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Brianna Maitland disappeared within weeks after just 90 miles from where Maura Murray vanished. Who is Brianna Maitland Brianna was fun, spontaneous and very independent. She lived on a rural farm with her family until she moved out at age 17, and she also dropped out of high school. After some failed living arrangements, she eventually moved in with her friend Gillian and was continuing her education whilst working 2 jobs, one morning job and another evening job in the Black Lantern Inn. The disappearance On March 19th 2004, Brianna had breakfast and went shopping with her mum. During the time they were together, Brianna's mum noticed that she became distracted by something or someone outside the shop they were in. Brianna left, saying she would be right back and her mum eventually found her in the car park. Brianna's mum said she seemed tense, shaken & agitated and had to get home as she had work that evening. Her mum, knowing how fiercely private Brianna was,

Who is Maura Murray Maura Murray was a 21-year-old nursing student at the time of her disappearance. She had previously attended the prestigious West Point with her sister Julie and boyfriend Billy, before transferring to UMAS What Happened On February 9th 2004, Maura emailed her professors to say there had been a death in her family. This was a lie. Maura then packed up her things, enough for a few days away, withdrew almost all her cash from an ATM, went to a shop, bought a lot of alcohol and drove off in her car. She hadn’t told anyone, including her family, where she was going. 4 hours later, she crashed her car and was never seen again. Her phone, credit cards & backpack were also missing. The Accident According to the police report, at 7.27 pm on 09/02/04, a woman reported a car accident outside her house. A car was stuck in a snowbank, she called the police, adding that she could see a man smoking a cigarette outside the car. Around 3 minutes later a bus driver s

I first heard about this case on the Going West podcast Who is Rachel Cooke Rachel Cooke, a 19 Year Old from Georgetown Texas, attended Mesa Junior College in San Diego, California. In December 2001, she went home to Georgetown with her boyfriend Greg to visit her family for the holidays. What Happened After the holidays, Greg returned to San Diego and Rachel stayed to attend a family wedding. On the morning of 10th January 2002, Rachel’s sister went off to school, her parents went to work and Rachel prepared to go for a run, a 6 mile route she had run regularly for many years. Before her run, she spoke to Greg and said she would call him when she got back. Later that day, Rachel's father returned home early from work as they had planned to go shopping, so he was confused to find that Rachel was not at home, although her belongings, including her mobile phone and purse, were still there. He decided she must be at work, as she was going to do some shifts at a local restaurant wh

I heard about this case on the Trace Evidence podcast and it is so baffling that someone can just apparently vanish without a trace. Who is Brandon Swanson Brandon Swanson was a 19-year-old from Marshall, Minnesota who lived at home with his parents and sister, they were a close family. He was an avid reader, with a keen interest in science. He was also blind in his left eye. The disappearance On 13th May 2008, Brandon was coming to the end of his first year in college and made plans to celebrate with friends. He attended a small gathering at a house, where it is said that there was alcohol, however, Brandon did not appear to be drunk Around 10:30 pm, he left the gathering to drive to Canby, which is 30 miles away from Marshall, to visit a friend from school to say goodbye. It was said that there was a party at the house he went to and that he was seen to have a shot of whisky, but he didn't stay long, leaving around midnight. Again, it was reported that he did not appear drun

Our Intention Creates Our Reality - Wayne Dyer The start of a new month brings new goals and with new goals, are new intentions. This week I’ve tried to focus on different aspects of my life, so I don’t neglect some areas as I feel I may have been. Read and comment on Medium articles This is something I’ve been trying to do each day but I want to be more concise. I’m going to read and comment on 10 articles on the Medium platform each day. Get up and move After seeing that I only closed my exercise ring on my Apple watch four times in June, I am now going to be more mindful of getting myself moving. My watch goes off every hour telling me to stand, so each time that notification goes off, I’m going to stop what I’m doing and move around. Review my morning routine I’ve been playing around with my to-do list a lot recently, trying to figure out what works well at what time of day, so it’s time to review that morning routine and get that back into play. I need those morning walks

An extract from this week’s Substack newsletter I like to start each month by looking back on the previous month to see what went well and what didn't, how I can improve, what habits worked for me and any little ways I can make my life a bit easier for myself On the surface, June was a good month, but when I look a bit deeper, I can see that it wasn't without its challenges. I'll start with the challenges and where I can improve, that way we can finish on a positive note, rather than finish thinking how rubbish I have been! Emotional Hangovers Despite knowing I suffer from these, it still doesn't stop me. At the end of this week, I suffered terribly after drinking Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday this week. It's not a regular occurrence, but it is something I need to be more aware of and consciously make an effort to have more alcohol-free days. Not putting my screens away Guilty!! I managed to do this for a few days here and there, but I am still picking up

Finally, a week where I can stop and breathe. It's been a positive week and I feel with each new day, brings new things to learn. I sometimes feel like I have only just begun living my life as I am meant to, which is odd at the age of 41. Last week I started adding a "song of the day" to my social media pages, the intention behind these is to get everyone's day off on a positive note. I thought I would share these on my Friday posts for everyone to enjoy, by adding the link to the day of the week. On Friday I went out with a couple of friends for some Friday night drinks. We sat in a beer garden, drinking rose and chit-chatting about our lives. I had a picture taken, which I usually hate but for once I didn't. When I wondered why I noticed that I looked relaxed and not like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, it felt good to realise that. There was a man at the pub that I was convinced was the actor who played Martin Fowler in Eastenders. I was t

As of yet no miracle has been invented to prevent me ageing so I am finally going to have to accept that I actually have to start looking after my body. I want and need to get myself back in shape. I’d like to have more energy and just generally feel less sluggish. I’ve read in many articles that strength training is better for women in their 40’s, so I am going to include some of this in my weekly routine. I also want to try and get a hold of my water intake, my skin is clearly feeling the effects of my lack of water so I just need to make more of an effort to not only incorporate this into my daily habits but stick to it. I have a really busy week this week and after (another) weekend away, I need to not only plan, but schedule my blog posts and newsletter. I’ve got myself into a really good rhythm with this and things are going well so I don‘t want to let things slide. I only plan to move forward from now on.