Scouring the Web one day, I found an obscure site, Chris King’s First Amendment Page, which had published some information related to Maura’s disappearance. According to his Blogspot profile, King once worked for the attorney general’s office. He had a background in journalism, though he listed his current occupation as “Metaphysical Reductionist,” whatever that may be. Most of the blog was devoted to ridiculing law enforcement officials. But sometimes King investigated local crimes. While combing through documents related to Fred’s civil suit against the state, King found a search warrant that someone had mistakenly left in the public file.
Here is the text of the warrant as it was published on King’s site:
Supporting Affidavit for Issuance of Search Warrant I, Todd D. Landry, do hereby depose and say;
1. That I am currently employed by the State Police and have been for the past ten years. Currently, I am assigned as a Detective at Troop-F in Twin Mountain, NH. I have received extensive training in the investigation of criminal matters.
2. That on February 9, 2004 at 1927 hours the Haverhill, NH Police Department responded to a single vehicle motor vehicle crash on Route 112 in Haverhill, NH. Upon arrival, Sgt. Cecil Smith was unable to locate the driver of the vehicle. Subsequent investigation determined that the driver of the vehicle was MAURA MURRAY (d.o.b. 05/04/82), 22 Walker Street, Weymouth, MA.
3. A witness at the scene later confirmed that the driver was MURRAY.
4. An extensive search of the area has been conducted and MURRAY has not been located.
5. During the course of this investigation, Cellular Telephone records have been obtained by Law Enforcement that were used by MURRAY. A representative from Sprint Corporate Security advised this affiant that during the late afternoon hours of February 9, 2004, an outgoing telephone call was made to Murray from the Londonderry, NH Sprint tower. This call had to have been made from within a 22-mile radius of the tower. The identity of this caller and telephone number has not been made as of this date.
6. That identifying the caller of the telephone call could be pertinent to the ongoing investigation and may lead to the whereabouts of Maura Murray.
Todd D. Landry
Londonderry is a town way the hell on the eastern side of New Hampshire, just north of Massachusetts, off Route 93.
I asked Lieutenant Landry if the search warrant was legit. Here’s what he wrote back:
Mr. Renner,
In response to your questions I offer the following:
The investigation is and has been on-going since the night Maura Murray went missing. In order to protect the integrity of the investigation I am limited to what can be released. In conferring with the lead prosecutor that is overseeing the case I can only confirm that the first responding police officer that was on the scene was Sgt. Cecil Smith of the Haverhill Police Department.
Thank You for your understanding in this matter.
Respectfully, Lt. Todd Landry
So is the warrant real? I think so. King, when contacted, stood by it. Also, it’s too esoteric to be made up. As a journalist I know that sometimes records that should not be made public are accidentally left in public files. While researching the terrible crimes of Akron serial killer Bob Buell, I once found secret grand jury testimony.
If the warrant is legit, it means that someone called Maura from eastern New Hampshire shortly before she disappeared. Was it someone traveling up Route 93 from Massachusetts? The Kancamagus Highway, the road where Maura disappeared, is the main connector between Route 91 out of Amherst and Route 93 out of Boston. Was someone coming up the other side of the state to meet her in the middle? Was this my tandem driver?