Brianna Maitland

Case background and investigation

Brianna Maitland was 17 and working at the Black Lantern Inn, a restaurant and inn in Montgomery, Vermont, in March 2004. According to Wikipedia's account of the case, she had moved out of her parents' home and was staying with a friend in Sheldon, about 20 miles to the west. On March 19, 2004, she clocked out of work at about 11:20 p.m. and left in the car she was driving, a 1985 Oldsmobile 88. She never reached home.

Vermont State Police say the car was found the next day backed into an abandoned building about one mile from the restaurant, on Route 118. VTDigger reports that police did not initially treat the car as suspicious and it was towed from the scene. Because Maitland no longer lived with her parents, she was not reported missing for four days, according to Vermont Public; Wikipedia states that her paychecks were found inside the car.

State police at first considered that she might have run away but now say she may have been the victim of foul play. Wikipedia reports that about three weeks before she vanished she had been assaulted at a party by a former friend, and that investigators later pursued tips pointing to drug activity in the region, including an April 2004 search of a house in Berkshire that produced no trace of her. In 2012 investigators examined and then ruled out a possible link to serial killer Israel Keyes, VTDigger reports. No one has been charged in her disappearance.

In September 2020, Vermont State Police announced a partnership with the forensic laboratory Othram to analyze DNA evidence from the case. In 2022 police said they had identified the source of DNA recovered from an item near the car; according to Vermont Public, that result allowed investigators to rule out a long-standing lead but did not produce a suspect.

On the 20th anniversary in March 2024, the FBI's Albany field office and Vermont State Police announced a reward of up to $40,000 for information leading to her recovery. State police leaders described the case as unsolved rather than cold. As of 2025 coverage, Brianna Maitland had not been found.