Disappearance of Brianna Maitland: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Unsolved 2004 disappearance of 17 -year-old from Vermont}}

'''Brianna Alexandra Maitland''' (born October 8, 1986; [[list of people who disappeared mysteriously|disappeared]] March 19, 2004) is an American teenager[[missing person]] who disappeared at the age of 17 after leaving her job at the Black Lantern Inn in [[Montgomery, Vermont|Montgomery]], [[Vermont]]. She was 17 years old at the time. Maitland'sHer car was discovered the following day, backed into the side of an abandoned house about a mile (1.6 km) away from her workplace. SheMaitland has not been seen or heard from since. Due to a confluence of circumstances, several days passed before Maitland's friends and family reported her missing.

In the days and weeks following herMaitland's disappearance, numerous tips were investigated by state law enforcement, including a claim that Maitlandshe was being held captive in a house occupied by local drug dealers of whom she was an acquaintance; however, none of the tips resulted in her discovery. An alleged 2006 sighting of Maitland at a [[casino]] in [[Atlantic City]], [[New Jersey]], brought renewed interest to the case, but the woman seen was never properly identified. In 2012, law enforcement investigated a possible connection between Maitland's disappearance and [[serial killer]] [[Israel Keyes]], who committedwas numerous rapes and murdersactive in Vermont, [[New York (state)|New York]], and throughout the [[Pacific Northwest]], but he was ultimately ruled out as a suspect by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]].

Maitland's case was profiled across various local media, on ''[[Dateline NBC]]'', and the documentary series ''[[Disappeared (TV series)|Disappeared]]''. In 2017, the case was discussed in the documentary series on missing college student [[Disappearance of Maura Murray|Maura Murray]], who vanished a month prior to Maitland in [[Woodsville, New Hampshire|Woodsville]], [[New Hampshire]]. {{as of|2022}}, Maitland's disappearance remains unsolved.

Brianna Maitland was born October 8, 1986, in [[Burlington, Vermont|Burlington]], [[Vermont]], to Bruce and Kellie Maitland ([[née]] Fisher).<ref name=ancestry>{{cite web|url=https://www.myheritage.com/names/kellie_fisher|work=[[MyHeritage]]|title=Kellie Fisher - Historical records and family trees|access-date=22 December 2017|archive-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20171222023932/https://www.myheritage.nl/names/kellie_fisher|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was raised with her older brother on their parents' farm in [[Franklin, Vermont|East Franklin, Vermont]],<ref>[http://charleyproject.org/case/brianna-alexandria-maitland Brianna Alexandra Maitland profile], charleyproject.org; accessed 6 February 2020.</ref> near the Canadian border.<ref name=id/> In her youth, sheMaitland was extensively trained in [[Jujutsu|jiu-jitsu]].<ref name=id/> MaitlandShe attended [[Missisquoi Valley Union Middle/High School|Missisquoi Valley Union High School]] before transferring to Enosburg Falls High School in nearby [[Enosburg Falls, Vermont|Enosburg Falls]], during her sophomore year.<ref name=crawl1>{{cite podcast |host=Pilleri, Tim; Reenstierna, Lance; Canter, Chloé|title=Brianna's Disappearance|work=Crawlspace|publisher=[[AudioBoom]]|date= 1 February 2017|url=https://audioboom.com/posts/5558742-brianna-maitland-ep1-bri-s-disappearance|access-date=22 December 2017|archive-date=9 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809165946/https://audioboom.com/posts/5558742-brianna-maitland-ep1-bri-s-disappearance|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On Maitland's seventeenth birthday in October 2003, she decided she wanted to move away from her parents' farm.<ref name=id/> Her mother, Kellie, saidstated there were no serious stresses at home, but that Maitland wanted to be more independence,independent and to belive closer to a group of friends who livedresided {{convert|15|mi}} away and attended a different high school.<ref name=id/> Maitland enrolled at her friends' high school, but her living arrangements were unstable, as she moved in and out of several friends' homes.<ref name=id/> By the end of February 2004, sheMaitland dropped out of high school and moved in with her childhood friend, Jillian Stout, in [[Sheldon, Vermont]], approximately {{convert|20|mi}} west of Montgomery.<ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/26/authoritiesa-hopefuldecade-newlater-leadsvermont-mightpolice-crackhope-10new-yearleads-oldsolve-disappearance-of-brianna.html-maitland/|work=Fox News|title=A decade later, Vermont police hope new leads solve disappearance of Brianna Maitland|last=Corbin|first=Cristina|date=26 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011084827/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/26/authorities-hopeful-new-leads-might-crack-10-year-old-disappearance-brianna.html|archive-date=2017-10-11|access-date=28 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> To complete her education, Maitland enrolled in a [[General Educational Development|GED]] program.<ref name=id/>

Three weeks prior to her disappearance, Maitland was physically attacked at a party by a female former friend, Keallie Lacross.<ref name=crawl2>{{cite podcast|host=Pilleri, Tim; Reenstierna, Lance; Canter, Chloé|title=Brianna's Dad|work=Crawlspace|publisher=[[AudioBoom]]|date= 21 February 2017|url=https://audioboom.com/posts/5632005-bri-ep2-brianna-s-dad |access-date=22 December 2017|archive-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223160529/https://audioboom.com/posts/5632005-bri-ep2-brianna-s-dad|url-status=dead}}</ref> The motive for the attack was unclear,<ref>{{cite web|title=Brianna Alexandra Maitland profile|url=http://charleyproject.org/case/brianna-alexandria-maitland|website=The Charley Project|access-date=2 May 2018}}</ref> though BriannaMaitland's father, Bruce, would later state thatstated he believed it stemmed from jealousy over Maitland's interaction with a male peer at the party.<ref name=crawl2/> One of Maitland'sher friends at the party claimed that Maitland, despite her martial arts training, refused to fight with Lacross, who subsequently hit her in the face several times while Maitland was seated in a truck.<ref name=crawl5>{{cite podcast|host=Pilleri, Tim; Reenstierna, Lance; Canter, Chloé|title=Brianna's Friend Katie|work=Crawlspace|publisher=[[AudioBoom]]|date=26 May 2017|url=https://audioboom.com/posts/5987521-crawlspace-brianna-maitland-ep5-bri-s-friend-katie|access-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223102810/https://audioboom.com/posts/5987521-crawlspace-brianna-maitland-ep5-bri-s-friend-katie|archive-date=23 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The altercation resulted in Maitland's suffering a broken nose and [[concussion]]; she later filed charges against Lacross.<ref name=id/> The complaint was subsequently dropped three weeks after Maitland disappearedvanished, and police stated that Lacross was cleared of any involvement in her disappearance.<ref name=id/>

On the morning of Friday, March 19, 2004, Maitland took an exam to receive her [[GED]].{{sfn|Renner|2016|p=71}} After completing the test, she and her mother, Kellie, had lunch to celebrate the occasion; her father, Bruce, was out of state working in [[New York (state)|New York]] at the time.<ref name=id/> Her motherKellie described her daughter as being in good spirits, and recalled that Maitland had discussed plans of attending college.<ref name=id/>

After lunch, Maitland and her motherKellie spent the afternoon shopping and running errands. While waiting in the check-out line of a store, Kellie said something outside caught BriannaMaitland's attention; she told her mother she would return shortly, and left the store.<ref name=id/> Kellie completed her purchase and met BriannaMaitland in the parking lot, and noticed that her daughter seemed unnerved, shaken, and agitated.<ref name=id/> SheMaitland told her mother that she needed to go home and prepare for her upcoming work shift at the Black Lantern Inn, a restaurant in [[Montgomery, Vermont|Montgomery]].<ref name=id/> Not wanting to pry, Kellie did not ask what had happened, and dropped BriannaMaitland off at Stout's home between 3:30 and 4:00pm00{{nbsp}}pm.<ref name=id/> This was the last time she saw her daughter.<ref name=id/><ref name=crawl1/> At some point before leaving for her work shift, Maitland left a note for Stout saying she would return after work that evening.<ref name=id/> Maitland then departed for the Black Lantern Inn in a 1985 [[Oldsmobile]] sedan registered to Kellie.<ref name=id/>

After completing her shift at work, Maitland clocked out and left the Black Lantern Inn at approximately 11:20&{{nbsp;}}p.m.<ref name=rupa/> She told her co-workers she needed to get home and rest before working the next day at her second job in [[St. Albans (city), Vermont|St. Albans]].{{sfn|Renner|2016|p=180}}<ref name=id/> By all accounts, Maitland was alone in her vehicle when she left.<ref name=WCAX1>{{cite news|url=http://www.wcax.com/story/18782076/mystery-skull-part-3|title=Mystery Skull, Part 3 |last=LeBlanc|first=Deanna|date=13 June 2012|work=WCAX-TV|access-date=20 July 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719223130/http://www.wcax.com/story/18782076/mystery-skull-part-3|archive-date=19 July 2014}}</ref>

[[File:DutchburnBrianna farmhouseMaitland vehicle 2004-03-20.jpg|thumb|upright=1|TheBrianna DutchburnMaitland's housevehicle inas Richforddiscovered where Maitland'son car20 wasMarch found2004]]

* The next morning, some passing motorists found the scene odd enough that they stopped and took pictures of it. One of the photographers reported some loose change, a water bottle, and a bracelet or necklace on the ground next to the car.<ref name=id>{{cite episode|series=[[Disappeared (TV series)|Disappeared]]|season=4|number=7|title=Vanished in Vermont|network=[[Investigation Discovery]]|date=5 December 2011}}</ref>

The Vermont State Police, who led the official investigation for the first months after Maitland's disappearance, were skeptical that [[Crime|foul play]] was involved, considering the possibility that Maitland was a [[runaway (dependent)|runaway]].<ref name=where>{{cite news |url=http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?s=1944121 |title=No News is Bad News for Maitland Search |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719204842/http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?s=1944121|archive-date=19 July 2014|last=Bosma |first=Mark |date=15 June 2004 |work=WCAX-TV |access-date=20 July 2012}}</ref> The area surrounding the old Dutchburn house was combed on foot by police and search dogs, but nothing was found.<ref name=id/> Maitland's vehicle was processed by the state crime laboratory for evidence on March 30, 2004, after the car had been impounded[[Vehicle impoundment|impound]]ed at a local garage for several days. Upon the car's return to the Maitland family, Bruce noted that his daughter's [[ATM card]], glasses, contact lens case, and [[migraine]] medication had all been left inside.{{sfn|Renner|2016|p=72}}

In the week following Maitland's disappearance, the Vermont State Police received an anonymous tip claiming that she was being held against her will in a house in nearby [[Berkshire, Vermont|Berkshire]], {{convert|10|mi|km}} from Montgomery.<ref name=id/> The rented house, then occupied by Ramon L. Ryans and Nathaniel Charles Jackson, two known drug dealers from New York, was raided by police on April 15, 2004.<ref name=affidavit/> Various drug paraphernalia was discovered inside, as well as substantial amounts of [[cocaine]] and [[marijuana]], but no sign of Maitland was found.<ref name=id/> Ryans was arrested during the raid foron drug charges.{{sfn|Renner|2016|p=72}} Upon interviewing Maitland's close friends, law enforcement was informed that Maitland had allegedly experimented with hard drugs in the recent past, specifically [[crack cocaine]],{{sfn|Renner|2016|p=72}} and was an acquaintance of Ryans and Jackson.<ref name=id/>

In 2006, security footage at the [[Caesars WorldAtlantic City|Caesars]] [[casino]] in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]], [[New Jersey]], showed a woman resembling Maitland sitting at a [[poker]] table.<ref name=casino/><ref name=rupa>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/09/grace.coldcase.maitland/index.html|work=[[CNN]]|title=Vermont teen vanishes on way home from work|date=9 December 2008|last= Mikkilineni|first=Rupa|access-date=15 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202012616/http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/09/grace.coldcase.maitland/index.html?eref=ib_us|archive-date=2 February 2018}}</ref> The woman was never properly identified.<ref name=id/>

In 2012, law enforcement investigated a potential connection between Maitland's disappearance and [[serial killer]] [[Israel Keyes]], who committed numerous [[rape]]s and murders in [[Alaska]], [[Oregon]], and [[Washington (state)|Washington]],<ref>{{cite web|work=[[The Oregonian]]|publisher=Associated Press|location=[[Portland, Oregon]]|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2014/03/confessed_alaska_serial_killer_1.html|title=Confessed Alaska serial killer Israel Keyes likely not connected to Olympic National Park disappearance|last=Haberman|first=Margaret|access-date=21 December 2017|date=21 March 2014|archive-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20171222005853/http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2014/03/confessed_alaska_serial_killer_1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/american-psychos-10-serial-killers-youve-never-heard-of-w431398/israel-keyes-w431409|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212153115/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/american-psychos-10-serial-killers-youve-never-heard-of-w431398/israel-keyes-w431409|last=Locker|first=Melissa|date=1 August 2016|archive-date=12 December 2016|title=American Psychos: 10 Modern Serial Killers You've Never Heard of - Israel Keyes|access-date=22 December 2017}}</ref> as well as in Vermont and New York, where he owned property in [[Constable, New York|Constable]].<ref name=keyes>{{cite web|url=http://www.mynbc5.com/article/fbi-serial-killer-not-linked-to-missing-vt-teen/3306593|work=MyNBC5|title=FBI: Serial killer not linked to missing Vt. teen|publisher=Associated Press|date=19 December 2012|access-date=21 December 2017|archive-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20171222010548/http://www.mynbc5.com/article/fbi-serial-killer-not-linked-to-missing-vt-teen/3306593|url-status=dead}}</ref> The FBI ruled out Keyes's potential connection to Maitland's disappearance in late December 2012,<ref name=keyes/> shortly after Keyes committeddied by [[suicide]] in [[Anchorage, Alaska]].<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024193229/http://abcnews.go.com/US/serial-killer-israel-keyes-suicide-letter-creepy-ode/story?id=18421558|archive-date=24 October 2016|work=ABC News|title=Serial Killer Israel Keyes' Suicide Letter Is Creepy Ode to Murder|date=6 February 2013|last=Ng|first=Christina|access-date=22 December 2017|url=http://abcnews.go.com:80/US/serial-killer-israel-keyes-suicide-letter-creepy-ode/story?id=18421558|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In March 2016, on the case's twelfth anniversary, investigators revealed to a local television station they had recovered [[DNA]] samples from Maitland's car.<ref name="costa">{{cite news |last=Costa |first=Jennifer |title=WCAX Investigates: New details on Brianna Maitland's disappearance |url=http://www.wcax.com/story/31498228/wcax-investigates-new-details-on-brianna-maitlands-disappearance |newspaper=[[WCAX-TV]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628232407/http://www.wcax.com/story/31498228/wcax-investigates-new-details-on-brianna-maitlands-disappearance|archive-date=28 June 2017|url-status=dead|date=17 March 2016 |access-date=30 March 2016}}</ref> The results of the DNA tests were not made public.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/vsp-reveal-new-evidence-in-maitland-case/403865917|work=My Champlain Valley|title=VSP Reveal New Evidence in Maitland Case|last=Aragon|first=Rachel|access-date=16 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222105217/http://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/vsp-reveal-new-evidence-in-maitland-case/403865917|archive-date=22 December 2017}}</ref> In July 2016, the farmhouseold Dutchburn house, where Maitland's vehicle washad been discovered, was destroyed in a fire.<ref name=thirteen>{{cite web|work=The County Courier|location=Enosburg Falls, Vermont|url=http://countycourier.net/2017/03/state-police-still-work-maitland-case/|date=17 March 2017|access-date=22 December 2017|last=Lamoreaux|first=Gregory|archive-url=https://archive.today/20171222023449/http://countycourier.net/2017/03/state-police-still-work-maitland-case/|title=13 years later, troopers still work Maitland case|archive-date=22 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In March 2022, the Vermont State Police revealed they had found a match to the DNA sample found in Maitland's car. The VSP has not released the identity of the person has not been released, yetalthough officials did say it belonged to 1one of 11eleven people they tested previously in connection to Maitland's casedisappearance and "that person has been very cooperative and spoken to us."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Adam |title=Police: Source of DNA in Brianna Maitland investigation identified |url=https://www.wcax.com/2022/03/18/police-source-dna-brianna-maitland-investigation-identified/ |access-date=18 March 2022 |access-03-date=18 March 2022 |website=www.wcax.com[[WCAX-TV]] |language=en}}</ref>

Maitland's case has been profiled by ''[[Dateline NBC]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18519247/ns/dateline_nbc/t/whereabouts-vermont-teen-still-mystery/|work=Dateline|publisher=NBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226061305/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18519247/ns/dateline_nbc/t/whereabouts-vermont-teen-still-mystery/|archive-date=26 December 2013|title=Whereabouts of Vermont teen still a mystery|last=Stafford|first=Rob|date=6 May 2007|access-date=26 December 2016}}</ref><ref name=casino>{{cite news|title=Missing Vermont teen|date=6 May 2004|access-date=16 June 2017|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dateline/18541331|work=Dateline NBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502140813/https://www.nbcnews.com/video/dateline/18541331 |archive-date=May 2, 2018 |via=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref> and on the [[Investigation Discovery]] documentary series ''[[Disappeared (TV series)|Disappeared]]'' in December 2011.<ref name=id/> Maitland's disappearance was also mentioned in an episode of ''[[20/20 (U.S. TV program)|20/20]]''.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} In 2016, her case was profiled on the podcast ''[[The Vanished (podcast)|The Vanished]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=EPISODE 2: BRIANNA MAITLAND|url=http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/episodes/2016/5/10/episode-2-brianna-maitland|access-date=2020-07-01|website=The Vanished Podcast|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2017, her case was profiled in an episode of the documentary series ''The [[Disappearance of Maura Murray]]'' on the [[Oxygen (TV channel)|Oxygen]] network.<ref>{{cite episode|series=The Disappearance of Maura Murray|network=[[Oxygen (TV channel)|Oxygen]]|title=Something Bad Happened|number=5|airdate=21 October 2016}}</ref> In 2023, a book about her disappearance was published by a private investigator who has worked for the Maitland family.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Overacker |first1=Greg |title=The Hunt for Brianna Maitland: The Relentless Pursuit of Answers to One of Vermont’s Biggest Mysteries |date=2023 |publisher=Bloated Toe Publishing |isbn=1939216745 |url=https://www.bloatedtoe.com/north-country-store/product/the-hunt-for-brianna-maitland/}}</ref>