Liza Murphy 42, missing 8/19/07 Emerson, NJ

[Patti]

Sorry....

I haven't been reading at the Forum for a long time.  I didn't mean to
duplicate the story.  Personally, I haven't been keeping on top of it
but had briefly looked at the picture that Klaas posted.  I've been
posting at the front page, only.  That's all that I have the time to do.

I hope they are successful in their search and solve the case of what
happened to her.  It seems like she had alot of enemies.

[2NJSons_Mom]

Stymied cops retracing steps in missing mom case      

Thursday, August 30, 2007

By JOSEPH AX
STAFF WRITER

 

With no new leads or evidence about the disappearance of an Emerson mother following a massive daylong search, police said Wednesday that they are retracing their investigative steps.

Detectives will re-interview friends and family members of Liza Murphy, as well as others who might have seen or spoken with her since Aug. 19, said Emerson Police Chief Michael Saudino. They will also seek to talk again with Joseph Murphy, the chief said.

 
"If he truly wants to find where his wife is, we should be working together," Saudino said. "Whatever small lead there is, we guarantee that we will follow them through to the fullest."

Murphy remained at Hackensack University Medical Center on Thursday with injuries he sustained when he walked in front of a fire official's vehicle a week ago, in what police and his lawyer said was a suicide attempt.

The lawyer, Joseph Rem, said Tuesday that his client had "cooperated extensively" and would continue to do so. He also said he had offered to arrange another interview with police, but hadn't yet been taken up on it.

Neighbors said late Wednesday that police had already returned to the Murphys' Broad Street home with dogs and searched the back yard but appeared to come up empty. The home has remained cordoned off since last week, when investigators searched inside and towed Liza Murphy's Jeep from the driveway.

On Wednesday, more than 200 emergency workers and volunteers fanned out into wooded areas in Emerson and Westwood in an unsuccessful search for signs of the 42-year-old mother of three.

"We're convinced at this point that she's not in any of those areas," Saudino said Wednesday.

The couple's children remained with an aunt.

The case has drawn an intense media spotlight, amid reports of depression, substance abuse and alleged adultery.

Saudino said police have received numerous reports from witnesses claiming to have seen Liza Murphy from as far away as Chicago. They will pursue those calls that are deemed credible, the chief said.

In several interviews with them, detectives have said, Joseph Murphy has told them he and his wife had an argument on Aug. 19, and she left the house on foot without anything but the clothes she was wearing.

Rem said the argument stemmed from his client's belief that his wife was having an affair.

Two close friends of Liza Murphy's both confirmed that she had developed a close friendship with another man, but said the relationship wasn't sexual. One of them said the two apparently met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

A court document filed this week by the state Division of Youth and Family Services revealed that Liza Murphy had been receiving counseling for abusing prescription drugs and alcohol use, as well as individual therapy sessions for more than 18 months.

The same filing said she had called a suicide hot line in 2005 and was involuntarily committed to a hospital.

Rem said Joseph Murphy also suffered from depression and had tried to commit suicide 17 years ago when the couple separated for a time.

E-mail: ax@northjersey.com
 

7188075

http://tinyurl.com/28kqg6

[2NJSons_Mom]

AMW now has this case listed:

http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/case.cfm?id=48133

[2NJSons_Mom]

Missing mom's father says she was mistreated      

Friday, August 31, 2007

By JOSEPH AX
STAFF WRITER

 
 
LIZA MURPHY
 
The father of a missing Emerson woman defended her Thursday, saying she's been unfairly criticized and that her husband mistreated her for years.

Andrew Stellatos also said he has fears about the safety of his daughter, Liza Murphy, who police said went missing on Aug. 19. But he still maintains hope that she is alive.

"They're trying to defame my daughter," Stellatos said by phone from his home in Little Egg Harbor. "Anybody who knew [her] would tell you what a good-hearted person she is. It seems like the whole world was caving in on her.

"I hope she's out there somewhere. That's what I pray for."

Stellatos said Joseph Murphy was overly possessive and pressured his daughter about her whereabouts whenever she left the house.

"They've had problems from Day One," he said. "I don't know why they stayed together this long. I guess my daughter just tried to hang in there because of the kids."

 
Joseph Murphy's lawyer, Joseph Rem, called that version of the marriage only one side of the story.

"It's important to remember that any parent or any close friend never sees the true relationship," he said. "They only get the biased version of the spouse who is doing the complaining. I have no doubt that that was her subjective view."

Liza Murphy left the house she and her husband shared with their three children after he confronted her with evidence of an affair, Rem said.

Joseph Murphy remained at Hackensack University Medical Center with severe injuries on Thursday, a week after he stepped in front of a Westwood fire prevention car in what Rem and police have said was a suicide attempt after his wife disappeared.

Emerson Police Chief Michael Saudino said Thursday that the search for Liza Murphy is stalled, with detectives reduced to re-interviewing friends and potential witnesses amid widespread national media attention. On Tuesday, a search of nearly 375 acres of woods near the Murphys' home yielded no clues.

The woman who tipped off police to the disappearance said Thursday that she did so after receiving an Aug. 20 call from the couple's oldest daughter, asking whether she'd seen her mother. Liza Murphy wouldn't have left the house overnight, said the woman, who asked that she not be identified.

Rem said Joseph Murphy didn't call police immediately because he assumed his wife was simply staying away after an intense argument. Liza Murphy had confrontations before with her husband and with some neighbors, sometimes drawing police response, the lawyer said.

"Bolting out the front door after an emotional confrontation was par for the course for her," Rem said. "The last thing he wanted to do was to bring the police back to his home yet again for what was a marital spat."

Liza Murphy grew up in Hillsdale. She was an outgoing and social girl, one who would "light up a room," her father said.

She left high school before her senior year and got a job making jewelry, Stellatos said. She wanted to be a beautician, he said, and in later years earned her GED.

"She was very creative, like her mother," he said.

Her marriage to Joseph Murphy became quite stormy.

In a court document reviewed by The Record, the state Division of Youth and Family Services said that Liza Murphy had undergone therapy and substance-abuse counseling for prescription drugs and alcohol since being hospitalized in 2005 after calling a suicide hot line. DYFS has supervised the family since then, the filing showed.

Joseph Murphy had tried committing suicide before, in 1990, during a separation from his wife, Rem said.

The couple's three children have been staying with an aunt and uncle.

E-mail: ax@northjersey.com
 

7188497

http://tinyurl.com/yrqdml

[2NJSons_Mom]

Husband of missing mom changed name      

Saturday, September 1, 2007

By JOSEPH AX
STAFF WRITER

 

In a new twist to the case of a missing Emerson woman, court documents show that her husband changed his name.

Joseph Murphy, whose wife has been missing nearly two weeks, abandoned his birth name of Delahunty in favor of the more "Americanized" Murphy when he entered the U.S. from Ireland as a legal resident in the 1980s, according to his name-change application filed in 2005.

 
A state court approved that application in 2005, changing his name to Joseph Murphy Delahunty.

The date of birth he attested to in the court filing is April 13, 1963 – nearly five years before the birth date on his driver's license: March 11, 1968.

Police were "looking into" the name change, the detective heading the investigation into the disappearance of Liza Murphy, 42, said Friday.

"If Mr. Murphy has a past, we would certainly be interested in that past, good and bad," said Emerson police Sgt. George Buono. "We're looking into Mrs. Murphy's past, as well, in an attempt to get information that will hopefully lead us to her.

"It's a matter of following up everything and being a good investigator."

Buono said authorities hadn't been aware of the conflicting birth dates and would be following up on them as well.

Murphy continued to recover Friday at Hackensack University Medical Center from injuries he suffered Aug. 24 after walking into the path of a fire official's car in Westwood, in what police and his lawyer said was a suicide attempt.

His attorney, Joseph Rem, wouldn't comment on the name change or birth date discrepancy.

The firm of Rem Zeller, in which Rem is a partner, handled the application.

Rem said he met his client for the first time days ago. The name change was handled by attorney Jeffrey Steinfeld, who was on vacation Friday, he said.

According to his petition, Murphy wasn't seeking the name change in an attempt to escape creditors or criminal prosecution. He had no open judgments against him, no pending lawsuits, bankruptcy proceedings or criminal charges, as well as no record of conviction, his request says.

Shawn Saucier, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, said that foreigners who enter the country as permanent residents must adopt their given name on their immigration papers, whether it be a green card or a visa.

Buono, the Emerson detective, said police were looking into several claims by people who know Liza Murphy. One is by Liza Murphy's father and a close friend that Joseph Murphy left the United States years ago and reentered through Canada. Liza Murphy picked him up, her father said.

They've also been told that Joseph Murphy went by the name Pat or Patrick several years ago, Buono said.

Rem, when asked about the claims, said: "I'll have to deal with that if it comes up."

"There's nothing to say," Rem said. "I don't know anything."

Police said Murphy told them his wife left the home they shared with their three children after an argument. Rem said his client had confronted his wife with evidence she was having an affair and demanded a divorce. Police have searched the surrounding area and interviewed several friends and relatives but haven't reported any significant leads.

Both of the Murphys have battled depression and suicidal thoughts, based on court documents and interviews with people who know them. Liza Murphy was undergoing therapy and substance abuse counseling for prescription drugs and alcohol for more than a year and a half before her disappearance, court papers show.

Friends and family of Liza Murphy have said they don't believe she was having an affair, although they acknowledge she had developed a friendship with a local man. Police have spoken with the man but gained no significant leads from him, Buono said.

E-mail: ax@northjersey.com
 

7188935

http://tinyurl.com/2jqvlb

[mrs. red]

I agree 100% with Sleeks... missing people all deserve attention regardless of what personal issues they have.

i don't care if a person is a prostitute, they don't deserve to be killed...or go missing.. somebody somewhere loves them...


the media most certainly has a bias... and as Clint Van Zadt stated about greta and the coverage of NH... she didn't want to keep covering it but she couldn't stop once she started....

[MuffyBee]

I agree 100% with Sleeks... missing people all deserve attention regardless of what personal issues they have.

i don't care if a person is a prostitute, they don't deserve to be killed...or go missing.. somebody somewhere loves them...


the media most certainly has a bias... and as Clint Van Zadt stated about greta and the coverage of NH... she didn't want to keep covering it but she couldn't stop once she started....

Absolutely agree with Sleeks and Mrs. Red.

[San]

Missing woman's mother doubtful she'll turn up alive

http://tinyurl.com/2ylxg6

Monday, September 3, 2007

By MATTHEW VAN DUSEN
STAFF WRITER


The mother of a missing Emerson woman says she has lost hope of finding her alive as police on Sunday said the investigation into her disappearance has started to stall.

Sophia Stellatos said her daughter, Liza Murphy, would not have abandoned her three children and certainly would have called the family by now to say she's OK.

"My daughter and I were extremely close and, if she could, there's no way she wouldn't have contacted me," Stellatos said.

Her words came as Emerson Police Sgt. George Buono said that police are interviewing friends of Liza Murphy and her husband, Joseph Murphy, but admitted "the investigation is stalling to some extent" as the search enters its third week.

He would not speculate about when the leads will run dry.

"We haven't reached that point yet," he said.

Liza Murphy, 42, disappeared without her pocketbook, cellphone or medication on Aug. 19 after her husband accused her of having an affair.

Joseph Murphy, 39, was seriously injured when he threw himself in front of a car later that week and is recovering at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Stellatos rejected the claim that her daughter was having an affair, because she suffered from chronic pain and Joseph Murphy, she said, controlled her movements.

Still, the Murphys' marriage had been troubled for years, she said.

"Nothing she ever did was right," Stellatos said. "She wasn't allowed to have any friends."

Liza Murphy and the children had visited her parents in Little Egg Harbor Township before her disappearance and seemed depressed but not suicidal, Stellatos said. Neither Liza Murphy nor the children, who are ages 7, 11 and 13, wanted to return to Emerson, she said.

The children, who are staying with Joseph Murphy's sister, will likely go back to school this week but are "devastated" by the recent events, Stellatos said.

Joseph Murphy's lawyer, Joseph Rem, did not address questions about his client on Sunday, including why he had changed his name in 2005.

Rem said Joseph Murphy began what will likely be a long rehabilitation for his injuries on Sunday but is still in a lot of pain.

"There's just so much misery in this case to go around for everybody," Rem said.

A friend of Liza Murphy, Donna Woods, was in tears on Sunday as she spoke of her "little sister's" disappearance.

Woods said she is finding it hard to hope for a happy outcome but she hoped continued media exposure would lead to a break in the case.

"I'm praying for them," Woods said of the Stellatos family. "I'm praying for Liza, I'm praying for the kids."

E-mail: vandusen@northjersey.com

[2NJSons_Mom]

There has been nothing on this case since the beginning of September.  This is the last article printed:

http://tinyurl.com/2qm4xb


Woman fears daughter dead      

Tuesday, September 4, 2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

Police in Emerson say the investigation into the disappearance of a mother of three who went missing more than two weeks ago is starting to stall, and the woman's mother said she fears her daughter is dead.

"My daughter and I were extremely close and, if she could, there's no way she wouldn't have contacted me," Sophia Stellatos, the mother of Liza Murphy, told the Record for Monday editions.

 
Murphy, 42, went missing Aug. 19 without taking her pocket book, cell phone, credit cards or cigarettes. Later that week her husband, Joseph, was seriously injured when he threw himself in front of a car.

Police Sgt. George Buono said authorities continue to interview friends of the Murphys but acknowledged that the "investigation is starting to stall somewhat."

Despite trouble in their marriage, Stellatos said her daughter wasn't cheating on her husband. Stellatos said Joseph Murphy was extremely controlling over his wife.

"Nothing she ever did was right," Stellatos said. "She wasn't allowed to have any friends."

Meanwhile, a lawyer for Joseph Murphy, Joseph Rem, said last week that Liza Murphy's parents only received one version of the Murphys' marriage and that it's "important to remember that any parent or any close friend never sees the true relationship."

Rem said his client will begin the long rehabilitation this week.
 

7190676

[2NJSons_Mom]

There hasn't been any news about Liza for months.  I just found a website created on her behalf:

http://wemisslizamurphy.com/

[2NJSons_Mom]

There hasn't been any news about Liza for months.  I just found a website created on her behalf:

http://wemisslizamurphy.com/

I'm still reading at this site....some pretty horrible comments...

[2NJSons_Mom]

Where's missing woman?
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Last updated: Tuesday August 19, 2008, EDT 9:55 AM BY ASHLEY KINDERGANSTAFF WRITER
Liza's brother holds sign across the street from her husband's house.

   
It's been a year since Liza Murphy, a 43-year-old mother of three, disappeared from her Emerson home with nothing but the clothes on her back.

Police say the case isn't cold. They are still pursuing some angles, but the stream of new information has run dry.

"It's a frustrating case," said Sgt. George Buono, who has led the investigation. "We have had no credible sightings of Liza Murphy. Of course, as a police officer, that doesn't bode well, as far as her being out there."

Liza Murphy's family and friends believe it is unlikely she is still alive.

"My husband and I know that if she were still alive, which we don't believe she is, some way, somehow, she would have gotten in touch with us," said Sophia Stellatos, her mother.

But there is also some hope. Donna Woods, a Dumont resident and Liza's friend for 18 years, had a shirt made after she disappeared. It reads, "Believe in Miracles." Every morning, she lights a candle for her friend and looks at one of the many framed pictures that occupy prominent spots in her apartment.

"Part of me thinks she's no longer with us, but part of me thinks maybe there's a chance," Woods said. "I kept saying, 'Liza, I'll bring you home.' I feel like a failure because I haven't been able to do that."

Tony Stellatos, who was estranged from his sister, last month spray-painted, "Liza Is Still Missing" onto a 4-by-4 sheet of plywood and put it on his front lawn - which is across the street from the house she shared with her husband, Joseph Murphy.

He and other family members say they are frustrated by the way the case has faded from public view and by the fact that Murphy has not spoken with police since giving an initial interview.

Buono confirmed that Murphy - who stepped in front of a car, in what police characterized as a suicide attempt, four days after his wife went missing - granted only the one interview. "He has refused any further interviews through his attorney's office" and has not contacted police to inquire about the investigation, the sergeant said.

In the interview, according to Buono, Murphy said he had secretly taped his wife's telephone conversations before her disappearance.

On Aug. 19, 2007, he told police, he arranged for his children to leave the house for a few hours and then confronted her with evidence that she was cheating on him. The two had an argument that lasted about 15 minutes and she left on foot, he said.

Liza Murphy apparently took nothing with her, Buono said. Her cellphone, pocketbook, cigarettes and daily medications all stayed in the house.

She was reported missing by Woods and another friend after they found out that she had not come home the night before, police said.

Searches of the house, family cars and wooded areas using cadaver dogs and hundreds of volunteers revealed nothing.

Joseph Murphy could not be reached for this article. His lawyer, Joseph Rem, said Murphy has not spoken to police because he is too distraught.

"He's still too emotionally devastated by the loss of his wife. I spoke with him a week ago, and he sobbed hysterically for 20 minutes," Rem said Monday. "He has his children with him, and he's had to play both father and mother."

Police are asking anyone with information to call 201-262-2800 and ask for Sergeant Buono. Residents can also leave tips at wemisslizamurphy.com, a police Web site devoted to gathering information about the case.

E-mail: kindergan@northjersey.com

Reader Comments more
Please report comments that violate the terms of service.
123 says: Very sad! You would hope that if she was still alive, she would contact someone....for the sake of her children.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/crimeandcourts/Wheres_missing_woman.html

[Nut44x4]

N.J. Family Worries For Missing Mother
On August 19, 2007, a mother of three left her home in Emerson, N.J. and has not been seen since. According to what her husband told police, 42-year-old Liza Murphy left their house on that Sunday afternoon after the two had an argument.

Police learned about Liza's disappearance the following day, August 20, when an anonymous caller contacted the Emerson Police Department to report her missing.

Detectives soon learned that Liza had apparently walked out of her home with nothing but the clothes on her back. She left behind her cell phone, her money, and her wallet.

Since then, local police departments have performed ground and air searches in the wooded areas near Liza's house, but have had no luck. The searches for the missing mother will continue as police and family members struggle to discover what happened to their missing loved one.


Police say that Joseph first stepped in front of a bus and a Lexus automobile.
New Developments In The Search For Liza
Less than a week after his wife disappeared, 39-year-old Joseph Murphy allegedly tried to commit suicide by jumping into moving traffic. Police say that Joseph first stepped in front of a bus and a Lexus automobile, but both vehicles were able to swerve and avoid him.

Joseph made a third attempt and stepped in front of a fire official's cruiser, which could not move in time and struck the man. After the impact, Joseph was transported to Hackensack University Medical Center with a broken pelvis, and internal and facial injuries.

Police do not know why Joseph attempted to kill himself by jumping in front of an automobile, but are continuing their intense search for his missing wife in the hopes of finding some answers.

A year into the investigation and with few leads, the Emerson Police Department refuses to give up on the search for the missing mom.
http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/case.cfm?id=48133

[Nut44x4]

THANK YOU FAITH @ HFTM!!!

Police search behind Emerson American Legion building for remains of missing mom Liza Murphy


The search for an Emerson mom who went missing more than two years ago took on renewed hope when a tipster led detectives to the back of the town's American Legion Hall, where they quietly did some digging a few days ago, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned.

A law enforcement source said they didn't find anything of value behind the building but confirmed that the probe of Liza Murphy's sudden disappearance in August 2007 is not a cold case.

Murphy went missing just days before her husband deliberately walked out in front of a fire official's cruiser in a suicide attempt in nearby Westwood.

Police earlier had questioned Joseph Murphy about his wife's disappearance, which was reported by one of her friends. He told them she took off after he confronted her about an affair, leaving behind her purse, cellphone, keys, cigarettes -- and their three children.

Nor did she bring medication she was taking for fibromyalgia, a sometimes debilitating muscle and tissue condition, authorities said.

Police in Emerson gathered about 200 people and searched the woods around the Oradell Reservoir after the 42-year-old Murphy was officially declared missing in late August 2007.

They didn't find anything.

The case turned bizarre when Joseph Murphy walked into traffic, trying to kill himself. The Irish immigrant suffered a broken hip but has since recovered. He has refused to speak with investigators since.

The family was troubled, with DYFS involvement and court appearances, as well as having to deal with bouts of depression and violent incidents involving members of Liza's family, who lived across the street.

Neighbors said the former Liza Stellatos often fought openly with her brother, while others said his wife's disappearance led her husband to such despair that the self-employed painter tried to kill himself.

A car and a bus swerved to avoid him before he was struck on a main street in nearby Westwood.

A recovering alcoholic, Murphy had tried to kill himself once before, in 1990.

To this point, the case remains officially classified as a missing person.
http://www.cliffviewpilot.com/bergen/713-police-search-for-remains-of-emerson-mother-liza-murphy-who-disappeared-without-a-trace

[Nut44x4]

http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/111209_Tip_leads_to_search_for_missing_Emerson_woman.html

[MuffyBee]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/murphy_liza.html
Liza Murphy

Last Updated March 16, 2012; distinguishing characteristics updated.