, estimated to be between 5 and 11 years old. Police searched for decades, taking the case throughout New England and even up to Canada, but they were never able to identify the remains.
Then, in 2000 the case was assigned to a new detective from the state police. He revisited the original crime scene and found the remains of two more little girls, a toddler and a preschooler.
DNA evidence showed that at least two of the little girls were related to the woman, and authorities believe that all four were killed at the same time, sometime between 1980 and 1984. The case remains open, and was receiving media attention as recently as 2015. However, no leads have been made public, and the identity of the four murder victims is as much a mystery as it was in 1985.
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The New Hampshire/Vermont border is known for cover bridges and quaint towns, but for nearly a decade throughout the 1980’s this region was the site of six brutal murders of women. The first victim was killed in 1978 in New London, and her murder was followed by similar crimes in Unity (1981), West Claremont (two murders in 1984) and Charlestown (1985), as well as two murders across the river in Vermont in Saxton’s River (1986) and Hartford (1987). All of the victims had their throats slashed.
A seventh victim survived an attack in Swanzey in 1988, and provided police with a description of the assailant.
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There have been a few suspects in the case. The most prominent is Michael Nicholaou, who killed himself in 2005 after murdering his wife and stepdaughter. Nicholaou lived along Interstate 91 in the 1980s, giving him easy access to the sites of the murders.
However, with little evidence other the description offered by the seventh victim, the Connecticut River Killer remains on the loose.
In February 2004, a motorist came across a car accident on Route 112 in Haverhill. He stopped to help the driving – a young woman – but she decline his help. He called 911 anyway. When the police responded just a few minutes later, the car was locked and the woman was gone.
No one has seen her for 12 years.
Police quickly learned that the woman was University of Massachusetts student Maura Murray. Murray had told her professors that she needed time off for a family emergency, but her family said that there was no such event.
Investigation found that Maura had Googled directions to Burlington and Stowe Vermont, and had called to inquire about lodging in Vermont and in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. However, she hadn’t mentioned her plans to leave to anyone, including her boyfriend and her father, who had visited her at UMass just before her disappearance.
Murray had been troubled in the months before her disappearance. She was arrested for using a stolen credit card, and had been in a suspected drunk driving accident near UMass. After her disappearance, police suspected that Murray was upset about something and potentially suicidal. After Murray’s disappearance there was an extensive search of the area around the crash using a helicopter with thermal imagine and police dogs. However, no evidence of Murray was found. New Hampshire authorities have said that Murray’s case is being treated as a criminal investigation, because it is a potential homicide.
Murray had been troubled in the months before her disappearance. She was arrested for using a stolen credit card, and had been in a suspected drunk driving accident near UMass. After her disappearance, police suspected that Murray was upset about something and potentially suicidal. After Murray’s disappearance there was an extensive search of the area around the crash using a helicopter with thermal imagine and police dogs. However, no evidence of Murray was found. New Hampshire authorities have said that Murray’s case is being treated as a criminal investigation, because it is a potential homicide.
If this doesn’t make you want to become an investigator we don’t know what will.
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