El 9 de febrero de 2004, Maura Murray, una joven universitaria, chocó con su auto en un camino rural de New Hampshire, en Estados Unidos. Tras el accidente, se bajó del vehículo y se encontró con una mujer que intentó ayudarla, pero ella le respondió que estaba bien y que no hacía falta que llamara a alguien.

Sin embargo, esa fue la última vez que vieron a Murray. Su caso se convirtió en uno de los más enigmáticos de la historia criminal estadounidense, ya que nunca se pudo resolver. Hoy, a más de 20 años de su desaparición, su familia cree que fue víctima de un crimen.

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Una desaparición sin rastros

Maura Murray nació el 4 de mayo de 1982 en el estado de Massachussets en una familia numerosa. Durante su adolescencia, se destacó por sus buenas calificaciones, lo cual la llevó a estudiar ingeniería química por un período en la universidad. Después, se cambió a la carrera de enfermería.

El lunes 9 de febrero, tenía que ir a clase como cualquier otro día, pero le envió un correo a sus profesores para avisarles que no iba a poder asistir por la muerte de un familiar. Pese a ello, después se confirmó que se trataba de una mentira.

En su lugar, ese día sacó dinero de un cajero automático, compró alcohol, imprimió unas direcciones en una zona rural de Vermont y se subió a su auto para salir a la ruta.

Unas horas después, su vehículo se estrelló contra un árbol en la Ruta 112, cerca de Haverhill, en New Hampshire. Una vecina llamó a la policía a pesar de que la joven se negó a que la ayudara. Sin embargo, cuando llegaron al lugar, Maura ya no estaba.

Una mujer que vivía cerca de la zona en donde el auto chocó, afirmó incluso que habló con Murray desde su casa. En su testimonio, dijo que la joven parecía estar bien, aunque nerviosa, y que rechazó la atención médica que le había ofrecido.

La vecina llamó a las autoridades de todas formas, ya que le pareció una situación extraña. Pero en cuanto la policía llegó, encontraron al auto de la joven cerrado y ella ya no estaba. Incluso, esa tarde nevó y no se encontraron huellas en los alrededores.

Las hipótesis

Desde el principio, la investigación tuvo varias teorías. La principal indicó que se trató de una fuga voluntaria.

Esta hipótesis se basó en lo que encontraron en la habitación de Murray en el campus universitario: todas sus cosas estaban guardadas en cajas, como si estuviera planificando una mudanza. Además, la mentira a sus profesores sobre su ausencia también despertó las sospechas.

En el operativo de búsqueda, los investigadores rastrillaron a pie la zona en la que desapareció la joven, usaron perros rastreadores y helicópteros con cámaras térmicas, pero ni aún así lograron detectar alguna pista contundente que diera con el paradero de Murray.

Su familia, desconfiada de la hipótesis inicial de que Maura podría haberse fugado, insistió en seguir buscando. Durante 2004 y 2005 surgieron algunas pistas inquietantes: un cuchillo oxidado entregado por un testigo y la supuesta aparición de ropa interior rasgada. Sin embargo, los forenses no encontraron elementos compatibles con el ADN de la chica.

Mientras tanto, la policía consideraba que no había pruebas de un crimen, pero la investigación fue derivada al FBI y se declaró de alcance nacional.

En los años siguientes, continuaron los operativos con perros, búsquedas en casas cercanas y análisis de posibles restos, pero ninguno aportó evidencia concreta.

A pesar de la presión constante del padre de la chica desaparecida, Fred Murray, nunca se encontraron pruebas contundentes ni avistamientos creíbles de Maura. Para la familia, el caso sigue siendo un posible homicidio sin resolver y pide que se siga investigando.

Algunas personas creen que Maura planeó su desaparición. Que quiso escapar de la presión que le generaba la facultad, de una familia complicada, de una relación que no funcionaba bien o bien que lo hizo para empezar de nuevo en otro lado. Otros sostienen que fue víctima de un crimen: que alguien se detuvo tras el accidente y se la llevó.

Leé también: Mentiras y un crimen a traición: el caso de Maje, la mujer que planeó matar a su marido con ayuda de su amante

Pero también está la teoría de una muerte accidental. En esta línea, se cree que Maura estaba alcoholizada y que se metió en el bosque intentando alejarse del lugar del choque. Posiblemente, su cuerpo habría quedado sepultado bajo la nieve, pero esta hipótesis perdió fuerza luego de que nunca apareciera ningún resto ni elemento vinculado a la joven.

El FBI reabrió la investigación formalmente en 2021, y en 2023 se hicieron nuevas excavaciones en una casa cerca del lugar del accidente, pero no se encontró nada concluyente.

An unprovoked Hamas attack on Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) workers left at least eight people dead and many others injured, as the U.S.-backed organization fears some team members may have been taken hostage.

«We carefully considered closing our sites today given the heightened security risks and safety concerns, but we decided that the best response to Hamas’ cowardly murderers was to keep delivering food for the people of Gaza who are counting on us. We will not be deterred from our mission towards providing food security for the Palestinian people in Gaza,» GHF interim Executive Director John Acree said in a statement.

PEOPLE IN GAZA ARE THANKING TRUMP FOR AID, LEADER OF US-BACKED GROUP SAYS

«Last night’s ambush was a ruthless assault on those who represent the very best of humanity. These were local aid workers – our colleagues – risking their lives to bring food to those who are starving. They weren’t combatants. They had no political affiliations. They were there to serve their own people, and they were hunted down by Hamas,» GHF Executive Chairman Rev. Johnnie Moore told Fox News Digital. «We are heartbroken, but we’re not backing down. We call on the international community to condemn this unprovoked, barbaric attack and start standing with those of us who are doing the work on the ground. We cannot do it alone. All we want to do is feed people. That’s all.»

In an earlier statement on the attack, GHF said that «for days» Hamas had been threatening its team and aid workers, as well as civilians who receive aid from the organization. In the same statement, GHF called on the international community to condemn Hamas.

«Tonight, the world must see this for what it is: an attack on humanity. We call on the international community to immediately condemn Hamas for this unprovoked attack and continued threat against our people simply trying to feed the Palestinian people,» GHF’s statement read.

Palestinians carry aid supplies they received from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. (Reuters/Ramadan Abed)

HAMAS WORKING TO ‘SABOTAGE’ TRUMP-BACKED AID GROUP WITH ‘FAKE NEWS’: ISRAELI OFFICIAL

Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Oren Marmorstein posted about the attack on X and asked whether the United Nations would condemn it.

The United Nations and GHF have been at odds as the international body criticized the U.S.- and Israeli-backed organization and doubted its ability to bring aid to the people of Gaza. In May, Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon accused the U.N. of removing NGOs from a shared aid database after the groups defied a call by the international body to boycott GHF.

People carry boxes of relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation from an aid distribution centre in the central Gaza Strip on June 8, 2025. (Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images)

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Moore also slammed the U.N. for its silence in the face of Hamas’ threats of violence against aid workers and questioned the organization’s absence following the deadly attack.

«The UN – worse, much worse, than silence they continue their vicious slander against our mission. A mission with one goal: FEED GAZA! The principle of impartiality does not mean neutrality. There is good and evil in this world. What we are doing is good and what Hamas did to these Gazans is absolute evil,» Moore wrote in a post on X. 

«I am sorry it has come to this but again we extend our hand to UN, the WFP, the ICRC, the EU, the GCC, and the world – join us.  We can do this together. Or for God’s sake, for the sake of humanity, if you’re not going to join us at least have the courage to boycott HAMAS, not us.»

Since the launch of its operations late last month, GHF has reportedly distributed approximately 18,647,662 meals via roughly 316,320 boxes. Moore recently told Fox News Digital that Palestinians who have received aid from GHF have been thanking the U.S. and President Donald Trump for the assistance.

Neither the spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres nor the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment in time for publication.

The war of words between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, appears to be over, and there are signs of some reconciliation.

However, a new poll suggests that the verbal attacks by Musk, who spent the first four months of Trump’s second administration as a special White House advisor steering the recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), have hurt his standing among Republicans.

Sixty-two percent of Republicans hold a favorable opinion of Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released on Wednesday.

That is down 16 points from a Quinnipiac survey in March, when 78% of Republicans viewed Musk in a favorable way.

TRUMP SAYS HE’S OPEN TO RECONCILING WITH MUSK 

Among all voters, 30% held a favorable opinion of Musk, with 57% viewing him unfavorably. Favorable opinions of Musk dropped six points from Quinnipiac’s March survey, with the unfavorable rating holding steady.

Musk went all in for Trump last summer and autumn. He endorsed the then-GOP presidential nominee in July right after the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

MUSKS SAYS HIS SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ATTACKING TRUMP ‘WENT TOO FAR’

Musk became the top donor of the 2024 election cycle, dishing out nearly $300 million in support of Trump’s bid through America PAC, a mostly Musk-funded super PAC aligned with Trump.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk jumps on stage Oct. 5, 2024, as he joins then-former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the site of an assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump named Musk to steer DOGE soon after the November election, and the president repeatedly praised Musk during his headline-making and controversial tenure at DOGE.

The feud broke out days after Musk left the White House late last month, as he dubbed the administration’s massive landmark spending bill – which Trump calls his «big, beautiful bill» – a «disgusting abomination,» which he said would sink the nation into unsustainable debt.

Musk also argued that Trump would not have won last year’s presidential election without all his support. 

WOULD DONALD TRUMP HAVE WON THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WITHOUT ELON MUSK’S HELP?

Trump and Musk traded fire with blistering social media posts, with Musk even claiming without evidence that the government was concealing information about Trump’s association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk later deleted the post.

Musk on Wednesday wrote on his well-watched X account, «I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.»

Trump said in a podcast interview with the New York Post that was published on Wednesday that «things like that happen. I don’t blame him for anything.»

However, when asked about Musk’s apology as he spoke with reporters later in the day, the president said «I really haven’t thought too much about it.»

During his months at DOGE, Musk aimed, but fell far short, of trimming $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget.

According to the Quinnipiac poll, 38% of voters said that Musk did an excellent or good job at DOGE, with 57% describing his tenure as not so good or poor.

However, 80% of Republicans questioned said Musk’s work was excellent or good, with just 13% viewing his tenure at DOGE as not so good or poor.

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«Though Musk isn’t as popular with Republicans as he once was, he and DOGE get a hearty high five from a healthy majority of Republicans,» Quinnpiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted June 5-9, with 1,265 registered voters across the country questioned. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.