Key facts
- Name: Brianna Alexandra Maitland
- Born: October 8, 1986, Burlington, Vermont
- Age at disappearance: 17
- Last seen: March 19, 2004, ~11:20 p.m.
- Location: Black Lantern Inn, Montgomery, Vermont
- Height / build: 5’4″, ~105 lbs, brown hair, hazel eyes
- Status: Still missing — endangered missing person; active (not cold) investigation
- Reward: FBI — up to $40,000
- Vehicle: Green 1985 Oldsmobile 88 (recovered)
- Investigating agency: Vermont State Police (St. Albans barracks); FBI (Albany field office)
The car backed into the barn
At 11:20 p.m. on Friday, March 19, 2004, seventeen-year-old Brianna Maitland clocked out of her dishwashing shift at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery, Vermont — a small town near the Canadian border. She told her coworkers she needed to get home and rest before her second part-time job the next morning. She got into her green 1985 Oldsmobile 88 and drove off.
The next morning, the Oldsmobile was found about a mile away, backed into the side of an abandoned farmhouse. The rear wheels were off the ground. Inside: her migraine medication, her contact-lens case, her paycheck — everything except Brianna and her keys.
Nobody reported her missing for several days. By the time the machinery of a search got moving, the trail was already cold.
Who Brianna was
Brianna Alexandra Maitland was born October 8, 1986, in Burlington, Vermont, to Bruce and Kellie Maitland. At 17 she was working two part-time jobs and had recently been through a frightening stretch: weeks before she vanished, she’d been physically assaulted at a party, and a coworker later said she’d seemed frightened by someone in a store. She’d also recently moved out of her parents’ home and was staying with friends.
Her father, Bruce, has never stopped. He founded Private Investigations for the Missing, a nonprofit that funds private investigators for families of the missing, and hired his own investigators — Greg Overacker and Lou Barry — who published a book on the case in 2023 and continue to develop new witnesses. In 2025, Vermont State Police Detective Sergeant Angela Baker told reporters the case is not “unsolvable”: “I think that we just haven’t asked the right question or we haven’t asked the right person yet.” A colleague put it more sharply: “This is not a cold case, it’s an unsolved case.”
The investigation
In the weeks after she vanished, state investigators chased a tip that Brianna was being held in a house connected to local drug dealers she knew. It led nowhere. In 2006, a reported sighting at a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, generated a burst of hope; the woman was never identified. In 2012, investigators examined a possible link to serial killer Israel Keyes, who had been active in Vermont — the FBI ruled him out.
The case has been profiled by Dateline NBC, on Investigation Discovery’s Disappeared (December 2011), on 20/20, on The Vanished podcast (2016), and in the Oxygen documentary about Maura Murray — who vanished a month earlier, about 90 miles away in New Hampshire. The Murray parallel has fueled endless speculation about a connection. Investigators have never found one.
What the physical evidence suggests: the car’s position — backed into the building, rear wheels lifted — doesn’t look like a simple run-off-the-road. Her family has noted that Brianna had martial-arts training, and they believe more than one person would have been needed to take her. But there were no confirmed signs of a struggle at the scene, and no suspects have ever been charged.
Theories: what might have happened
Abduction connected to the local drug scene. The earliest and most-pursued theory: Brianna knew people in the area’s drug trade, had been frightened of someone, and was taken — possibly from the roadside after her car was forced off the road. Supports it: the assault weeks earlier, the fear witnesses described, the tip about the drug house. Undercuts it: two decades of investigation have produced no charges and no body.
A staged accident. The car’s odd final position — backed into the farmhouse — has led some to suggest the scene was arranged. But without forensic findings made public, this is interpretation, not evidence.
Connection to Maura Murray. They vanished a month apart, in neighboring states, both young women, both cars found abandoned. The coincidence is irresistible. Investigators have found no link, and the cases differ in almost every material detail.
Voluntary disappearance. Briefly considered, long since discarded. She left her medication, her contacts, her paycheck — and never contacted anyone again.
Have information?
Contact the Vermont State Police at 1-844-84-VTIPS (1-844-848-8477) or submit a tip at vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit. The St. Albans barracks can be reached at (802) 524-5993. The FBI (Albany field office) is offering a reward of up to $40,000 for information leading to Brianna’s recovery — contact the FBI’s toll-free tipline at 1-800-225-5324 or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- October 8, 1986 — Brianna Alexandra Maitland is born in Burlington, Vermont.
- Early 2004 — Assaulted at a party; appears frightened of someone, witnesses later say.
- March 19, 2004, 11:20 p.m. — Clocks out at the Black Lantern Inn, Montgomery; drives off in her Oldsmobile.
- March 20, 2004 — Car found backed into an abandoned farmhouse ~1 mile away; Brianna gone.
- 2004 — Tip about a drug dealers’ house investigated; leads nowhere.
- 2006 — Reported Atlantic City casino sighting; woman never identified.
- December 2011 — Disappeared profiles the case.
- 2012 — FBI rules out Israel Keyes.
- 2023 — Family’s private investigator publishes a book on the case.
- 2025 — VSP says the case is unsolved, not cold; “not unsolvable.”
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Brianna Maitland still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Brianna Maitland has been missing for more than 22 years. Vermont State Police stress the case is active and unsolved — not cold.
Was Brianna Maitland ever found?
No. No trace of Brianna has ever been found.
How old would Brianna Maitland be today?
Brianna was born October 8, 1986 — she turns 40 in October 2026.
Is the Brianna Maitland case connected to Maura Murray’s?
They disappeared a month apart in neighboring states, which has fueled speculation, but investigators have never found a link between the cases.
What was found in Brianna Maitland’s car?
Her migraine medication, her contact-lens case, and her paycheck were inside. Her keys were gone. The car was backed into an abandoned farmhouse with its rear wheels off the ground.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Anyone with information should contact Vermont State Police at 1-844-848-8477.
Corrections (October 2026 verification pass)
- Height/eyes: “5’5″, brown eyes” → 5’4″, ~105 lbs, hazel eyes. Per the FBI wanted poster for Brianna Maitland.
- Added the FBI’s $40,000 reward for information leading to her recovery (FBI poster, Albany field office), including the FBI tipline.
- Family investigators verified: Greg Overacker (longtime family private investigator; author of The Hunt for Brianna Maitland, 2023) and Lou Barry/Barry (case manager for Private Investigations for the Missing, the nonprofit founded by Bruce Maitland in 2018). No changes needed — retained as written.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Vermont State Police (St. Albans; 1-844-84-VTIPS); Det. Sgt. Angela Baker statements (2025, via WCAX/MyNBC5).
- News: WCAX/MyNBC5, “Father of missing Vermont teen Brianna Maitland continues search 22 years after disappearance” (2025).
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Disappearance of Brianna Maitland” (retrieved Oct 2026); FBI.
- Media: Dateline NBC; Investigation Discovery, Disappeared (Dec 2011); The Vanished podcast (2016); Oxygen, The Disappearance of Maura Murray (2017); Missing podcast (Crawlspace Media).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.