James Renner

Or maybe someone she knew had gone on ahead, waiting for her to catch up.

Investigative journalist James Renner helped popularize this idea.

He proposed that Maura and another driver had planned to meet or even caravan north that Monday afternoon.

According to Renner, that second driver could have seen the crash in the rear view mirror, turned around, picked her up, and disappeared down the road before police arrived Sounds far-fetched until you look at the scent dog evidence.

But both dropped out within a week of each other.

A journalist named James Renner, who's covered the Murray story for years, managed to talk to Baldwin briefly around his trial.

Renner says that Baldwin, who was using his birth name Finkelstein back then, told him that the FBI questioned him and that he explained to them that the CD must have been one he loaned to her at school.

But according to Jim Conroy, Murray and Baldwin were actually two parts of a love triangle with a third cadet named Bill Rausch, who Murray ultimately chose.

And I think the word he used was crestfallen to James Renner.

Here's this girl that went missing that they went to West Point the same exact time together.

Same 18 months.

This week, Captain, we are recommending The Serial Killer's Apprentice and 12 Other True Stories of Cleveland's Most Intriguing Unsolved Crimes.

This is a true crime book from 2008 by our friend, longtime friend of the show, investigative journalist James Renner.

And recently, more recently in December of 2024, this book that was originally paperback and e-book was later released as an audio book on Audible.

So check out that book, The Serial Killer's Apprentice and 12 Other True Crime Stories of Cleveland's Most Intriguing Unsolved Crimes.

That's by James Renner.

You can find that recommendation and many more on our recommended page at truecrimegarage.com.

And until next week.

Our 15th and final clue has to do with Bill, who, again, was Maura's boyfriend when she vanished.

True crime author James Renner published a 45-minute video of women, in their own words, telling stories about Bill, who had allegedly abused them.

One of the accusers even claimed that Bill grabbed her by the neck and told her, quote, "I'm going to kill you like I killed Maura." She said this was in 2004, the same year as Maura's disappearance, and one of Bill's accusers went to the police about an incident in 2011, which she claimed happened when she worked with Bill.

Because of it, Bill was charged with felony sexual abuse.

He was in Oklahoma, where he was stationed, and police did confirm this.

And it should be mentioned that the Murray family does not support Renner or his vendetta against Bill s- specifically.

Yeah, I was gonna say, I just searched him in the Maura Murray subreddit to see what they said, and apparently James Renner believes that Maura is still alive, and he has made some really wild cl- like, unfounded claims about, like, her father having an inappropriate relationship with her.

Just things that do not feel like they're actually authentic to the case.