I’m hesitant to write about this topic because there is the chance that some of it will become outdated and irrelevant.
Then again, if that happened, any of the connected people would not complain.
The family and friends of Maura Murray and Elijah Vue have something in common.
At most, they want to see their loved ones home safe. At least, they want to know what happened to them.
Maura Murray was 21 when she was reported missing in February of 2004. She was last seen on a rural highway in New Hampshire after allegedly being in a car crash on the side of the road.
Elijah Vue is just three years old and was last seen in Two Rivers, Wis., on February 20 of this year. Search efforts have been underway continuously since then.
These two “missing persons” cases have something else in common — armchair investigators and wild speculation.
Ms. Murray’s case has had 20 years to generate interest, whether it’s podcasts, social media threads, or documentaries. People who are into that sort of thing have taken in as much information as they can and have a wide variety of theories as to what happened.
The same is true for young Elijah. Any news article or information from investigators that is posted online about his case is met with theory and speculation, usually with exclamation points to add to their credibility.
I’ve seen all sorts of guesses and speculation for both Maura and Elijah. While I haven’t seen or heard anyone blame aliens, I’m sure it’s been said.
Forgive my snarky cynicism, but after nearly 20 years of working in “the media,” I know that sometimes you have to let investigators do their jobs and more often than not, they do know what they are doing.
That being said, I also understand the frustrations of both camps.
All they want are answers and if it looks like officials aren’t doing all that they can to arrive at those answers, it can be very challenging and painful.
I feel bad for everyone involved. It’s hard to find the good in any of these situations.
Seeking and not finding
What I’m about to say isn’t to lessen what those close to Maura and Elijah are going through, but it’s what I’ve been reflecting on in my own little messed-up world.
Sometimes there are things in life that we never find answers to.
We pray. We hope. We pray some more. We think we’re getting closer to a breakthrough. We keep praying. We realize time has passed and we’ve gotten nowhere.
Think about some of the most painful times in your life. I’m guessing “Why?” was a question that frequently popped into your mind.
Did you ever find out why? Did you ever find out what really happened?
As much as those of us in the news business solidify our careers on the concepts of “Who?,” “What?,” “Where?,” “When?,” “Why?,” and “How?,” just like a news article, parts of life can fall apart without real answers to those questions.
God can only do so much when a fallen humanity purposely undoes and destroys His good. The answers we seek are hidden by evil or sometimes by just “things happen” in said fallen world.
Is that acceptable? No, not really, but our own day-to-day survival relies on our acceptance of it, or doing the best we can considering the circumstances.
What if you knew you would never find answers to your most troubling questions in life? Would you give up on certain things in your life? Would you be able to move on knowing that there is nothing more you can do? Would you trust God to help you through your pain and carry that continued cross of not knowing?
If you can positively say “yes” to the last one, let me know how you do it. I can’t, couldn’t, and don’t.
Looking forward
There are many things in life we will know the truth about. We might not like a lot of it, but we’ll know in time what we want to know.
There are also many things we’ll never get a straight answer to, whether these are realizations that come from God or from others around us.
We don’t have to give up these quests to know what we want to know, but maybe we have to accept there’s that percentage chance of never knowing what we want to know.
God wants our best at all times so He must have a way to help us through those moments and that reality.
I pray that those close to Maura and Elijah find the answer they seek.
No one deserves to go through what they are going through, whether it’s been 20 days or 20 years.
Pray for those who have missing loved ones.
A simple online search will show a lot of missing people whose names aren’t on a podcast. They are loved too.
Thank you for reading.
I’m praying for you.