Disappearance of Brianna Maitland

Brianna Alexandra Maitland, born October 8, 1986, in Burlington, Vermont, disappeared on March 19, 2004, at age 17. She had spent the day completing her GED exam, having lunch with her mother Kellie, and running errands before heading to her shift at the Black Lantern Inn, a restaurant in Montgomery, Vermont. She left work at approximately 11:20 p.m., alone, driving her mother's 1985 Oldsmobile sedan. She has not been seen or heard from since.

The following afternoon, a Vermont State Police trooper found Maitland's car backed into the side of an abandoned house on Route 118 in Richford, about a mile from the Black Lantern Inn, with siding damaged and a piece of plywood resting on the trunk. Two of Maitland's paychecks were on the front seat, and loose change, a water bottle, and an unsmoked cigarette were found outside the vehicle. The trooper initially assumed a drunk driver had abandoned the car, and it was towed to a local garage. Maitland was not reported missing for several days, in part because her roommate assumed she was staying elsewhere and her mother was unaware the car had been recovered. A missing persons report was filed on March 23, 2004.

Several witnesses later came forward describing sightings of the car at the scene overnight, including reports of flashing turn signals and possibly illuminated headlights, though most reported not seeing anyone in or around the vehicle. Law enforcement, who initially considered the possibility that Maitland was a runaway, later concluded foul play was the probable cause of her disappearance; a 2007 FBI flyer stated the scene may have been staged to look like an accident.

Investigators pursued multiple leads without resolution, including an anonymous tip that Maitland was being held in a Berkshire, Vermont house associated with two individuals police identified as drug dealers, which was raided in April 2004; no sign of Maitland was found, though one occupant was arrested on drug charges. A later anonymous affidavit alleged Maitland had been murdered and her body dismembered and disposed of on a pig farm, but law enforcement could not corroborate these claims. A 2006 casino security-camera sighting in Atlantic City generated attention but the woman was never identified. In 2012, investigators examined a possible link to serial killer Israel Keyes, who had property in nearby New York, but the FBI ruled him out as a suspect after his death by suicide that year.

In 2016, investigators recovered DNA samples from Maitland's car, and in March 2022 Vermont State Police announced a match to one of eleven individuals previously tested in connection with the case, though that person's identity has not been released. In 2024, the FBI and Vermont State Police announced a reward of up to $40,000 for information leading to Maitland's recovery. The case remains unsolved and has been the subject of national media coverage, including Dateline NBC and the documentary series Disappeared.