99 replies to this topic

[Dan]

Originally posted on 04/15/04
by Kelly



[img width=320 height=400]http://www.missingki...CMC985167c1.jpg[/img]
Date of Birth 08-OCT-1986
RACE WHITE
SEX FEMALE
HAIR DARK BROWN
EYES HAZEL
HEIGHT 5'3"
WEIGHT 105 LBS.
CASE # NCMC985167


DATE DISAPPEARED 19-MAR-2004 LOCATION Sheldon, VT

Circumstances
Brianna Maitland left her job and was suppose to meet her friend back home, but she never made it. She was not living at home and the friend thought that she had decided to move back home so she did not get alarmed when Brianna did not show up right away.
After a few days the friend called Brianna's family who upon hearing that she was missing filed a missing persons report. Her abandoned vehicle was found backed into a vacant building on Rte 118 outside Montgomery VT.

She gave no indication that she was intending to leave and she did not have any of her personal belongings with her, including her contact lenses or medication. Two of her paychecks were found unopened on the front seat of her car.

Brianna's nose is pierced and she has a scar on her forehead near her left eyebrow.

Contact Information
Vermont State Police Department 802-524-5993

Print a poster: http://www.missingkids.com/missingki...ng=en_US<br />

Print a poster: http://www.projectja...nnaMaitland.pdf

Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski
President and Founder,
Project Jason
www.projectjason.org
Read our blog about missing persons:
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/
If you have seen any of our missing persons, please call the law enforcement agency listed on the post. All missing persons are loved by someone, and their families deserve to find the answers they seek in regards to the disappearance.

[Dan]

Originally posted on 04/18/04
by Kelly



Father assails Vt. police in teen search
By Associated Press | April 18, 2004

MONTPELIER -- The father of a Sheldon teenager missing since last month is criticizing the way Vermont State Police are investigating her disappearance.

In a letter to Governor James Douglas, Bruce Maitland said the investigation has not been aggressive enough and that his family had been kept in the dark about what police are doing.

Jason Gibbs, the governor's spokesman, said Douglas had not received the letter Friday afternoon but had been assured by Public Safety Commissioner Kerry Sleeper that police were working hard on the case.

Brianna Maitland, 17, has been missing since March 19 after she left her job at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery. Her car was found the next day a mile outside town.

Bruce Maitland said police did not tell him about the car until five days after her disappearance when he and his wife filed a missing person's report. Brianna was living at a family friend's house at the time of her disappearance.

[Dan]

Originally posted on 04/25/04
by Kelly


State Police Meet With Missing Girl's Family
Father Asks Police For Updates On Investigation
www.thechamplainchannel.com/news
UPDATED: 10:15 AM EDT April 21, 2004

FRANKLIN, Vt. -- As the search continues for a missing teenager, Vermont State Police are promising to keep Brianna Maitland's family better informed of what's going on.

Maitland's family met Tuesday with Vermont's chief criminal investigators. The girl's father, Bruce Maitland, earlier had written a letter to Gov. Jim Douglas complaining that police weren't doing enough to find the 17-year-old who disappeared in mid-March after work.

Maitland said police briefed the family Tuesday on the leads they were working on into the girl's disappearance and promised better communications to keep the family updated on the investigation.

[Dan]

Originally posted on 05/04/04
by Kelly



Father Of Missing Sheldon Girl Worried About Others' Safety


BY GARY E. LINDSLEY, Staff Writer
Wednesday April 21, 2004

Bruce Maitland is worried about the safety of teenage girls and young women in Vermont and New Hampshire - worried they may face the possibility of being kidnapped and transported elsewhere for illicit purposes.

Maitland's daughter, 17-year-old Brianna, disappeared after she left work at the Black Lantern in Montgomery the night of March 19.

"My own theory," Maitland said Tuesday night, "is there may be a market for these girls in the New York City area. I have some inclination of it."

He also believes there may be a connection between the disappearances of his daughter and that of Maura Murray, a 21-year-old University of Massachusetts at Amherst nursing student from Hanson, Mass.

Murray disappeared the night of Feb. 9 after she was involved in a one-car accident on Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H.

Brianna disappeared after she left work as a dishwasher at the Black Lantern. Her car was found during the early morning hours of March 20 with its rear end ensconced in a portion of an abandoned building, about a mile from the Black Lantern.

"I do believe there is some form of link," Maitland said.

He also said Vermont State Police investigators haven't ruled out a connection, although VSP and New Hampshire State Police investigators have officially told the media they don't believe there is any connection.

Maitland said state police are investigating the possibility teenage girls and young women are being taken for illegal purposes, such as prostitution in the New York City area.

He said there was a case of underage girls being used for such purposes recently in the Hampstead area.

"We know these guys are coming up from New York City," Maitland said. "It's very scary! The connection may not be with a random person. They could be part of a cell."

"In that case," he added, referring to both Brianna and Murray being alive, "there could be a glimmer of hope."

Maitland said he has spoken to detectives in the New York City area about his daughter. He also has visited police precincts there, including the Bronx. And pictures of his daughter have been distributed in the New York City area.

"They gave me some great confidence," he said. "They felt very strongly they would be able to find her if she is on the streets."

Maitland said someone in Burlington had been taking girls from the area to New York City for prostitution in the past.

"So, the market does exist," he said. "It certainly is a reason for the entire community to be upset and to be very careful about their daughters."

Maitland also spoke about a letter he and his wife, Kellie, had sent to Gov. Jim Douglas regarding their belief not enough was being done to find Brianna.

He faxed the letter to Douglas' office Friday.

"Yesterday we got a response," he said.

The Maitlands spent about two hours talking with VSP Tuesday.

"We were unhappy because we hadn't seen any results," he said.

The Maitlands also felt like they were being shut out by investigators. They weren't receiving any information about what was being done to find their daughter. Nor were they receiving any information on what had been learned.

After speaking with state police, Maitland said he believes investigators are desperately searching for evidence and clues that will lead them to Brianna.

"We got a real lesson in procedures," he said. "Certain mistakes were made. They wouldn't directly admit that."

However, he said certain other measures were taken to move the investigation forward which he and Kellie did not know about.

Although the Maitlands feel better coming out of Tuesday's meeting, they still aren't happy.

"I am not satisfied with the results," he said. "I want my daughter back."

The Maitlands will meet once a week with VSP to discuss the latest developments in the case.

Jason Gibbs, Douglas' press secretary, said the governor understands the family's concerns.

"He has been assured we are doing everything we can to bring this young woman home safely," Gibbs said. "The family has been briefed on what information can be shared and what can't be."

While wanting to keep the family informed, he said investigators don't want to provide information which will compromise the investigation.

People with information about Maitland should call Vermont State Police at 802-524-5993.

http://www.caledonianrecord.com/page...tory/b66a0fd21

[Dan]

Originally Posted on 05/04/04
by Kelly





Family Website: http://bringbrihome.org/

[Dan]

Originally posted on 05/09/04
by Kelly



Original Post: 05/09/04

Families of missing women gather to support one another
Saturday May 08, 2004
By MIKE RECHT
Associated Press Writer
HAVERHILL, N.H. (AP) The families of two missing women came together in Haverhill on Saturday to plead for help from the public and federal authorities.

Fred Murray of Weymouth, Mass., whose daughter, Maura, 21, disappeared on Feb. 9 in Haverhill after a minor car accident, set up the meeting before starting another weekend of searching.

He was joined by Bruce and Kellie Maitland of East Franklin, Vt., whose daughter, Brianna, 17, was last seen on March 19 after she left work at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery, Vt.

Also lending their support were the parents of 20-year-old Amie Riley of New Hampshire, who was last seen leaving a bar in August. Her body was found last month in a marsh.

Although they had never met before, the parents hugged tearfully, knowing each other's pain.

Murray said the three cases ``easily could be'' connected, although state police said there is no evidence pointing in that direction.

Murray said the three investigations should be centrally coordinated by an agency such as the FBI, since they cross state lines.

``There is substantial reason for the FBI to be involved,'' he said. ``People should be yelling for the FBI to come in.''

``What if the cases are not related'' and a local person is involved? he said. ``Then people here should be uneasy. It takes a local to catch a local.''

Bruce Maitland said any missing person over 12 is treated as a runaway. Murray and the Maitlands pleaded for anyone to come forward if they think they have any information about the whereabouts of their daughters.

``It can come to you; it can be your family; it can be your daughter,'' Kellie Maitland said.

Asked what message she wanted to send to the public, she shouted tearfully, ``not one more girl; not one more beautiful girl.''

Charlotte and Michael Riley have been lobbying lawmakers to change the rules for reporting a missing adult. According to Mrs. Riley, it took police three months to enter her daughter's name into the National Crime Information Center system.

About 15 Fish and Game officers, joined by the New England Canine and the Upper Valley Wilderness Response team with six dogs, searched the woods for Maura Murray, a University of Massachusetts student, about five miles east of the accident site on Route 112. A limited ground and helicopter search was conducted in March, and another helicopter search was done last week, Fish and Game officer Todd Bogardus said.

The search was prompted by a new witness account of a woman fitting Murray's description walking along the road that night.

Searchers would not be out again unless some evidence is found, he said.


http://wbz1030.com/nhnews/NH--Missin...rces_news_html

[Dan]

Originally posted on 05/09/04
by Kelly



News.bostonherald.com/

Families of missing women want cops to search for link

By Jessica Heslam
Thursday, May 6, 2004

Despite police saying there's nothing to link them, the cases of two women who vanished from two different states are hauntingly similar, say their parents, who plan to meet Saturday to compare notes.

``We think maybe they've come in contact with the same person or groups of people. Maybe there is a real nutcase out there somewhere that committed both these acts,'' said Bruce Maitland, whose 17-year-old daughter, Brianna, vanished from Vermont March 19.

``We would like someone to look at both these cases,'' Maitland said yesterday. ``It at least ought to be looked at.''

Brianna Maitland vanished after her shift at the Black Lantern Inn restaurant in Montgomery, Vt. Her car was found a mile away the next day, its rear end rammed into the side of an abandoned house.

On Feb. 9, University of Massachusetts nursing student Maura Murray vanished after her car hit a snowbank on Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H. When police showed up, the car was locked and the 21-year-old Hanson, Mass., native was gone.

Maitland said both are beautiful women who disappeared without a trace after some sort of automobile mishap. They vanished about 60 miles apart.

Vermont State Police Lt. Thomas Nelson said there's no concrete connection.

[Dan]

Originally posted on 05/11/04
by Kelly



Families Issue Emotional Plea For FBI Help

www.caledonianrecord.com/
BY GARY E. LINDSLEY, Staff Writer
Monday May 10, 2004


WOODSVILLE NEW HAMPSHIRE

When Fred Murray and Kellie Maitland met for the first time Saturday morning, it was a very emotional moment for the parents of two missing young women.

Maitland went up to Murray and they tenderly embraced, both knowing one another's pain of not knowing what has happened to their daughters.

Murray's daughter, Maura, a 21-year-old nursing student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has been missing since she was involved in a minor one-car accident on Route 112 in Haverhill the night of Feb. 9.

Maitland's daughter, 17-year-old Brianna, has been missing since she clocked out of work at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery, Vt., the night of March 19.

Maitland, her husband, Bruce, and Murray were joined by Charlotte and Michael Riley of Chester, N.H., in a press conference at the American Legion, Ross-Wood Post 20, in Woodsville Saturday morning.

The Rileys were told their daughter, Amie, who had been missing since August, was found in April in a swamp in Manchester. She had been brutally murdered.

Murray and the Maitlands clamored for public support in having the FBI brought in to investigate not only the disappearances of Maura and Brianna, but also the murder of Amie.

Murray has been beseeching New Hampshire State Police officials at Troop F to call in the FBI to join the investigation since learning his daughter was missing.

The FBI will not join an investigation until asked by the police agency handling a case.

And after learning about the disappearance of Brianna, Murray and the Maitlands called for state police in both New Hampshire and Vermont to call in the FBI.

State police officials in both New Hampshire and Vermont have said there isn't any connection between Maura and Brianna's disappearances, other than they both were involved in car accidents.

However, they also have not said how they have ruled out any connection.

"Something has to be done," Charlotte Riley said. "It's important. No one knows where to turn. I don't want (the media) to portray my grief. I want them to portray something has to be changed."

She spoke about how the police in Manchester did not place her daughter's information into the National Crime Information Center until three months after she had disappeared.

Riley said until a case gets an NCIC number, parents of missing children do not receive any help with searches or posters or from support groups.

Kellie Maitland said her daughter had been at a party a week before she disappeared. She had been assaulted at that party. "Maybe she knew something," she said. "We are hoping someone out there knows something."

Murray said, "We need help. All three families need help. None of us have our daughters. If these three cases are connected, and they very well could be, it's horrendous. You could have a killer locally in your midst." He said there is ample reason for the FBI to become involved.

"We are asking for your help," Murray said, pleading to the public through the media. "People should be screaming for the FBI. We want this to be brought to a close. You owe it to yourselves, folks."

Bruce Maitland said although he has been told the cases aren't related, he believes no one has really looked into whether they are connected.

"I am going to practically beg the governor (Jim Douglas) to step up to the plate," he said. "Let's give (state police) some help."

Kellie Maitland said she felt as if they are up against the wall.

She spoke about a drug bust at a crack house in Vermont in which those busted were let back out on the street the very next day.

"We can't keep having a revolving door for criminals," Kellie Maitland said. "They are back out there. We don't have our daughter."

"Not one more girl!" she continued, her voice quivering. "Not one more beautiful girl! They are bright. They are talented. Not one more. It's a pretty bad Mother's Day."

With that, she walked away from the microphones and went over to Murray, tears streaming down her face. He hugged her, trying to console her.

Her husband joined her and laid his head on top of hers, encircling his arms around her as they listened to Charlotte Riley speak. Riley said until people are in such a situation, they have no idea what it is like.

She spoke about the lack of media coverage after it was determined her daughter was missing. "She was at a bar," Riley said. "Does that make her less of a person?" The Maitlands and Murray responded with a resounding no.

She also emphasized the importance of pressing police to enter the information into the NCIC system. "The system is not working," Riley said. "Three months! It was three long months before she was considered missing!"

[Dan]

Originally posted on 05/11/04
by Kelly



WEB EXTRA: 'Not one more girl'

Families of missing daughters gather in New Hampshire
Written by Ethan Dezotelle

Monday, 10 May 2004
WOODSVILLE, N.H.: "Not one more. Not one more girl. Not one more beautiful girl."

That was the plea from Kellie Maitland, the mother of Franklin teen Brianna Maitland, who has been missing for nearly two months.

Maitland and her husband, Bruce, gathered in Woodsville, N.H., on the day before Mother's Day to make an appeal to parents, residents, law enforcement officials and the media to get the FBI to join in the search for their 17-year-old daughter.

Wiping back tears, Kellie Maitland said the past few weeks have opened her eyes to what can happen to children and families.

"You see how easy it is out there, how anyone can be a victim," she said. "It could be your family. It could be your daughter."

Joining the Maitlands was the father of Maura Murray, a missing 21-year-old Massachusetts woman who disappeared near Woodsville, and the parents of 20-year-old Amie Riley, a New Hampshire woman whose body was found on the West Side of Manchester, N.H., late last month after she was reported missing nearly nine months ago.

It was an emotional gathering as the grieving families embraced and gave comfort to one another outside the tiny New Hampshire town's American Legion, Ross-Wood Post 20, on Saturday morning. The clear, blue sky and the calm of the Ammonoosuc River that served as a backdrop to the meeting were contrasted by the heavy, somber mood of the occasion.

As the families addressed a crowd of reporters and a handful of Woodsville residents, Fred Murray suggested that the three cases could be connected, adding that this possibility is a cause for alarm among the people of northern Vermont and New Hampshire.

"We need help, all three of us families," Murray said. "None of us have our daughters. If they are connected, what we have is a potentially horrendous situation. People could have a killer in their midst... We don't have our daughters. People here do. If you've got a monster among you, you can't breathe easily. I ask people to take time to demand, to ask why can't we get our local agencies some help."

Murray's daughter disappeared the night of Feb. 9 following a minor one-car accident on Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H., the town Woodsville is a precinct of. She left the University of Massachusetts, where she was a nursing student, after receiving a phone call and telling friends there was a family emergency. An investigation of Maura Murray's computer later found that she had downloaded directions to Burlington.

Maura's father and the Maitlands have seen a connection to the vanishing of their daughters for some time now. Following the disappearance of Brianna Maitland on March 19 after she left her job at the Black Lantern Restaurant in Montgomery Center, her car was found by Vermont State Police on the outskirts of Montgomery. It had been driven into an abandoned house and had minor damage. Both young women vanished without personal information or belongings.

Law enforcement officials in both Vermont and New Hampshire have balked at the idea that the two cases are connected, although such an idea has not been officially ruled out.

Both families have clamored for weeks to have the FBI brought in on the investigations, something that cannot happen until requested by the law enforcement agency handling the case. On Saturday, the parents expanded their cry for a larger investigation, saying that the FBI should also join in the homicide investigation surrounding Amie Riley.

Riley was last seen alive on Aug. 15, 2003, at the Hogs Trough Saloon in Manchester, N.H. She was reported leaving with a white male between the ages of 35 and 40. The 5-foot-8 man wearing a white shirt and dark pants was said to have slicked back black hair.

She was reported missing the following day by her boyfriend, but it took some three months before her information turned up on a national database of missing children. Amie's body was found April 24 near a small pond on the West Side of Manchester. The state she was found in led officials to rule her death a homicide. The case is still under investigation.

At Saturday's meeting, the Rileys stood in a tight circle with the Maitlands and Murray, swapping pictures of their daughters, sharing memories and hoping for something good to come out of a terrible situation.

"We've never had a situation with two missing girls in a 90-mile radius in the North Country," Bruce Maitland said. "The police do good work, but they're not equipped for this... I talked to the FBI yesterday... they said if there was a ransom note, they could do something.

"School's coming to a close. Your daughters are going to be out there. These girls need to be found. These bad guys need to be caught."


http://www.thecountycourier.com/inde...&id=85&Itemid=

[Dan]

Originally posted on 05/25/04
by Kelly



http://www.caledonianrecord.com/page...tory/baf6d4365

Seeks Action From Governor Douglas


Petition Drive Demands Action In Maitland Case


BY GARY E. LINDSLEY, Staff Writer
Tuesday May 25, 2004


The fear in her grandson's voice was the final straw for Lou Byam of Franklin.

Byam has mounted a petition drive to demand Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, and Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Kerry Sleeper take definitive action in the disappearance of 17-year-old Brianna Maitland of Sheldon.

"My grandson, who is 14, said, ÔI don't want to come up here,'" Byam said. Her grandson did not want to visit her in northern Vermont because of the disappearance of Maitland and his concern for his own safety.

"He's scared," Byam said. "Parents are scared. Everyone's scared. We want answers and we aren't getting them."

The petitions, which are being circulated around sections of northern Vermont, read, "We, the undersigned concerned citizens of the state of Vermont, summer residents and tourists of the state of Vermont, do hereby petition the governor, lieutenant governor and the Vermont State Police Commissioner to figure out a way to find Brianna Maitland, no matter what it takes to get her home!

"We, as parents, friends, family, community, state, caring humans and taxpayers say enough is enough! It it time to do whatever it takes to get Brianna and others like her home."

The petition also notes because Maitland has not been found, it is time to bring in help, more resources.

"We live in fear for our children's health, safety, welfare and their lives," it reads. "Our children no longer have the freedom as an American citizen to walk, ride their bicycles, go shopping or drive their vehicles safely in our state!

"The government's first duty is to make sure its citizens are safe from crime. We are angry and want the wheels of motivation kicked into high gear. Bring Bri home now!"

Maitland has not been seen since she clocked out of work at the Black Lantern Inn late the night of March 19. Her vehicle was found partially ensconced in an abandoned building about a mile from the inn early March 20.

She disappeared more than a month after 21-year-old University of Massachusetts at Amherst nursing student Maura Murray was involved in a one-car accident on rural Route 112 in the town of Haverhill, N.H.

Murray has not been seen since walking away from the accident scene the night of Feb. 9.

"Our children are our most valuable resources," Byam said. "The way the state police handled this since day one has been unacceptable. It kills me. Every day we see Bruce and Kellie (Brianna's parents). We want our state back. We want Brianna back."

"I hope it works," Kellie Maitland said, referring to the petitions. "I am starting to get desperate."

Bettina Desrochers, who is from St. Johnsbury, also is upset about the two missing young women. "It seems as if not enough is being done," she said. "We need more help. There isn't anything wrong with asking for more help."

As a parent of daughters whom she said are all beautiful, young and outgoing, her heart goes out to the Maitlands, as well as to Fred Murray, Maura's father.

With summer nearing, she is concerned about students getting out of school and their safety. "Wouldn't you want to know (the disappearances) are being handled properly?" Desrochers said.

Carolyn Gendron, who lives in Richford, also believes the investigation into Brianna's disappearance was botched from the start. She said common sense says if Brianna left behind her paychecks and driver's license, she didn't disappear willingly.

"They should know a kid wouldn't leave money behind," she said, referring to the state police. "As a parent, if it was my daughter, I don't think I could be as calm as Mr. and Mrs. Maitland."

Gendron believes the best investigators the state police have should be involved in the investigation. She also believes the FBI should be asked to be a major part of the search for Brianna.

Gendron said she almost lost her own daughter a few years ago. "Our daughter was coming home from a study group when she noticed a car kept driving by her," she said.

When there was an open area, the car pulled in front of Gendron's then 16-year-old daughter and the occupants screamed for her to get in the car. "She froze," Gendron said. "Luckily, a friend came forward and saw her and took her away."

So, she said, she got a little bit of a taste of what the Maitlands must be going through. "I can't imagine going to bed every night not knowing where this child is," Gendron said.

She truly believes there is a connection between Brianna's and Maura's disappearances. "They are too much alike," Gendron said. "They need to do a lot more to bring these girls home."

Bruce Maitland has put out his own plea to Vermont officials. "Brianna is not a runaway no matter how much the Vermont State Police ... try to play down her abduction," he wrote in a letter to the editor to area newspapers. "We desperately need you to step up for what is right and demand a large investigation involving many plainclothes/additional federal people on the ground to find Brianna and Maura before the trail goes any colder."

Today is Missing Children's Day. Carol Knowlton of the Mt. Angel, Ore.-based Child Seek Network will be reading Brianna's and Maura's names at a Missing Children's Day rally in Salem, Ore.

[Dan]

Originally posted on 06/11/04
by Kelly



Brianna Maitland - VT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.caledonianrecord.com/.../10acde2d4
Parents Of Missing Vermont Teen Heartened By Dubie Meeting


By GARY E. LINDSLEY, Staff Writer
Thursday June 10, 2004


The parents of a missing 17-year-old Sheldon woman are feeling a bit more optimistic they will be receiving help from law enforcement authorities after meeting with Vermont Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, Wednesday.

Kellie and Bruce Maitland of Franklin met with Dubie and Public Safety Commissioner Kerry Sleeper at the Williston state police barracks to talk about their daughter Brianna, who has been missing since she clocked out of work at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery 11:20 p.m. March 19.

Kellie said she left the two-hour meeting with guarded optimism.

Dubie and Sleeper told the Maitlands they will ensure Brianna's disappearance will gain exposure with the national media, according to Bruce Maitland.

Both Maitlands, after Tuesday's press conference in which state police said at one point Brianna had been a runaway and had become involved in the world of illegal drugs, were surprised by the tenor of their meeting with Dubie and Sleeper - especially Dubie.

"They are starting to give an honest appraisal of what the case really is," Bruce said. "It's either drug-related or she has been killed. They have dropped the runaway (listing)."

Although he is glad authorities will drop the runaway characterization and start treating the case as being criminal, he cannot miss the reality of what that means.

"It's kind of disheartening," Bruce said, "because every night we pray she is a runaway."

If she was a runaway, the Maitlands believe they would have a better chance of finding their daughter unharmed.

Wednesday was a change for Bruce after having heard what authorities said about his daughter, and Maura Murray on Tuesday. Murray is the 22-year-old University of Massachusetts at Amherst nursing student who hasn't been seen since she disappeared after having a minor one-car accident on Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H., the night of Feb. 9.

Tuesday, state police from New Hampshire and Vermont said there wasn't any connection between the disappearances of Brianna and Maura.

They also said they weren't going to waste any more time on any more worthless leads.

"I think it's almost character assassination of the victims," Bruce had said on Tuesday. "They said Maura wanted to disappear. Brianna, they said she chose an unhealthy life choice."

He said Wednesday's meeting with Dubie and Sleeper was a complete turnaround, just the opposite, from Tuesday's press conference.

"The lieutenant governor was super," Bruce said. "We went into the meeting that it was a setup. But, the lieutenant governor really wants to do what's in his power to help us out."

The Maitlands were assured by Dubie the case was of a very high priority.

"When the lieutenant governor called us a couple of days ago, I hoped he was sincere," he said

[Dan]

Originally posted on 06/11/07



http://www.caledonianrecord.com/page...tory/abddb07bf

Parent Accuses Police Of Character Assassination


Vermont, N.H. Officers Deny Link Between Missing Women


By GARY E. LINDSLEY, Staff Writer
Wednesday June 9, 2004


Law enforcement authorities from Vermont and New Hampshire, after a daylong meeting with the FBI Tuesday, say there is no connection between the disappearances of a 17-year-old Vermont woman and 22-year-old University of Massachusetts nursing student.

Vermont State Police and New Hampshire State Police met with Burlington, Vt. FBI agent D.J. Corbet in St. Albans.

In a press release issued after the meeting, state police from Vermont and New Hampshire emphatically said there is no connection between the disappearances of Brianna Maitland of Sheldon, Vt., and Maura Murray of Hanson, Mass.

Capt. Bruce W. Lang, chief of Vermont's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, said there is no serial killer on the loose as has been speculated in the media.

In fact, they said Maitland had made several bad life choices before she disappeared, and at one point, had been a runaway.

Investigators also said Murray had nearly cleaned out her bank account, packed up her belongings in her dorm room at UMass Amherst, and made off for destinations unknown.

"How can you say there is not a connection?" asked Bruce Maitland, Brianna's father. "They don't have any evidence saying they aren't connected. It's a flat-out lie.

"I think it's almost character assassination of the victims. They said Maura wanted to disappear. Brianna, they said she chose an unhealthy life choice."

He believes state police in both states have spent less time on the two cases than trying to shut up the parents and others. "I am disheartened," Maitland said.

Talking to some of the investigators after the meeting and a press conference, he said he had the distinct impression the investigations are done.

"They said they were tired of wasting their time on leads (which lead to nowhere)," Maitland said. "They want to say it's the girls' own fault."

Brianna has not been seen since she clocked out of work at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery at 11:20 p.m. March 19.

Her car was found early the next morning partially ensconced in an abandoned building about a mile from the inn.

Murray has not been seen since she disappeared after being involved in a minor one-car accident on Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H., the night of Feb. 9.

According to Lt. Thomas M. Nelson, Vermont BCI commander for Troop A North, Brianna had previously been reported as missing by her father in 2003.

In the joint press release, Nelson also said a VSP investigation had revealed Brianna had made unhealthy lifestyle choices in her life prior to her disappearance.

"Specifically, she had become involved in the world of illegal drugs in the area where she lived," he said. "Her association with people involved in this activity is an area of focus for the investigators."

She was living with a friend in Sheldon at the time of her disappearance.

New Hampshire State Police Troop F Commander Lt. John Scarinza described Maura as having had a difficult long-distance relationship with her boyfriend, Billy Rausch, who is stationed at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

Scarinza also said the day before she disappeared, she had had an accident with her father's brand-new car in Hadley, Mass. The accident, he said, caused $10,000 worth of damage to Fred Murray's car.

The next day she packed up all her belongings in her dorm room and headed off to a destination unknown. Later that day, she had a second car accident on Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H., and disappeared before police arrived.

"She withdrew most of her money from her personal bank account," Scarinza said in the press release. "She sent e-mails to her supervisor at work as well as a college professor saying she would be absent from work and school for a week due to a death in the family."

"There was no death in the family," he continued. "She did not tell her family, her friends or her classmates that she was planning to leave for the week. Investigators believe that Maura was headed for an unknown destination and may have accepted a ride in order to continue to that location."

Maura's father, in reaction to Scarinza's statements, said, "As far as Scarinza's amateur psychology goes, it does not matter why Maura left. Something happened.

"They do not want the FBI (fully involved) because it would be like calling the police on itself. They botched the case from the start."

Murray said Troop F first treated his daughter as a missing runaway. Then, they said she had frozen to death.

Their next theory, according to Murray, was Maura had committed suicide. "Again, if it was suicide, they would have to look for her," he said.

If it was a suicide, then the state police would not have to look for a bad guy, Murray said. "If there is a bad guy, then the state police have not been able to do the job and catch the bad guy," he said.

Regarding his daughter's relationship with Rausch, Murray said it was a strong, loving, very, very good relationship.

"The accident with my car? It was not a big deal," he said. "My insurance covered it. They are saying anything to avoid searching for a bad guy. It's just a smokescreen.

"They have to get the job done. They should be made to accept (the FBI's help). If you blame the victims, it doesn't matter. Something still happened to these girls. Someone harmed them. It's a crime."

[Dan]

Originally posted on 06/20/04
by Kelly



http:///www.caledonianrecord.com/pag...tory/fa6d6930b

State Police Discard Runaway Theory

BY GARY E. LINDSLEY, Staff Writer
Wednesday June 16, 2004

The passing of seven days has resulted in a huge turnaround in the way Vermont State Police are treating the disappearance of Brianna Maitland.

Maitland, 17, was last seen at about 11:20 p.m. March 19 when she clocked out of work at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery.

VSP had originally said Maitland was a runaway and had run away in the past. During a press conference June 8, they said they were tired of wasting time tracking down worthless leads.

They said Maitland had made some bad life choices which may have led to her disappearance.

The next day, June 9, Bruce and Kellie Maitland, Brianna's parents, met with Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie and Public Safety Commissioner Kerry Sleeper at the Williston state police barracks.

The Maitlands came away from that meeting with guarded optimism. They said Dubie said he was treating Brianna's disappearance as a serious case and would do what he could to help.

Tuesday, another press conference was held.

This time, the state police said they and the Maitlands were united in their request for factual information which will lead to finding Brianna.

They also acknowledged that it is not a case of a teenager running away.

"With each day that passes without a solid trace of information on her whereabouts, it becomes more apparent that she may have been the victim of a violent crime," the VSP said in a press release.

"Brianna had been living away from home and was socializing with community members involved in the use of illegal drugs," the press release continues. "Investigators with the Vermont State Police are interested in solid f ruitful information that may assist in furthering this investigation."

While the Maitlands have said all along they believed their daughter was the victim of a crime, they do not necessarily agree with the VSP position Brianna had been socializing with drug-related people.

They have said she had been turning her life around. She was working two jobs and was living with a friend in Sheldon.

Brianna was driving home to Sheldon after leaving the Black Lantern when something went wrong.

Her green 1985 four-door Oldsmobile 88 was found early the morning of March 20 partially embedded in an abandoned barn off of Route 118 at the Dutchburn Farm. The car was about a mile from the Black Lantern.

"It is just kind of strange," said Bruce Maitland, who attended Tuesday's press conference, referring to the VSP's change regarding Brianna's disappearance. "I feel, in some ways, this is a major step. They have admitted she may have been a victim of a serious crime and was not a runaway."

Regarding VSP's position Brianna had had recent contacts with people connected to drugs prior to her disappearance, he said state police told him two people had said Brianna had had a drug debt.

However, that doesn't mesh with what Brianna's friends have been telling the Maitlands.

"I am a little discouraged they are bringing up the drug stuff," he said. "Everything I have gotten from her friends doesn't indicate that. No one has seen her high."

The state police, according to Bruce Maitland, are offering to make deals, even with people connected to drugs.

"They are desperate for really good information because I don't think they have any," he said.

Unlike the case of 22-year-old Maura Murray, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst nursing student who has been missing since she was involved in a minor one-car accident the night of Feb. 9 on Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H., state police in Vermont have enlisted the help of the FBI.

They have received help from the FBI's Burlington office as well as the agency's Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, Va. They also have been in contact with the U.S. Marshal's Office.

New Hampshire State Police have not asked the FBI to become fully involved in the Murray disappearance. They have said they have all the resources they need to work the case.

People with information about Brianna's disappearance should contact VSP at 802-524-5993 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-427-8477.

People with information about Maura Murray should call New Hampshire State Police at 603-845-3333 or 603-271-3636.

[Dan]

Originally posted on 06/29/04
by Kelly



http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/w...90/detail.html

Police After Meeting: Murray, Maitland Cases Not Connected
Maitland Family Canoes Down River Searching For Body

POSTED: 7:39 pm EDT June 28, 2004

Police crossed state lines to meet about a pair of missing women.

Investigators were looking for connections between the disappearances of Brianna Maitland and Maura Murray, and in the end, they said they found none.

The Maitlands took a canoe ride down the Mississquoi River.

"The last time we did this river, she was along with us in a kayak," Brianna's father Bruce Maitland said.

This time, they're searching for her body.

"If we come across something here it's not going to be good, but you just have to keep searching like that," Maitland said.

Police continue to search for leads, but to no avail.

Murray and Maitland disappeared this winter after separate but similar car accidents.

Investigators from both states met for four hours with the FBI.

Their conclusion is that there is no connection whatsoever between these cases.

In fact, they still find no evidence of foul play in either case, but offer a plea from both police and parents for any information that can help.

They said there are probably some people reluctant to bring information to them because of drug activity or criminal past.

"We don't care about that," one officer said. "We're trying to locate both of these women."

[Dan]

Originally posted on 07/21/04
by Kelly



http://www.caledonianrecord.com/page...tory/78e6611c6

Wants Aid Getting FBI Involved


Missing Woman's Dad Urges Public's Help


BY GARY E. LINDSLEY, Staff Writer
Tuesday April 27, 2004



Maura Murray's father wants people to become involved in his quest to have the FBI join the investigation into his daughter's disappearance.

Murray's father, Fred, and other relatives have long clamored for the FBI to play an expansive role in the search for Maura.

Maura disappeared after she was involved in a one-car accident on Route 112 in Haverhill, about a mile east of Swiftwater, the night of Feb. 9.

She hasn't been seen since. And her ATM card, credit card, bank account and cell phone have not been used since her disappearance.

"I am asking for (people living in Vermont and New Hampshire) to contact the FBI and ask them to become involved," Murray said. "None of the young women in Vermont and New Hampshire are safe. This could happen again."

The discovery of a woman's body in a swampy area of Manchester, N.H., Saturday, Murray said, is even more reason to have the FBI involved.

Sgt. Nick Willard of the Manchester Police Department would not say Monday whether the woman has been identified.

Willard said the woman's identity will be released once the next of kin have been identified.

He said the New Hampshire State Attorney General's Office will be having a press conference today regarding the discovery of the woman. Members of the Attorney General's Office could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Murray is concerned about a Vermont woman's disappearance as well.

Brianna Maitland is a 17-year-old who disappeared the night of March 19 after leaving her job at the Black Lantern in Montgomery.

Murray, like Brianna's father, Bruce, does not understand how state police in both states have ruled out any connection between the disappearance of their daughters.

"They said the victims did not know one another," Murray said. "I told them the connection isn't between the victims, but the perpetrator. I asked (New Hampshire State Police) why not let the FBI decide whether there is a connection. Also, there may be an Upper Valley murders connection."

He was referring to a series of murders which occurred in the late 1980s.

"They said they have all the resources they need," Murray said, referring to state police. "I told them they are not getting the job done. They said they are. And I said they weren't because they have not found Maura."

Murray has suggested the state police conduct a search of areas off of Route 112 on Route 116.

"I asked them to do a direct appeal to the public," he said. "They said they will wait until May."

Murray told them that wasn't acceptable. Waiting another month will make it more than three months since Maura disappeared.

"I would think people other than the Maitlands and us would be screaming for the FBI," he said. "We don't want to wait for another body to disappear. There's an unidentified guy still out there. You have another potential horrendous situation."

Murray also is asking for help from residents living in the area where his daughter's accident happened to become involved because he believes a local person may have been involved in Maura's disappearance.

"Like it takes a thief to catch a thief, it takes a local to catch a local," he said.

A $40,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to finding Maura. Maura's Web site is http://www.spbowers.com/mauramissing.

The Maitlands have announced they are offering a $10,000 reward for finding their daughter.

The Maitlands have created the Web site http://www.bringbrihome.org as a way to help find their daughter.

[Dan]

Originally posted on 08/21/04
by Kelly



Police Rule Out Missing Women Links
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.wcax.com

St. Albans, Vermont -- June 8, 2004

State and federal authorities say there is absolutely no evidence to link the baffling disappearances of two women in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Law enforcement authorities made that announcement today following a day-long meeting to share information about the effort to find Maura Murray and Brianna Maitland.

Vermont State Police, New Hampshire State Police, and the FBI held a joint press conference Tuesday. They said they they want to end irresponsible speculation about possible links connecting the disappearances of Maura Murray and Brianna Maitland.

Investigators from the Vermont and New Hampshire State Police and the FBI say there is no evidence yet connecting the February disappearance of Maura Murray, 21, and the April disappearance of Brianna Maitland, 18. Police say both cases are being treated as missing person cases. They ruling out nothing, but so far there there is no evidence of foul play.


"There is no serial killer that's loose out there," said Capt. Bruce Lang, Vt. State Police.

"We are not looking for frivolous or pointless information that will lead us on more wild goose chases in either one of these cases," he added.


Police are looking for good leads to find Maura Murray.

She created a web of lies to give herself time to disappear before anyone would notice, according to investigators.

"It was her intention to leave," said Lt. John Scarinza, New Hampshire State Police.

"What's also clear to the investigators is she did tell any of her family of what her intentions were, and she did not tell any of her friends," he added.

Police say Brianna Maitland of Montgomery, Vermont had been living on her own for two years and and making bad choices in the months before she went missing.

"We also understand that she's probably made some unhealthy life-style choices," said Vt. State Police Lt. Tom Nelson.

"We're looking at the area of illegal drugs in this general area in this region for clues and leads as to where she may have gone," he added.

[Dan]

Originally posted on 09/17/04
by Kelly


Brianna Maitland - VT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.thecountycourier.com/...58&Itemid=
EDITORIAL
River deep and mountain high
Written by Ethan Dezotelle

Thursday, 16 September 2004

Hers is a face we have grown all too familiar with over the past half year. Her soft smile is as recognizable as that of any relative or friend. Her gentle eyes suggest that even though many of us have never met her, she would likely be counted among our friends if we get the chance to know her.

She stares back at us from the windows of local restaurants, the sides of telephone poles and the cluttered jumble of community bulletin boards. She shows up in towns around northern Vermont and well beyond. She is everywhere at once, and yet we cannot find her.
She is Brianna Maitland, and come Sunday, she will have been missing for six months.

Her family, her friends and countless complete strangers have searched the riverbanks of Franklin County, trekked into the remotest areas of Montgomery’s Gibou and have wandered far and wide, looking for her. A lot of territory has been covered in six months, yet in many ways, it feels as though the search for Bri – a nickname many have taken to calling her – is no further along than it was when her abandoned car was found driven into a house in Montgomery on that cold March morning.

Bri’s disappearance shook us from the complacency of late winter and woke us up to a shared nightmare: northwest Vermont is not a quiet, little hamlet tucked away from the rest of the world. We are part of that world. And it is a world that can feel very big, very lonely and very scary.
The understanding that has come to many, that our children are not and cannot be under our constant protection, is a hard truth to confront. But it is nothing compared to the harsh, bitter reality that slaps Bruce and Kellie Maitland in the face every morning and haunts them through the daily cycles of the sun and moon.

That reality is nothing compared to the fierce love and dedication they feel for their missing daughter, though. It is an undying, selfless love that should serve as a model for all parents. A love that stands up to the inky blackness of this collective horror and says, “I will not let go.”

It’s a love that also spills into the community. There isn’t a business around that has to keep up “Missing” posters of Bri. But we do, just on the chance it might make a difference and because on some level, we know the Maitlands will do the same for us should the need arise.
A love that resembles the search for Bri, a search that continues and will go on until she is found. From the banks of the Missisquoi to the heart of the Gibou, Bri has taken us river deep and mountain high.

And to quote one of the great love songs:
Do I love you?
My, oh my,
River deep and mountain high.

Wherever you are, Bri, we are here, waiting, searching and hoping.

[Dan]

Originally posted on 09/20/04
by Kelly



Brianna Maitland - VT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Father Presses Search For Daughter Missing 6 Months
Brianna Maitland, 17, Disappeared In March

UPDATED: 9:31 AM EDT September 20, 2004

EAST FRANKLIN, Vt. -- Six months have come and gone since Brianna Maitland, 17, disappeared in Vermont's Franklin County. She hasn't been seen since she left work in Montgomery in March, but her family is still hoping she'll come home soon.

Brianna's father, Bruce Maitland, said he's found that time does not bring healing.

"I've found it's the other way. It's actually getting harder and harder," Maitland said. "The hardest thing is the change of seasons, rather than the date, for me. This is the first real day of fall weather and there is another season that's gone by without her -- and that's very difficult."

On March 19, police found Brianna's car crashed backwards into the side of an abandoned farmhouse in Montgomery. Her pay stub from work, some money and her license were left behind in the car, but Brianna had vanished.

Hundreds of volunteers covered hundreds of acres, with the help of a national search organization, but didn't find the girl.

"In some ways, we're no closer now than we were the first day or two we knew she was missing," Maitland said.

Every lead has turned cold; every detail remains a mystery. But Maitland said he won't give up.

"No, you never, ever give up," Maitland said. "To my daughter: I love you so much. I'll come get you. You figure out a way to call me and I'll be there."

[Dan]

Originally posted on 10/08/04
by Kelly



McAllister wants to improve handling of missing persons case
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FRANKLIN-6: District Representative Norman McAllister has known Brianna Maitland since she was a little girl. He was as shocked as anybody when word got out last March that the 17-year-old had disappeared.
Six months later, he is equally shocked by what he considers a shortcoming in the way the Vermont State Police have handled the case.
“My feeling is they kind of dropped the ball,” McAllister said this week regarding the case. “Brianna’s parents are feeling like they got left out. I don’t feel the state police are trained to handle missing people all that well. They seemed hesitant to bring in the FBI and things like that.”
As he, along with fellow incumbent Albert Perry, seeks another term as one of his district’s two Legislative representatives, McAllister intends to begin discussions at the community level and follow up on those discussions in Montpelier come January.
In fact, the legislator said that is a “high priority” right now.
“We need to get together and figure out what we’re going to do,” McAllister said of the discussions he hopes to have over the coming weeks. “It’s time citizens get together and say, ‘We’ve had enough.’ This is something that can’t be left up to the police.”
While looking for answers on that front, McAllister is also eager to work toward a solution for the big issue this election season: health care.
“Health care, the cost of it, is always an issue,” he said. “Most people want to see the cost controlled, but they don’t want to be taxed for it. I know a single payer system is something being bandied about by (gubernatorial candidate Peter) Clavelle and (lieutenant governor candidate Cheryl) Rivers. Even (lieutenant governor candidate Steve) Hingtgen is big on universal health care.
“That comes with a big cost. Forcing small businesses to offer health care would be the last straw for a lot of them.”
McAllister said while he has his suspicions that such a system is not the way to go, he is willing to listen to anybody who has ideas.
He does know one thing for certain, though, when it comes to health care. He doesn’t have the answer.
“No. I don’t have that,” he said. “If I had that, I’d be running for Governor or President

www.thecountycourier.com/

[Dan]

Originally posted on 11/27/04
by Kelly


www.wcax.com/

False leads haunt parents in search for daughter

EAST FRANKLIN, Vt. It's been eight months now since Brianna Maitland failed to make it home to East Franklin after she left her job at an area restaurant.

And it's been a time of false leads, dashed hopes and anguish for her parents, Bruce and Kellie Maitland.

Police say they have no solid leads on what happened to the then 17-year-old girl, who vanished March 19.

Her parents say one false lead had their daughter working at a strip club in Boston. They found a young woman there who bore a striking resemblance to Brianna, but it wasn't her.

[Dan]

Originally posted on 12/03/04
by Kelly



Parents’ worst nightmare

Maitlands pursue missing daughter through bad dreams, empty leads

By Sam Hemingway

EAST FRANKLIN -- Even in sleep, Bruce and Kellie Maitland are on the lookout for their 18-year-old daughter, Brianna.

"In my dream," Kellie Maitland said, patting the kitchen table, "I am talking to people and I ask them: ’Do you know where Brianna is?’

"I feel they are on the verge of telling me where she is, and then I wake up."

Nearby, Bruce Maitland looked down at the floor of their small home in the woods near the Canadian border.

His dreams, he said, are often a rerun of his waking life over the past eight months, haunting images of looking for his daughter’s remains in roadside ditches or in woods or in garbage bags mixed with the intense hope he won’t find anything. Once, he said, he dreamed he was Brianna: "I am running, trying to get away and hide from the people chasing me."

March 19, Brianna Maitland, then 17, finished her nighttime shift as a dishwasher at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery, walked out the door and vanished.

The next day, her car was found rammed backward into an abandoned house just west of town; her two paychecks lay on the seat. There was no note. She took no clothes.

No one, including police, has a substantive clue as to where she could be. Organized search parties, posters on utility poles from Montreal to New York City, Border Patrol helicopter flights, a BringBriHome.org Web site, even a court inquest have proven f ruitless.

"It’s still wide open," Vermont State Police Lt. Tom Nelson said this week of the investigation. "We don’t have a really solid set of facts that lead us to understanding what happened after she left work."

Almost every day, Nelson said, another tip finds its way to his desk. Thursday, for instance, a hunter found clothes in the woods in Montgomery; they turned out to be unrelated. Police have interviewed 107 people in the Maitland case, Nelson said, but "nothing solid" explains her disappearance.

"They found Saddam Hussein in a spider hole, but no one can find our daughter," Kellie Maitland said during a recent conversation at her home. Bruce Maitland is convinced that his daughter -- alive or dead -- is not in Vermont. But that’s only a guess.

Painful search

Several times over the past eight months, the Maitlands thought their nightmare was over.

There was the time someone reported seeing Brianna performing at a strip club in Boston.

"We went down there, and we showed Brianna’s picture to a person there," Bruce Maitland said. "She said, ’Yeah, she works across the street in another club.’ And there was a girl there who, if you weren’t her father, you’d think was her.

"But it wasn’t her."

Another time, police found a garbage bag on a field near Montgomery. The Maitlands were told the bag contained a body.

It was a pig carcass.

"At first, they weren’t sure what it was," Kellie Maitland said. "I was such a nervous wreck when I left work. I didn’t have any fingernails left by the end of the day."

The harder they look, the harder it becomes to keep looking. They have looked along almost every road embankment from Interstate 87 in New York to Vermont 100. They have gone to New York and Hartford and Montreal and Syracuse and Albany. Nothing.

"The way we think now is not the way we did before," Kellie Maitland said. "I look at people going by in cars, looking for Brianna. I see some shape off the side of the road, just the gnarly part of a tree’s roots, and I think it’s a body."

Kellie Maitland works as a clerk in a local hardware store. She drives to work -- everywhere, really -- with her doors locked and a handgun nearby. She fears dangerous people might be responsible for her daughter’s disappearance.

Bruce Maitland describes the grimness of their task: "I’ll see buzzards flying somewhere, and I have to go see why. I say ’Oh, look, there’s a bag or there’s some clothes’ and I have to go poke at it to see what’s there. After a while, you can’t do it anymore."

Friends and neighbors have been supportive, he said, but the experience of searching for a missing child has made the Maitlands feel alone at times.

"I feel like there is a huge cloud following me around that everyone can see but me," he said.

Life goes on, barely

Since March 19, Brianna’s grandmother has died. So has a great-grandmother. In October, her 18th birthday came and went; it was acknowledged by a gathering of neighbors at Byam’s Quick Stop in town. Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie dropped by -- a quiet break from his re-election campaign.

Now Christmas is around the corner. Several boxes of holiday decorations -- including some handmade by Brianna -- sit by the kitchen counter. Kellie Maitland said she isn’t sure if she can bear to put them up.

The couple tried to get away for a few days this summer; they went to Nova Scotia for a week where they wandered the ocean beaches. One day, Kellie Maitland came upon a cavern in the rocks; there, in the sand at her feet, was a heart-shaped stone.

"The rock and the cavern seemed to magnify how I felt," she said. With the stone cupped in her hands, she broke out in tears. "How the sea cut this stone and left it there. I knew it was there for her, that she is always in my heart."

Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com

[Dan]

Originally posted on 12/29/04
by Kelly


A friend of the family is making this request...please help:

"The Caledonian Record is currently running a poll through Saturday, January 1 for the most important story of the past year.

Options are: The Phish concert.
Red Sox win the world series.
The Devenger brothers.
The disappearances of Maura Murray and Brianna Maitland.

Currently votes for the disappearance of Maura and Brianna are next to last.

Please, let's let the readers in NH and VT know that we place more importance on life than sports or concerts.

Please go to www.caledonianrecord.com/ to vote.

Thank you on behalf of the Murray and Maitland families."

[Dan]

Originally posted on 12/29/04
by Kelly


Brianna's family wrote the following:

"We need your help. The Caledonian Record Newspaper is conducting a poll rating the most important story over the past year. Brianna and Maura's stories are among the top five. This is so important because this newspaper has said that they will not cover missing person's stories anymore due to the fact that the local police say that most of the stories are "police bashing" and cause alot of trouble. We are hoping that if Brianna and Maura's stories should win that the newspaper will reconsider and keep their stories in the forefront."

[Dan]

Originally posted on 03/17/05
by Kelly



www.thecountycourier.com


One year gone

Mother of missing teen holding on to hope, memories

Written by Ethan Dezotelle

Thursday, 17 March 2005

FRANKLIN/MONTGOMERY: Not too long ago, Bruce and Kellie Maitland’s dog got into their daughter’s bedroom and jumped on the bed. In the commotion, he kicked back the blankets, giving the bed a slept-in look.

As Kellie Maitland walked past the bedroom door and glanced in, it was like the past year had never happened. For a fleeting moment, her daughter, Brianna, was home and had just thrown the covers back and got out of bed. In that split second, Kellie’s world felt something it hadn’t in a long, long time. It felt normal.

“It was so quick, but it felt like she was there in the house with me, like she had just woken up and gotten out of bed,” Kellie said Tuesday. “But that feeling didn’t last long, and I was back with everything that’s happened.”
One year ago this coming Saturday, March 19, the familiar, secure world occupied by Kellie and her family was turned upside down. After finishing work at the Black Lantern Restaurant in Montgomery, 17-year-old Brianna Maitland got in her car and headed out. That was at around 11:20 p.m. She has not been seen or heard from since.

Her car was found on the outskirts of Montgomery, backed into an abandoned house on Route 118. Found in the car was her paycheck, migraine medication and contact lenses. Not found was any clear evidence that could lead her family or the Vermont State Police to where she ended up. In the nearly 365 days that have followed, Kellie and Bruce Maitland have discovered plenty of places where their daughter isn’t, and they continue a desperate search for where she is.

That search has taken them deep into the Gibou, a heavily-wooded area of Montgomery; along the banks of the Missisquoi River; to New York City and even onto the nation’s television screens, having recently been on an episode of the Montel Williams Show, which is set for broadcast sometime in coming weeks. It’s a search that has taken virtually everything these parents have to give, but what Kellie has found is that when it comes to a child, you can never really give enough.

‘Never enough’

“It’s not enough,” she said. “It’s never enough, not until we find her. Give me more to do... When Brianna first disappeared, we just blitzed St. Albans and other towns with posters. Then it was the search. Then I had different groups in the party scene looking and listening for me.”
At the same time, Kellie’s husband was searching high and low, making connections and traveling wherever a lead took him. After almost a year of this, though, the couple decided it was time for a change.

Kellie recently left her job at a local hardware store to devote more of her time to Brianna’s disappearance, she said, while Bruce will spend more time working as an independent forester.

“When I was working, I’d come home at night and Bruce would fill me in on what happened that day, what leads there were, things he had heard,” Kellie said. “Now I’ll be the one doing that for him as he works. But even when you’re working, you’re thinking about it. It’s hard not to.”

‘The only one who knows’

The disappearance of a child has a massive impact on a family. It begins with the missing child, and the ripple effect goes from there. Daily patterns change. The world is viewed differently by all involved. Tensions exist that were never there before.

It’s no different for the Maitlands, and as they have shared the pain of the past year, they have found a deep connection.

“We’re on the same team. No one can understand something like this like your partner can. He’s the only one who knows besides me what it’s like to lose our daughter,” Kellie said. “There is only one Brianna, and we have both lost her.”

She said the couple takes a degree of comfort in sharing their pain on common ground, but that same pain is “a constant, dark, rain cloud” that hangs over them.

“There are things you used to do as a couple – things like going out for a walk or going snowshoeing – you just don’t feel like doing those things anymore. You get depressed, and it’s a very specific kind of depressed because Brianna’s not there anymore. That really weighs on you. But then you think of Brianna and the person she is, and that helps.”

A mother’s love

Kellie positively beams when she recalls the kind of person her daughter was before her disappearance. A smile spreads across her face and there’s a visible change in her body language. She breaths easier and the tension seems to lift from her shoulders.

Brianna had spent much of March 19, 2005 with her mother. The teen had just earned her GED high school equivalency diploma, and she and Kellie went out shopping and to get lunch. Kellie was treated to having her own personal waitress at KJ’s, a St. Albans restaurant where Brianna worked one of her two waitressing jobs.

“She wasn’t working there that day, but she got me my menu and took care of me. She really put a lot of pride into her work, and she loved what she did,” Kellie recalled. “It was such a wonderful time.”

To ask Kellie what quality she misses most about her daughter is to give her an impossible task. Brianna’s traits flow from Kellie’s lips like water from a faucet, and it becomes quite clear that the young woman who disappeared last year was more than Kellie’s daughter. She was Kellie’s friend.

“She was so strong. I miss that strength that she had,” Kellie said. “She took risks, even when she was very small... She loved doing things her way. And she was very creative. I remember she took a dance class when she was little, and she was taught a move, but she just took her own route with it. She came out saying she had been fired for not doing it right.”

Kellie described Brianna as someone who, on one hand could handle a dirt bike, ride a jet ski and shoot clay pigeons, while on the other hand she had a passion for literature, a love of Mexican food and a desire for freedom.

“Freedom was worth everything to her,” Kellie said. “Not just hers, either. If there was anybody getting picked on, she’d step right in and be there for them. Injustice really bothered her.”

What happened?

Given the amount of time that has passed since Brianna’s disappearance, the investigation into her disappearance has yielded little in the way of useful information. “No concrete evidence has been found that can lead investigators or the Maitland family to conclude what happened to Brianna,” a release issued by the Vermont State Police this week reads.

Detective Sergeant Dee Glynn, lead investigator on Brianna’s case, declined to talk to the County Courier about the investigation this week. She said she wished to reserve comment for a joint meeting of area law enforcement agencies on Friday, March 18 at the Vermont State Police St. Albans Barracks. At that time the case is expected to be reviewed by officials.

Kellie and Bruce have their own theories concerning Brianna’s disappearance, chief among them being that her disappearance is gang-related and involves area drug trafficking. Brianna’s parents have said there was a presence of drugs in the young woman’s life, though they also say it’s unlikely she was heavily involved with them.
“Our best belief is that it’s gangsters,” Kellie said. “Out of everything we know, that makes the most sense. There was a carload of Brianna’s friends either that night (that she disappeared) or the next day at McDonald’s in Enosburg. They were threatened by (people known to be associated with gang activity).”

If Brianna was taken by such people, where did she end up? The Maitlands again have a few ideas, but one near the top of the list is that she was kidnapped, taken to New York City and forced to participate in a sex-slave ring.
“It happens,” Kellie said. “It’s hard to believe, but we do live in that kind of world.”

A happy ending

With a year nearly passed and no hard evidence to work with, it’s obvious that the story of Brianna Maitland’s disappearance is not like those seen on television detective shows. There is no tidy ending or dramatic revelation at this point, and seemingly, no happy ending.
Kellie offered a different perspective on things, though.
“You don’t give up,” she said. “You hang loose and stay creative. There’s a whole network of people who work with us and help us keep hope alive... We haven’t found Brianna yet, but we’re still looking. And so many people want to help us find her.

“That’s the happy ending to this story for now.”
Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 March 2005 )

[Dan]

Originally posted on 03/18/05
by Kelly


www.wcax.com

Law enforcement to meet one year after woman's disappearance

ST. ALBANS, Vt. Law enforcement officials from Vermont and the region, including Canada, are expected to gather in Saint Albans tomorrow for a status report on the search for a missing woman.

Brianna Maitland of Franklin disappeared a year ago this Saturday after finishing her shift at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery.

No sign of Maitland, who was 17 when she disappeared, has been found in the year since she went missing.

Authorities have conducted 136 interviews, issued six subpoenas for telephone records, conducted 16 rounds of sworn testimony by people who have known Maitland and taken numerous other steps.

Vermont State Police in Saint Albans are renewing their call for the public's help in solving the case.