Frightened and tearful parents as well as concerned teachers, town officials and a high school student spoke Wednesday, April 10 of the potentially devastating effect of cuts to the fiscal 2020 level-service school budget.

Through tears falling on the podium, a mother of a student with Down Syndrome expressed her concerns about her son’s educational future.

“The staff in Whitman have made it possible for my son, who has Down Syndrome, to be fully included within public education and that, alone, is worth more than anyone can say,” she said. “If you cut paraprofessionals — they are the heart of the program — it is detrimental to the special ed population. It’s detrimental to the population of children that are operating with social-emotional needs.”

She is a teacher herself and noted the only way to help children with trauma is on a one-to-one basis.

“The more you cut, those sick children are going to be hurting and the more they’re going to end up in an outside placement, possibly residential, or they’re going to hurt themselves,” she said noting there have recently been two suicides in the district’s middle schools.

Children who are being helped improve their grades through the work of dedicated young teachers first in line for layoffs also concerned the Bedford Street resident. Her daughter is one of them.

“She has changed my daughter this year,” she said of the teacher. “My daughter has become a phenomenal student, she has risen to the top. Her papers are coming home … with 100 on almost every test because that teacher has taken the time to pull her aside and work with her. Without her, without the paraprofessionals, my family wouldn’t be where we are today. … Don’t go lower [than 12.5 percent] tonight, just don’t go lower.”

Teachers’ union official Kevin Kavka noted there have been 100 teaching positions lost in the district since 2000.

Whitman resident Christopher George said W-H already has the second-worst foreign language program out of 31 surrounding towns.

“I know that because we took the time to email every single middle school principal and find out what they offer,” George said. “If people cared about that program, if the taxpayers cared about this program, we wouldn’t be talking about this right now, we’d be ready to pass an override.”

As a baseball coach, he said before any other educational program, athletics and other after-school programs should be “put on the chopping block.”

“People talk about sports in this town, they don’t talk about education,” he said. It’s like banging my head against a wall.”

A senior WHRHS band member spoke in support of the district’s teachers and of the music position facing cuts.

“Cutting even one position to [music] is a very emotional thing for me,” she said, noting the inspiration music teacher Devin Dondero has provided her. “That man has changed my life … He is someone who has helped me grow to the person I am today.”

Even one staff cut could be devastating for another student like her in the future.

“That could be the passion that a person has for an instrument,” she said. “To know that you could be cutting a position for someone who could have that same impact on a student as he’s had on me is hard to face.”

Residents and town officials who have been working on the budget process also spoke.

“If you feel like the town has been really with us for the last year, hand-in-hand trying to reason this out and being supportive, then I would approach this one way,” Whitman resident Shawn Kain, an advocate for capital planning said. “I do think this is a fundamental question. This is a negotiation and keep on negotiating with them, but I think they are negotiating strongly. …People are taking strong action for their departments and if you are taking a mild action because they’ve been pretty supportive over the last year, I think you are going to get a harsh result.”

Kain said there should be an override on the ballot, but Whitman officials weren’t prepared, for that lack of preparation he said he could not support an override right now.

School Committee member Christopher Howard said, while he respects Kain and his passion, he does not view the process as a negotiation.

“I don’t care whether the town can support it or not, I think we need to do what is right for the students of this district,” Howard said. “I’m not here to play games or negotiate.”

Emphasizing that he was speaking for himself, Whitman Selectman Randy LaMattina said that, at last year’s Town Meeting three members of the Whitman Board of Selectmen chose to use an “unorthodox funding solution to try to make every department whole.”

“It was very clear to me that evening exactly what we were doing — that we were putting ourselves in a shortfall situation and we would require an override,” he said. “What I will agree with is [it] failed. The process failed. We should have been ahead of this. The town of Whitman absolutely should have been going for an override this year, no doubt. Time was wasted. I’m not going to point fingers at anyone — I’ll shoulder the burden myself. Maybe I should have been more vocal, but we shouldn’t be in this position again.”

But at this point, Whitman is not in the position to go for an override before the fall, he added. He said he also didn’t want the schools to be left with a 4-percent assessment increase, so he supported the proposal to pursue a debt exclusion to remove the new police station and renovations to the Town Hall and fire station from within the levy limit and seek an operational override in the fall. He did disagree with Howard’s statement that the budget situation was not a negotiation.

“If you were dealing with an infinite amount of money, no, it’s not a negotiation,” LaMattina said. “But in the position I’m in, there’s a limited source of funds and we need to negotiate those alleys to determine the best possible result.”

Finance Committee Vice Chairman Dave Codero said no motions or commitments were made after the April 9 joint meeting with Selectmen, which he said — in his opinion — was “the most anti-school meeting I have ever, ever attended.”

He said he was shocked by a selectman’s contention that “our people didn’t get cut,” in reference to town employees.

After the 12.5 percent assessment discussion, Whitman parent Leah Donovan of Old Mansion Lane said, while she was pleased that nine positions could be saved, that still meant many positions would be cut.

“I don’t think that’s true across other departments in town,” she said.  “I’m not here to consider what other departments can do. … We’re here to fight for the kid. We’re not here to be considerate of the others — there’s a time and place for that — but right now is not that time.”

Special education teacher Jill Kain also warned about the impact of cutting special education paraprofessionals, who she described as key to the success of students on IEPs.

“The next few years, if we cut these paras, there’s going to be more kids going out of district  [at more than the $20,000 paraprofessional salary],” she said.

Maura Murray, pictured on a missing persons poster. (Courtesy image)

A lack of evidence during an excavation in a New Hampshire basement crosses something off the list of questions surrounding Hanson native Maura Murray, a family member says.

Despite a day of hope last week, no evidence was found in the search for Maura Murray, a Hanson resident and UMass Amherst student missing for 15 years. After an extensive search of a long-suspected house close to where the 21-year-old Murray was involved in a single-car crash along Route 112 in February 2004, New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey A. Strelzin made the announcement Wednesday, April 3.

Maura Murray’s half brother, Kurt Murray, 30, of Halifax, said in a later interview that his family was given less than 24 hours’ notice regarding the imminent search of the basement. He said it was important to him and his family that they be there.

No evidence was found in connection with the case, said Strelzin, and, “certainly no evidence of human remains.”

Kurt Murray said, “No scenario is a particularly good one,” when asked what the family was hoping to find.

The Murray family has been critical of law enforcement over the years, blasting authorities for not doing enough to find Maura.

Officials from the New Hampshire State Police, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office and the FBI searched the house at times over the month of March, culminating in law enforcement tearing up a basement floor April 3 with a jackhammer, with the present homeowner’s consent.

“We certainly did not believe there was any credible evidence,” but searched anyways, said Strelzin. “It was really done to cross something off a list.”

“There certainly wasn’t any probable cause to search the house,” he added.

But, he said, “Everybody involved remains committed to following every lead that’s out there. There’s a lot of information we continue to follow up on.”

Kurt Murray said of the next step for his family, “We’ll have to try to work with New Hampshire authorities.”

The nursing student’s mysterious disappearance has sparked attention in the press, on the internet and on social media over the course of the last decade-and-a-half across the world.

“The community support has really been astonishing,” said Kurt Murray.

Her father, Fred, said that the house that was searched was “astonishingly close” to the site of the accident, in a previous interview with the Express. According to him, locals first tipped him off about suspicious activity at the house in the first year after his daughter’s disappearance, including a rumor of new concrete being poured in the basement, but the owners of the house would not cooperate with the investigation.

In November and December 2018, Fred Murray brought in two trained, accredited cadaver detecting dogs to the house, after it had changed ownership, each one on separate occasions. They alerted, he says, by lying down in the same spot in the basement of the house.

Later, he brought in ground-penetrating radar which he said indicated strong findings of an abnormality in the same spot in the concrete.

“It’s astounding that this [basement] wasn’t looked at before. I told the police about this in the first year … the State Police did an inadequate job when my daughter first went missing,” he added.

Exactly where Maura Murray was headed, and why, has remained a mystery over the years. Moments after the crash, a good Samaritan stopped to assist her, but she waved him off and told him not to call the police, according to original police reports from 2004. The passerby called local police anyway, although he did drive off. A Haverhill police cruiser arrived 19 minutes later, but Maura Murray’s Saturn was locked, and she was gone. She has remained missing ever since.

“The case is still open and active.  We do receive tips and information periodically, as well as generate new information from investigative efforts,” said Streizen in a previously emailed statement.

But this does not satisfy Kurt Murray. “Not knowing for 15 years … she deserves to be home. She’s too special a person to be left unfound somewhere,” he said.

Maura Murray, pictured on a missing persons poster. (Courtesy image)

HAVERHILL, NH — Despite a day of hope, no evidence has been found in the search for Maura Murray, a Hanson resident and UMass Amherst student missing for 15 years. After an extensive search of a long-suspected house close to where the 21-year-old Murray was involved in a single-car crash along Route 112 in February 2004, New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey A. Strelzin, Wednesday, April 3, made the announcement.

Officials from the New Hampshire State Police, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office and the FBI searched the house at times over the month of March, culminating in the tearing up of a basement floor today with a jackhammer, with the present homeowner’s consent.

No evidence was found in connection with the case, said Strelzin, and, “certainly no evidence of human remains.”

The Murray family has been critical of law enforcement over the years, blasting authorities for not doing enough to find Maura.

“We certainly did not believe there was any credible evidence,” but searched anyways, said Strelzin. “It was really done to cross something off a list.”

“There certainly wasn’t any probable cause to search the house,” he added.

But, he said, “Everybody involved remains committed to following every lead that’s out there. There’s a lot of information we continue to follow up on.”

The nursing student’s mysterious disappearance has sparked attention in the press, on the internet and on social media over the course of the last decade-and-a-half.

Her father, Fred, said that the house was “astonishingly close” to the site of the accident, in a previous interview with the Express. According to him, locals first tipped him off about suspicious activity at the house in the first year after his daughter’s disappearance, including a rumor of new concrete being poured in the basement, but the owners of the house would not cooperate with the investigation.

In November and December 2018, Fred Murray brought in two trained, accredited cadaver detecting dogs to the house, after it had changed ownership, each one on separate occasions. They alerted, he says, by lying down in the same spot in the basement of the house.

Later, he brought in ground-penetrating radar which he said indicated strong findings of an abnormality in the same spot in the concrete.

“It’s astounding that this [basement] wasn’t looked at before. I told the police about this in the first year … the State Police did an inadequate job when my daughter first went missing,” he added.

Exactly where Maura Murray was headed, and why, has remained a mystery over the years. Moments after the crash, a good Samaritan stopped to assist her, but she waved him off and told him not to call the police, according to original police reports from 2004. The passerby called local police anyway although he did drive off. A Haverhill police cruiser arrived 19 minutes later, but the Saturn was locked, and Maura Murray was gone.

“The case is still open and active.  We do receive tips and information periodically, as well as generate new information from investigative efforts,” said Streizen in a previously emailed statement.

Murray’s family members could not be reached for immediate comment.

Matthew Murphy. (Photo courtesy United States Marshals Service)

WHITMAN — A Whitman man has been arrested and is facing allegations that he sexually exploited children after he created a fake social media account.

Matthew Murphy, 22, of Temple Street in Whitman, was charged in federal court on Tuesday on two counts of sexual exploitation of children.

Murphy posed as a teen girl using a Snapchat account to extort nude photographs from a Massachusetts middle school boy. The investigation of the alleged incidents was detailed in the charging documents, according to a press release from the United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in charge.

Federal agents obtained portions of the Snapchat account Murphy had created in the fake identity and uncovered evidence of similar extortion of other minors in the area, according to the press release.

Murphy was detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.,

Agents and Whitman police executed a search warrant of Murphy’s home where he was placed under arrest.

 “It is a reminder that these predators are out there,” said Whitman Police Chief Scott Benton. “They want to prey on and take advantage of the innocence of children.”

Law enforcement is actively working to identify additional victims. Members of the public with questions or information about this matter should call 617-748-3274 or Whitman police at 781-447-1212.

“During the execution of the search warrant at his home, Murphy admitted that the fake account was his, and investigators found forensic evidence of the account on some of his electronic devices. Murphy was subsequently arrested,” according to the press release.

The charges of sexual exploitation of children each provide for a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years and no greater than 30 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement Wednesday. The Whitman Police Department provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Lelling’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and a member of his Major Crimes Unit, is prosecuting the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit projectsafechildhood.gov/.

Emphasizing it could be years before a shovel breaks ground, the School Committee on Wednesday, March 13 approved the drafting of a statement of interest (SOI) to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for a new Whitman Middle School.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said he has asked Facilities Director Ernest Sandland to begin work on the SOI for a grade five through eight school to address structural problems and place a new school in alignment with programs now in place at Hanson Middle School.

“This is just the process [of] what we have to do to get in the queue for MSBA,” Szymaniak said.

Sandland said all documents would have to be in by April 12, but  said he has been asked why the district is taking that route while it is facing budget problems.

“There is a process we have to go through and there’s a time frame we’ve got to go through and this is the beginning of it,” he said. “We’re trying to meet all those time frames.”

It could be two years before MSBA gives an indication that the district would be considered for funding, with eight possible categories for a district to apply under. WHRSD would be seeking funds for replacement/modernization of school facilities, one of eight possible categories. The school opened in 1972 and was last renovated in 1997. Boilers were replaced in 2007.

“We’re good stewards in trying to identify what’s going on at Whitman Middle,” he said. “It’s the story that we’re writing on the history of [the school].”

A past facilities survey on the WMS renovation outlined that the work was supposed to include replacement of the roof, a lot of the exterior façade and of lockers throughout the building — none of which was done.

“We’re going to tell that story and, once it gets to the state they’re going to read it and they’ll say, ‘OK, this is what we’re going to do, we’re going to put you off for two more years, we’re going to put you off for a year,’” Sandland said. “But at least we start the process.”

Szymaniak said the facilities subcommittee has expressed concern with mold issues at the school.

“I’d like to see where we stand,” he said. “There’s no harm, no foul at this point.”

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said his experience with similar projects has shown the approval process for an SOI could take as long as five years.

“We don’t even know where the list is — what they are accepting, what they aren’t accepting,” Hayes said. “This is a first step. The commitment comes way down the road when you have to do a feasibility study. … This is not committing any dollars and cents.”

School Committee member Fred Small stressed that an SOI should make clear WMS has only had a partial renovation done.

Sandland said the MSBA has noted that W-H has an excellent capital plan, something 40 to 60 percent of school districts do not have.

The debt exclusion for the high school comes off the books in seven years, Hayes said.

Budget committee

In other business, Small suggested a separate subcommittee charged with reviewing the strategic plan as part of an effort to align them with small goals to begin working on the budget in August or September and obtain a clear idea from the towns about where the schools stand on the goal of developing a sustainable budget.

“I know we have to get through today first,” he said, suggesting it might be a way to determine what programs might be funded a year or so in advance through a debt exclusion.

Hayes agreed that the budget is difficult for other town departments at well.

“It costs more, it demands more, and everybody’s in this budget crisis,” he said. “Nobody’s putting the blame here. I think everybody wants better education for every student.”

Business Services Director Christine Suckow said year to-date expenditures are up by just over $13,000 for recovery high school tuition, and unexpected retirements have increased the salary reserve line. Special education accounts have increased by just over $600,000 in the current budget year due to contracted services, legal costs, transportation and out-of-district tuition costs.

Szymaniak attributed the special ed increase to a few movements of students already committed to a collaborative and transportation costs from $250 to $400 per day, depending on the company used.

The fiscal 2019 budget is currently frozen except for emergency expenses, which generally includes special education changes.

Superindendent goals

The committee also discussed Szymaniak’s midyear goals, part of the process of evaluating his job performance.

The goals involve ensuring a cohesive pre-k to grade 12 system of teaching and learning; keeping visible throughout the district to support teachers and staff; ensuring school safety and security; and a workable budget to deliver services to district students to prepare them for career or college.

“It’s out there right now,” he said of the budget. “I appreciate the support of what we’re looking at for level services … How do we progress through? I think, looking at a realistic budget that will maintain the level of services and add — without adding to the budget — a curriculum and curriculum leadership that we so desperately need.”

Szymaniak said the first goal involves reviewing which math pilot program the district would purchase as well as different programs to highlight for English classes next year. Changes in curriculum leadership are also being investigated. All changes being considered within the goal are budget-dependent, he noted.

Being more visible is a favorite part of the job for Szymaniak.

“We’re out and about looking at teachers that make a difference and celebrating that,” he said. “I’ve had several visits with principals formally to discuss things, and informally I pop into buildings to see [what’s going on]. … It’s important for me to be out, visible to teachers and staff and students know who I am.”

He said he and Ferro have both been seeing evidence of teachers doing a good job — in the absence, Assistant Superintendent George Ferro said, of an elementary English Language Arts curriculum and an expiring 7-year-old math program that is obsolete for today’s standards and cuts to the elementary science program.

Safety continues to be a priority, Szymaniak said, by keeping in communication via text with police and fire chiefs in both towns and the establishment of a district communication weather team to have the latest information in any emergency. He is also reviewing the “relatively antiquated radio system” for internal school communications. He is also exploring the expansion of the ALICE program to elementary schools.

School Committee member Christopher Howard said it would be very helpful for committee members to observe classes and programs for themselves without getting in the way.

“I think it would be really helpful,” he said. “We spend a lot of time talking about dollars and cents, we spend a lot of time talking about buildings, but the reason we’re here is for the education of children…. It would be very helpful to all of us and I think it allows us to think about how we can share that message back to the public.”

Szymaniak said there is an open invitation to all committee members to visit schools and classrooms.

“You get so much out of it,” said Small who recalled an art class in which fifth-grade students were discussing what message different colors convey in a PowerPoint presentation. “To me art class was where you take a piece of paper and draw a picture. … School has changed so much.”

Hanson Police Sgt. Elisha (Sullivan) Durgin has her badge pinned by her husband, Bryan, as their daughter Ellie looks on. (Photo courtesy Hanson Police Department)

HANSON  — Little Ellie Durgin was likely the only one in the room unimpressed with her mother’s résumé.

As the toddler in pink skirt and flowered shirt played with a cell phone, Police Chief Michael Miksch listed the credentials and accomplishments that earned her mother, Sgt. Elisha (Sullivan) Durgin, that rank.

Durgin is the first woman to be promoted to sergeant in the Hanson Police Department and was sworn in by Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan during the Tuesday, Feb. 26 Selectmen’s meeting.

She has been a Hanson Police Officer since 2013, serving with departments in Plympton, Scituate and within the Boston Housing Authority before that — an officer with more than 11 years’ experience. Durgin has extensive training in sexual assault investigations and drug overdose prevention, and is one of the Hanson Police Department’s coordinators with the Plymouth County Outreach program on overdose follow-ups and intervention.

Durgin holds a bachelor of science degree in biology from Simmons College.

“We have the swearing in of one of the toughest cops that I know — patrolman Elisha Sullivan to the rank of sergeant,” said Selectmen Chairman Kenny Mitchell in introducing the ceremony.

A combination of a written exam and assessment center, in which Durgin earned the highest score, saw all five officers who applied receive passing grades, according to Miksch, who expressed pride in all the officers. Assessment centers evaluate candidates’ knowledge and abilities based on how they would handle real-life scenarios.

“One of the most important jobs in a police department is a sergeant,” Miksch said. “They are a first-line supervisor. … We depend on them and they fill that gap [getting] done what we need done, making sure everybody’s safe. … They’re teachers, they’re mentors and leaders and to test that is very difficult.”

Miksch said he still scratches his head about why she is not a teacher.

“That’s OK, we’re happy she decided to come to us,” he said. “I’m proud to say she is our newest sergeant and I’m looking forward to having her in that leadership role.”

She fills a vacancy created when Lt. Michael Casey was promoted within the past year.

Durgin’s parents watched as she was sworn in before her husband Bryan and their daughter Ellie pinned on her new badge.

“Ellie’s busy right now. What’s she got, an electronic device?” Miksch said as she sat on her mom’s lap playing with a phone. “I think Ellie was going to try and pin Sgt. Sullivan, I’m not so sure that’s the smartest move,” he joked.

Mitchell joked that Sgt. Durgin passed the exam on a Monday and she and Bryan were married the following weekend.

Recreation fees

The Board of Selectmen tabled a recommendation by the Recreation Commission to increase fees for weddings at Camp Kiwanee, pending more information on conditions of the facility and market pricing, but approved increases in fees for swim passes at Cranberry Cove — so long as two family passes are made available for check-out at Hanson Public Library for residents who cannot afford the fees.

The latter was passed by a 4-0-1 vote with Selectman Jim Hickey abstaining.

Recreation Commission Chairman Diane Cohen and member John Zucco presented the fee increase proposals.

The proposed wedding price increases are $500 — up to $4,000 from $3,500 for Friday evening or Sunday day/evening weddings — and to $5,500 from $5,000 for Saturday weddings — during the peak season between May 1 and Oct. 31. Additional fees are charged for extra reception or set up hours, security deposits and other non-wedding events. The rates are available online at hanson.ma.gov.

Daily swim passes will remain at $5 per person, but a new single-person season pass has been introduced at $40 for residents, $55 for non-residents and a 10-percent discount for seniors and military/veterans with proof of service. Other current season passes have increased $5 — to $90 for resident families, $165 for non-resident families and a 10-percent discount for military/veterans with proof of service. Non-resident season passes with swim lessons are $115 with guests required to pay $5 each and swim lessons at $125 for the first child, $75 for the second, $65 for the third and the fourth free. Swim team fees are $65 each.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett was assured by Cohen and Zucco that a competitive analysis had been done.

“There really isn’t a whole lot that’s like Camp Kiwanee,” Cohen said. “But there are a few facilities … and it’s in that range.”

Selectmen were also concerned about the number of weddings booked, noting a decline for the coming June before the price increases were proposed.

“A lot of weddings recently … over the past few years I’ve seen a lot of last-minute [bookings],” said Zucco, who works as a DJ. “I just booked a wedding for June 21.”

He said people have just started booking for 2020.

“We don’t have a full-time wedding or event sales person and a lot of venues do,” he added. FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested the addition of a virtual wedding video on the website to give couples an idea of what a wedding at Camp Kiwanne would look like.

Hickey and Selectman Matt Dyer, the board’s liaison to the Recreation Commission, were concerned about the effect of a price increase on wedding bookings, however.

Hickey also took issue with the claim of bookings being last-minute, noting his own daughter has been planning her wedding for nearly a year already.

“The weddings have been on a decline since 2016, yet you want to raise the rates,” Hickey said. “The supply isn’t equal to the rates.”

Cohen said the Camp’s costs are also going up, noting several recent repairs, including an electrician called in to look at a light in the freezer, said it was “one flick of the switch away from setting this whole place in flames.”

“You want to make money like a private business, but you want to run it under a municipality system,” Cohen said of Camp Kiwanee. “The whole thing just flies in the face of each other. At some point we have to figure out what is the long-range plan.”

Dyer said he has friends who grew up in town and want to get married at Kiwanee, but say $5,000 is just too much for them to afford.

“They don’t even bother to look at the Camp because they know it’s out of their range,” Dyer said. “We’re walking out of school owing $50,000, $60,000, $70,000 in debt — we’re living in our parents’ basements. Do you think we’re going to go out and spend $10,000 on a wedding?”

Hickey suggested a review of conditions at Kiwanee before a decision is made on the lodge rates.

“Maybe Camp Kiwanee was a fad in 2014 when we peaked at weddings,” he said.

Cohen agreed rustic weddings were a trend earlier this decade, and Zucco said they still are, but offering a wedding showcase event to bring in wedding vendors who can market the venue can help.

Hickey and Dyer were also concerned about the cove swim pass fee increase, with Hickey arguing a 8-percent fee hike for town employees who receive a 2-percent raise is not fair. Dyer suggested the availability of free family passes at the library for struggling families could help.

Cohen said minimum wage also went up, meaning lifeguard costs are increasing as well.

Compared to anywhere else offering swim lessons, Camp Kiwanee, where swim lessons are scheduled every day, offers a better value, she argued.

WHITMAN — The night of the fire heavy black smoke could be seen from Route 58 in Hanson — the sounds of sirens rang from all directions — as fire apparatus from all over the South Shore helped battle a raging house fire at 316-18 Commercial St., on Wednesday, Feb. 13.

Word spread quickly that the three-story wooden structure was crumbling to the ground, siding melted down to the foundation along with it — destroying personal processions and mementos of approximately a dozen residents.

Remarkably no one was injured in the fire, reported by a resident through 911 just before 8 p.m. The blaze drew 80 firefighters and 15 departments from around the south shore.

“Upon arrival heavy flames were coming from a second-story window. The fire was spreading to the third floor and simultaneously burning the wooden deck outside of the window,” said Whitman Fire Chief Timothy J. Grenno.
Deputy Chief Joe Feeney immediately struck a second alarm — a call for more assistance to the scene — due to the building structure and size.  Chief Grenno called for additional mutual aid from other towns, striking a fifth alarm at approximately 9:25 p.m.

Hundreds of onlookers and media flooded the street filming the flames as they seem to propel from every gap of the structure. Residents lined the doorways and lawns dressed in pajamas, some wore white face masks as they shook their heads to evade the gusts of smoke, that mixed with snowflakes as the night progressed.

They Lost everything

“People have been amazing,” said resident Hannah Fabian who has spent most of the last week in a daze filling out paperwork and trying to piece her life back together. Along with several other families in the building they have seen a vast amount of support as they start to rebuild.

Fabian, who was home when the fire started, had rented in the Whitman apartment building for less than six months with her boyfriend and two sons. Her cousin, David, and his daughter who is 11 and a middle school student in Whitman, rented an apartment on the lower level. Fabian had asked him to check her apartment when the boys, who were getting ready to visit their father, smelled burning plastic – within seconds smoke billowed from her bathroom. They all ran out of the building while the smoke alarms blared and called the fire department.

“When we got out of the house it was already completely covered in smoke. It went up in what seemed liked seconds,” said Fabian. “I tried to stay calm for the kids but I couldn’t help it we all were crying.”

She left the fire scene after her sons, who are ages 8 and 11, were picked up by their father. She wore a red hoodie over her face and had a friend, who like her also has severe asthma, give Fabian an inhaler as her own medicine was left behind in the burning building.

David was trying to gather his tools outside the building as he sprayed a fire extinguisher, she said.

Fabian has received monetary help through a GoFundMe account a friend has created, but there are things that can’t ever be replaced like baby books and photo albums, she said.

Battling the blaze

Firefighters battled the blaze and successfully prevented it from spreading to nearby homes. The heaviest flames were knocked down by approximately 9:30 p.m., said Grenno.

Several neighbors who viewed the intensity of the scene from parallel driveways used cell phones to document the fire, as they trained a watchful eye on their own homes.

Residents displaced by the fire were assisted by the American Red Cross — who responded to the scene.

The building, a total loss has since been demolished. Early estimates of the loss have totaled upwards of $1 million dollars in loss, according to Grenno.

The preliminary investigation indicated that the fire started in a second floor apartment. The cause of the fire is under investigation by Whitman Fire and investigators from the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services (DFS).

They were continuing their investigation Thursday Feb. 14, but at this time it does not appear to be suspicious. Grenno said that he did not know when the last fire inspection was done at the building, but that it had previously been up to code.

“This fire spread extremely fast and I want to commend our firefighters and those from our surrounding communities who responded to help put this fire out as quickly as they did,” Grenno said. “We are thankful that no one was hurt and that all residents were quickly able to be accounted for.”

As of Tuesday Feb. 19 the cause of the fire was still under investigation. 

Crews worked to overhaul the house and extinguish hot spots until approximately 12:30 a.m. Thursday Feb. 14. The scene was cleared later in the day and an engine from Whitman remained on fire watch over night.

Firefighters from the following communities responded to assist on the call: Hanson, Abington, East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, Bridgewater, Rockland, Brockton, Norwell, Hanover, Halifax, Hingham, Holbrook, Randolph, Marshfield, Avon and Pembroke.
In addition, the Whitman Police Department, Whitman Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), DFS Rehabilitation Unit and Boston Sparks Association A-10 also responded to the scene.

Helping others

Austin Gould, a first grader at Conley School in Whitman, heard about the fire on Wednesday and when he arrived at school on Thursday he asked if he could talk to his school Principal Karen Downey.

“He came in to see me and said ‘Well did you know there was a big fire?’ My heart melted …” said Downey.

Gould explained that he remembered Downey telling them that they can help make a difference in other kids’ lives and that was his goal. He wanted to help the kids who lost everything in the fire.

Downey has always stood by the lessons of education for her students however she also wants them to become good citizens, she said.

Her reaction upon hearing his objective to benefit the victims was one of pride

“Wow! They are hearing me,” she said. “I was so impressed with the willingness and earnestness from such a wonderful little guy. Knowing they are absorbing all the lessons that are being taught by word and example is spreading pride through the Whitman schools.”

Also students at Conley School, James and Charlotte Kleinman planned a  lemonade stand to raise funds.

VIGIL: Organizers Adrienne McDougall, left, and Diane Ostranber take part in a candlelight vigil for Maura Murray in Hanson Saturday, Feb. 9, the 15th anniversary of her disappearance after a New Hampshire car crash. (Photo by Abram Neal/Express News)

HANSON — Maura Murray, then 21, a native of Hanson, vanished after she crashed her 1996 Saturn into a snowbank along a curve on Wild Ammonoosuc Road (Route 112) in Woodsville, New Hampshire, a village of Haverhill, 15 years ago. The UMass Amherst nursing student’s mysterious disappearance on Feb. 9, 2004 has sparked worldwide attention in the press, on the Internet and on social media over the course of the last decade and a half.

Family, friends and supporters of Maura Murray marked the somber anniversary Saturday in New Hampshire and here in Hanson by lighting candles in hopes that she will be found. Her father, Fred Murray, 76, had shared with the public new details of an investigation he has conducted into her disappearance with the hope that the public attention will put pressure on New Hampshire authorities to further look into the matter. Investigators, meanwhile, say the investigation is still active.

Fred Murray, who spoke to the Express Monday, Feb. 11, says that he is certain he has found a burial site in a house “astonishingly close” to the site of the accident. According to him, locals first tipped him off about suspicious activity at the house in the first year after his daughter’s disappearance, including rumors of new concrete being poured in the basement shortly after the accident, he says.

The Boston Globe reported last week what Murray said, based on those tips, “that a man who lived in the home at the time of the crash, as well as the man’s extended family members who lived nearby, were responsible for his daughter’s death.”

Although he told the Express that he is not positive that it’s his daughter who is buried in the house, he strongly believes that there are human remains in the house and that they are likely those of his daughter.

“I only need to be right once,” he pointed out.

The house, which he says police never searched, a point which officials don’t advertise unless pressed in statements, has come under new ownership since Maura Murray’s disappearance, and the new owners have been receptive to Fred Murray’s investigation. He says he is willing to pay to dig up their basement, although he’d rather New Hampshire authorities do it.

The New Hampshire Attorney’s General office said in a statement that they “searched the area with dogs at the time,” but never searched inside the house in question.

In November and December 2018, Fred Murray brought in two trained, accredited cadaver detecting dogs to the house, each one on separate occasions. They alerted, he says, by lying down in the same spot in the basement of the house. He says that video of the dogs alerting exists, and is available widely online from local television media outlets.

Later, ground-penetrating radar was used and indicated strong findings of an abnormality in the same spot in the concrete, he said. Much of Fred Murray’s investigation has been paid for by donations and through pro-bono work of those who support him, he says.

“It’s astounding that this [basement] wasn’t looked at before. I told the police about this in the first year … the State Police did an inadequate job when my daughter first went missing,” he added, adamantly.

Fred Murray said he has found the local police to have been less-than-helpful, and as for federal law enforcement, “The FBI has been dodging it [the case] for 15 years … they’re useless,” he said of the Boston office of the FBI.

He says that law enforcement’s response to his investigation, when he’s notified them of his findings, has been, “We looked at that, we looked at that, we looked at that.”

“Because of the institutional intransigence of the New Hampshire State Police the case is still alive 15 years later,” he said.

Fred Murray said that he thinks he’s been getting “the run around,” and that officials have been waiting for him to go away. “This time, the guy didn’t go away, and that guy was me.”

A representative for the New Hampshire Department of Safety, of which the New Hampshire State Police are a division, refused to comment because of the active nature of the investigation, but did refer the Express to the Office of the New Hampshire Attorney General.

“The case is still open and active.  We do receive tips and information periodically, as well as generate new information from investigative efforts,” said Jeffrey Streizin, Associate Attorney General and Director of the Division of Public Protection with the New Hampshire Attorney’s General office in an emailed statement.

He continued, “We are aware of the allegations regarding a home’s basement in that area and have considered and are considering next steps. That area was searched by law enforcement in the past, including with dogs, and nothing of significance was discovered.”

When asked to clarify whether the home itself was ever searched, Streizin said, “The State Police conducted a canvas of that area in 2004 and searched the area where that house is located with dogs. They did not go into the house at that time.”

“I need help. I’m asking for help,” Fred Murray said. “The people of northern New Hampshire have been wonderful. They are salt of the earth people … The goodness of people has really come to the forefront. Maura’s only friends in this have been the Massachusetts press, her friends and the great people of the area.”

Exactly where Maura Murray was headed, and why, has remained a mystery over the years. Moments after the crash, a good Samaritan stopped to assist her, but she waved him off and told him not to call the police, according to original police reports from 2004. The passerby called local police anyway, although he did drive off. A Haverhill police cruiser arrived within minutes, but the Saturn was locked, and Maura Murray was gone.

According to a four-part series reported by Maribeth Conway in this paper’s predecessor, the Hanson Express in 2007, Fred Murray had dinner with his daughter in Amherst two days before her disappearance.

She caused damage to her father’s car that night in a minor accident near UMass in Hadley, Massachusetts, and later friends reported she had been drinking that night, although no charges were filed in that incident.

The following day, she performed Internet searches for driving directions to Vermont and the Berkshires. She also called for a condominium rental reservation in Bartlett, New Hampshire, which she did not end up reserving. Her family often vacationed in Bartlett, a town in the White Mountains near the Attitash ski resort.

Her belongings were neatly packed up in boxes in her UMass dorm room before she left, according to reports, leading to speculation that she may have been considering leaving school permanently. But she had good grades, and her college textbooks were found in her car by investigators after the accident.

Maura Murray withdrew $280 from her bank account, leaving the account almost empty, and emailed professors and her boss at a local art gallery that she would be away from school because she was needed in Hanson due to a death in the family. Relatives later confirmed there was no death in the family.

No one is sure exactly why the college student made up the story.

A friend later suggested that Maura Murray may have been under a lot of pressure and wanted to get away to think about something important.

She grabbed some toiletries, a favorite stuffed animal — a monkey given to her by her father– and a necklace her boyfriend had given her. She then departed. Police say she next stopped at a liquor store, bought about $40 worth of alcohol — which police reports say some of which was found in plain sight in her car after the crash– and never returned to Massachusetts.

Fred Murray says his next step will be to try to enlist the help of senior New Hampshire State Police officials but that he continues to wait and marvel at the lack of help. He added, “We’re still going to win.”

When asked to clarify what a win for him would be, he hesitated and said, “There is no win. There is no satisfaction. I have to find her, bring her home and give her a proper burial. Every father who ever drew a breath on the planet should know what happens next.”