This is still me ❤️

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,

A seamless journey to Florida After our last holiday back in November , I was honestly so grateful that this journey went smoothly. I didn’t want the boys first long haul journey to be any more painful than it had to be. We got to the airport in plenty of time, we boarded on time & landed slightly early. They were a little tired and bored but that’s to be expected. I’m just hoping our journey home is just as smooth. Visiting 3 amazing theme parks This week, we’ve visited all 3 Universal parks; Universal Studios was our first, which was amazing, you walk through streets of New York City Harry Potter and Simpson’s to name a few. Islands of Adventures has something for everyone, there is a land for toddlers with Dr Seuss, a Marvel section for the superhero fans and yet another Harry Potter part where you can get the Hogwarts express between Islands of adventure and universal studios. Volcano Bay , which I admittedly didn’t see much of as I wasn’t feeling great, but what I di

Where the hell did July go? It whizzed by in the blink of an eye. I am slowly learning that the more I reflect, the more I learn and the more I want to improve. It's like an ongoing never-ending cycle, but a good one. With each month, comes the need for acceptance in certain areas of life and I discover that there are some areas I have been focusing on, that perhaps I no longer need, or want to change. Things I Loved About July I read a lot of Medium articles, I commented and clapped for those I enjoyed and I now share 5 of my favourite articles each Thursday on various platforms and again on Sundays in my round-up post. https://thisisstillme.medium.com/5-of-my-favourite-articles-on-medium-this-week-with-a-befitting-bonus-article-c2a8c367d770?source=friends_link&sk=f1e5e4cc7239982dddde55affcddc31f https://thisisstillme.medium.com/5-articles-i-read-on-medium-that-inspired-and-motivated-me-to-keep-going-41a5314deff4?source=friends_link&sk=92a565cd3a8e3f2bf1b1788c7c22e7

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 started writing this week's True Crime Post and got myself lost down a rabbit hole. There is so much information about the case, that I want to make sure I capture all the information and do it justice. So this week, I will share some of my favourite true crime podcasts with you all. If you love True Crime like me then these are the podcasts you absolutely must subscribe to. Going West Started in 2018 and presented by husband and wife, Heath & Daphne, who discuss different US-based disappearances, murders and unsolved cases each week. I love the way Heath & Daphne bounce off each other and The episodes flow really well. Episodes are usually between 40 & 50 minutes long and are released every Tuesday & Friday and are available on all platforms. Case File True Crime This was the first true crime podcast I ever listened to and it's still one of my favourites. It started in 2016. The host is anonymous, which I quite enjoy. The show has solved and unsolved cas

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

AKA Neo Babson Maximus I first heard about this case when I watched an episode of "Disappeared" called Game Over. This was a good few years ago and it has stuck in my mind ever since. Annoyingly, I was unable to find this particular episode available to watch anywhere. Who is Charlie? Charlie Allen Jr has been described as a highly intelligent and fun-loving young man. He excelled at everything he did and a few years before his disappearance, he had been an extremely well-known online gamer, he was known online as "Neo" after a character in his favourite film, The Matrix. Two months before his disappearance, Charlie changed his name legally to Neo Babson Maximus. What happened? On the 11th of October 2007, Charlie was playing tennis with his friend Mason, Charlie invited Mason to a party that evening and they agreed that they would meet at their college campus that night. Later that day, Charlie's sister Britney went on to Facebook to reply to a messa

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

And some of the many questions I still have. Like many people, I find true crime intriguing. I watch documentaries, I listen to podcasts and I read about it. So I thought to myself, why not write about it too? I particularly find the unsolved cases interesting, so I thought that would be the best place to start. I first learned of the Somerton Man after listening to an episode of Casefile podcast . What happened? On December 1st 1948, the body of a man was discovered on Somerton Park Beach in Australia. He had no identification in his pockets, no wallet or money, there was an unused train ticket from Adelaide to Henley Beach, a bus ticket stub from Adelaide to Somerton Beach and a packet of cigarettes, however, the cigarettes inside differed from the brand of the packet 18 of his teeth were missing and all the labels had been cut from his clothes. A trouser pocket had been restitched, using tan thread, which was later found to be made in the UK. Cause of death It is thought

The majority of my podcast library is true crime, which I love, but sometimes when I wake up at 4am and want to listen to a podcast on my sleepmask, I don't really want to be listening to how someones got murdered in their own bed. So I have thrown some less sinister ones into the mix and these are my current faves. The Wolf & The Owl. My mum actually told me about this one after I watched an episode of King Gary and told her how funny I thought Tom Davis & Romesh Ranganathan were in it. There is no format to the show, but this just seems to work and you can tell that these two are genuine friends, the only problem is it doesn't help me get back to sleep as I am too busy laughing. Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombes Parenting Hell. I LOVE Rob Beckett. I've seen him live many times, but I hadn't bothered to listen to this podcast as I thought that being about parenting, I wouldn't be able to relate to it. I was wrong. Another laugh out loud podcast, that us