Maureen Fitzgerald Fields Missing since 2006, Nevada

[2NJSons_Mom]

N.J. woman who vanished in Nevada three years ago officially declared dead

by Kathleen O'Brien/The Star-Ledger Monday July 06, 2009, 6:00 PM

In a near-empty Nevada courtroom today, Maureen Fitzgerald Fields, the North Arlington native who vanished in the desert outside her rural home three years ago, was officially declared dead.

Although neither she nor her body has ever been found, a Nevada judge granted a petition that she be declared dead and named her husband, Paul Fields, executor of her estate.

A blanket with a small stain of Maureen Fitzgerald Fields' blood was found next to her car in a ditch in Nevada three years ago. Fields was officially declared dead today.

The move came at the request of Fields, whom police have identified as a suspect in her death. The Nye County Sheriff's Office in Nevada has recommended he be charged, but the District Attorney has indicated there is insufficient evidence for an arrest.

Fields, also from New Jersey, insists he is blameless in her disappearance.

Under Nevada law, the court simply needs testimony that a missing person has failed to contact those most likely to hear from her - in this case, her husband. Fields included that in his petition and did not speak in court today.

In the aftermath of his wife's disappearance, Fields offered several theories as to her fate: that she'd skipped town with a lover, that she'd become despondent over health problems or an addiction to pain medication, or that she was a victim of a random crime.

Countering those theories were reports that his wife had instructed numerous people that if she ever disappeared, they were to "tell police Paul did it." She'd also told them she was considering a divorce.

In asking the court to declare her dead, Fields joined his wife's friends and relatives in their assumption that she had died in 2006.

District Court Judge Robert Lane noted that consensus in granting Fields' petition. "No one is here in opposition, so it's perfunctory," he said.
Paul Fields, left, speaking today to his lawyer Harold Kuehn at a hearing in Pahrump, Nev.
The hearing was held in Pahrump, Nev., a rural town an hour west of Las Vegas, where the couple had moved before her disappearance. It was sparsely attended and over in a matter of minutes.

Jim Fitzgerald, of Randolph, Maureen's father, recently traveled to Pahrump to get an update on the investigation, but the district attorney declined to meet with him.

"There's always hope that things will change, but I'm not overly optimistic at this point," Fitzgerald said today when told of the hearing's outcome. "You'd hope either this district attorney or a new one would wake up and take a closer look and realize something terrible happened to this woman."

The court set the date of her death as Feb. 15, 2006 - the first day she failed to show up to her bank teller's job. Her husband told police he talked to his wife briefly that morning before she left for work.

However, authorities say the last time anyone else saw her alive was in the bank's video footage from the previous afternoon.

Her car was found Feb. 16, stuck in a shallow desert wash off the road from Pahrump to Death Valley, Cal. The keys were still in the ignition, and her purse, money, credit cards, slippers, eyeglasses and medication were in it.

A selection of religious pamphlets were fanned out, seemingly in display, along with an empty bottle of Xanax anti-anxiety pills, which led police to conclude they'd encountered a suicide. But when a several-day search of the surrounding desert failed to turn up a body, they moved to consider foul play.

Those suspicions were confirmed when lab reports revealed a blanket found next to the car was stained with a spot of her blood on it, and the pill bottle had no fingerprints on it.


(Photo courtesy of Jim Fitzgerald, Maureen's father

Maureen Fields was devoted to her pit bull, Wolfie, still at home when she disappeared.Authorities were skeptical she'd run off because she never used her credit cards or health insurance, never refilled any prescriptions, and never contacted any friends or family. In addition, her beloved pit bull remained at home when she went missing.

Today's court ruling does not change the status of the police investigation, said Tony DeMeo, the retired Jersey City police officer who was elected Nye County Sheriff after moving to Pahrump. The case remains open, and Fields is the department's only suspect, he said today.

Maureen Fields was 41 at the date set by the court for her death. She is survived by Fitzgerald, her father; her mother, Barbara Fitzgerald of North Arlington; a sister, Kathleen Errico, of North Arlington; a brother, James J. Fitzgerald, of North Arlington; three nephews and two nieces.


COMMENTS (12)Post a commentPosted by bullett on 07/06/09 at 6:27PM
Hmmmmmmmmmm. Mysterous isn't it?

Inappropriate?  Alert us. Post a commentPosted by LeBranch on 07/06/09 at 7:12PM
"There is Nothing Hidden Which Shall not be Revealed" Luke 8:17

Where will you spend your eternity, Paul Fields?


Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by newrkpeeches on 07/06/09 at 7:28PM
She looks like a nice attractive woman. Whats she doing with the lumpy old white dude living in a house trailer?

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by Highglass7 on 07/06/09 at 7:51PM
I pray for the family that they some day find her remains. God Blass!

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by ebbir on 07/06/09 at 9:02PM
I would seriously suggest that someone from the Fitzgerald family or The Star Ledger contact the CBS TV producer of 48-Hours. Cases like these are the lifeblood of that program. My guess is the intervention of the 48-Hours team would kick up some dust in Pahrump where it is obviously under-policed. (A tip of the hat to The Star Ledger for a good job of creating its own video presentation.)

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by babyschwein on 07/06/09 at 9:24PM
Well, there doesn't seem to be much in good old Pahrump but, a whole lot of mystery. Unfortunatly she is dead and gone and if the husband did it he got away with it. Where do you even look? Doesn't seem like they did much around the pole with the #71 on it. Those cops are some real hum-dingers for that fancy police detective type stuff.

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by jackfair on 07/06/09 at 9:46PM
Perhaps officially declaring her dead is a way to officially start preparing a murder charge.

I'm not a lawyer but it would seem to me that without a death there can be no murder.

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by aj00029 on 07/07/09 at 12:39AM
Not making a judgement, but I think an expert in picking out a liar would find this very telling.

paul fields: "What do you think I'm stupid, or something? c'mon."
He then itches his nose.

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by FreeAllFolks on 07/07/09 at 2:28AM
Come on, that itching your nose stuff is just an old phony baloney wives tale. Seems like the old guy is smart enough not to take a lie detector test. He must know there is no such thing as a lie detector and that shady cops use that to frame innocent people.

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by 0707fornj on 07/07/09 at 4:59AM
Honestlty dont know how i did Survive the Desierto of Nevada , Arizona , New Mexico and Denver Colorado and Utah ,,

When i was in Denver colorado i was smart cookie and request myself a security guard to walk me around , is the most freaky pleaces i seen around , but Wild and a wonderful thrill adventure if any ask me


thanks to Corzine lol

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by ripjersey on 07/07/09 at 6:03AM
Wow, you mean there are worse judges than those in NJ?! Holy crap! She gave warnings to others before her death and this pig goes scott free and wants her estate. How conveeeeenient.

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by rounddollar on 07/07/09 at 6:34AM
Giving the StarLedger credit? They haven't done anything for the past 2 1/2 years.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/nj_woman_who_vanished_in_nevad.html

[2NJSons_Mom]

Previous article with video and pictures, here.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/mystery_in_the_desert.html

[Nut44x4]

The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
July 7, 2009 Tuesday
 
Woman declared dead, mystery very much alive
 
In a near-empty Nevada courtroom yesterday, Maureen Fitzgerald Fields, the New Jersey woman who vanished in the desert outside her rural home three years ago, was officially declared dead.

Although neither she nor her body has been found, a Nevada judge granted a petition she be declared dead and named her husband, Paul Fields, administrator of her estate.

The move came at the request of Fields, whom police suspect in her death. The Nye County Sheriff's Office has recommended he be charged, but the district attorney has indicated there is insufficient evidence for an arrest.

Fields, also from New Jersey, says he is blameless in her disappearance. He has allowed police to search his house several times. He initially spoke to police after his wife's unexplained absence, but then refused to talk to them further.

Fields did not respond to phone messages for comment for this story. Harold Kuehn, his lawyer, said he believes his client intends to remain in the town of Pahrump, Nev., where he runs a small used-car lot from the yard of his mobile home. "My understanding is this is where he's staying," he said.

Under Nevada law, the court simply requires testimony a missing person has failed to contact those most likely to hear from her -- in this case, her husband. Fields, 59, did not speak in court yesterday.

After his wife's disappearance, Fields offered several theories as to her fate: that she'd skipped town with a lover, that she'd become despondent over health problems or an addiction to pain medication or that she was a victim of a random crime.

Countering those theories were reports his wife had instructed numerous people -- including relatives in her childhood home of North Arlington -- that if she ever disappeared, they were to "tell police Paul did it."

In asking the court to declare her dead, Fields joined his wife's friends and relatives in their assumption that she had died in 2006.

District Court Judge Robert Lane noted that consensus in granting Fields' petition. "No one is here in opposition, so it's perfunctory," he said.

The hearing was held in Pahrump, an hour west of Las Vegas, where the couple had moved before her disappearance. It was sparsely attended and over in a matter of minutes.

Jim Fitzgerald, of Randolph Township, Maureen's father, recently traveled to Pahrump to get an update on the investigation, but the district attorney declined to meet with him.

"There's always hope that things will change, but I'm not overly optimistic at this point," Fitzgerald said yesterday when told of the hearing's outcome. "You'd hope either this district attorney or a new one would wake up and take a closer look and realize something terrible happened to this woman."

The court set the date of her death as Feb. 15, 2006 -- the day she failed to show up to her job as a bank teller.

Her car was found the next day, stuck in a shallow desert wash off the road from Pahrump to Death Valley, Calif. The keys were still in the ignition, and her purse, money, credit cards, slippers, eyeglasses and medication were in it.

A selection of religious pamphlets fanned out, seemingly in display, along with an empty bottle of Xanax anti-anxiety pills, initially led police to conclude they had encountered a suicide. But when a search of the surrounding desert, lasting several days, failed to turn up a body, they moved to consider foul play.

Those suspicions apparently were confirmed when lab reports revealed a blanket found next to the car was stained with a spot of her blood, while the pill bottle had no fingerprints.

Authorities were skeptical she'd run off because she never used her credit cards or health insurance, never refilled any prescriptions, and never contacted any friends or family. In addition, her beloved pit bull remained at home when she went missing.

Yesterday's court ruling does not change the status of the police investigation, said Tony DeMeo, the retired Jersey City police officer who was elected Nye County sheriff after moving to Pahrump. The case remains open, and Fields is the department's only suspect, DeMeo said yesterday.

The couple's assets -- three parcels of land, along with some retirement accounts -- are now frozen for an additional year. "If Mrs. Fields doesn't wonderfully respond or show up, the judge will then order its distribution as if it were in regular probate," said Kuehn. She had no will. Nevada is a community property state, so Fields would inherit everything, according to Kuehn.

Maureen Fields was 41 at the 2006 date set by the court for her death. She is survived by her husband; her father; her mother, Barbara Fitzgerald of North Arlington; a sister, Kathleen Errico, of North Arlington; a brother, James J. Fitzgerald, of North Arlington; three nephews and two nieces.
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1002287531&start=3

[Nut44x4]

Jul. 10, 2009

THREE-YEAR MYSTERY
Court rules Maureen Fields is dead
HER WIDOWER, THE ONLY SUSPECT IN HER DISAPPEARANCE, IS RULED EXECUTOR OF HER ESTATE
In a near-empty courtroom here Monday, Maureen Fitzgerald Fields, New Jersey native who vanished in the desert outside her home here three years ago, was officially declared dead.

Although neither she nor her body has ever been found, a 5th District Judge Robert Lane granted a petition that she be declared dead and named her husband, Paul Fields, executor of her estate.

"It's kind of a surreal experience to answer about 15 questions and have a judge declare someone dead," said Fields' attorney, Harvey Kuehn. "I don't think it's a very often-used statute."

The move came at the request of Fields, the only individual the sheriff's department has identified as a suspect in her death. The Nye County Sheriff's Office in Nevada has recommended he be charged, but District Attorney Bob Beckett has indicated there is insufficient evidence for an arrest.

Fields, also from New Jersey, insists he is blameless in her disappearance.

Under Nevada law, the court simply needs testimony that a missing person has failed to contact those most likely to hear from her -- in this case, her husband. Fields included that in his petition and did not address the court.

In the aftermath of his wife's disappearance, Fields offered several theories as to her fate: that she'd skipped town with a lover, that she'd become despondent over health problems or an addiction to pain medication, or that she was the victim of a random crime.

Countering his ideas were reports that his wife had instructed numerous people that, if she ever disappeared, they were to "tell police Paul did it." She'd also told them she was considering a divorce.

In asking the court to declare her dead, Fields joined his wife's friends and relatives in their assumption that she had died in 2006.

Lane noted that consensus in granting Fields' petition. "No one is here in opposition, so it's perfunctory," he said.

The hearing was held in the town where the couple had moved before her disappearance. It was sparsely attended and over in a matter of minutes.

Jim Fitzgerald, of Randolph, N.J., Maureen's father, recently traveled to Pahrump to get an update on the investigation, but the district attorney declined to meet with him.

"There's always hope that things will change, but I'm not overly optimistic at this point," Fitzgerald said Monday when told of the hearing's outcome. "You'd hope either this district attorney or a new one would wake up and take a closer look and realize something terrible happened to this woman."

The court set the date of her death as Feb. 15, 2006 -- the first day she failed to show up at the local Wells Fargo Bank branch, where she worked as a teller. Her husband told police he talked to his wife briefly that morning before she left for work.

However, authorities say the last time anyone else saw her alive was in the bank's video footage from the previous afternoon.

Her car was found Feb. 16, stuck in a shallow desert wash off the Chicago Valley Road in California. The keys were still in the ignition, and her purse, money, credit cards, slippers, eyeglasses and medication were in the vehicle.

A selection of religious pamphlets was fanned out, seemingly in display, along with an empty bottle of Xanax anti-anxiety pills, which led police to conclude they'd encountered a suicide. But when a search of the surrounding desert failed to turn up a body after several days, they decided to consider foul play.

Those suspicions were deepened when lab reports revealed a blanket found next to the car was stained with a spot of her blood on it, and the pill bottle had no fingerprints on it.

Authorities were skeptical she had run off with someone else because she left behind her credit cards, never made use of her health insurance, never refilled any of her prescriptions and never contacted any friends or family in any manner.

In addition, her beloved pit bull remained at home when she went missing.

Monday's court ruling does not change the status of the police investigation, said Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo, another New Jersey expatriate.

The case remains open, and Fields is the department's only suspect, he said Monday.

Maureen Fields was 41 at the date set by the court for her death. She is survived by her husband; her father; her mother, Barbara Fitzgerald of North Arlington, N.J.; a sister, Kathleen Errico, of North Arlington, N.J.; a brother, James J. Fitzgerald, of North Arlington, N.J.; three nephews and two nieces.
http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2009/Jul-10-Fri-2009/news/29888006.html

[2NJSons_Mom]

 

   
  Search begins for missing N.J. woman in Nevada desertBy Kathleen O'Brien/The Star-Ledger
October 31, 2009, 8:01PM
John Munson/The Star-LedgerNye County Sheriff's Detective Ed Howard walks in the desert across the California border from Pahrump, Nevada, where the empty car of Maureen Fields was found in February, 2006.

A chance meeting at the Seaside Heights boardwalk this summer has triggered a renewed search of the Nevada desert for the body of New Jersey native Maureen Fields.

A volunteer organization that looks for missing persons, Texas EquuSearch, is now in rural Pahrump, Nev., employing a drone airplane and other high-tech devices to scour the desert for signs of a grave.

Fields, who moved with her husband to Nevada in 2004, vanished two years later. Her car was found off the road to Death Valley with her keys, purse, wallet, and credit cards still in it. Police said they have only one suspect in her disappearance: her husband, Bloomfield native Paul Fields. But the local district attorney has said there is insufficient evidence to charge him, and Paul Fields maintains his innocence.

"It’s a needle in a haystack, sure," said EquuSearch founder Tim Miller. "But you know what? We’ve located people before when there have been big searches that failed." EquuSearch also has posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Maureen Fields, dead or alive. Until now, the only reward in the mystifying case was an unspecified amount offered by her husband in missing-person fliers he distributed in the area.

Horace Langford, Jr./Pahrump Valley Times The drone, being held here by Jacob Elson, is used in searches by the volunteer group Texas Equusearch. It flies low over the ground, and records images that are then fed into a computer for review. The group has brought the plane to Pahrump, NV this week to aid in its search for the body of missing New Jersey native Maureen Fields.
"The economy’s tough," Miller said. "Maybe someone will come forward."

Paul Fields, who agreed to let Miller’s group search his land, did not return phone messages requesting a comment.

His lawyer, Harry Kuehn, said Miller’s group asked Fields for permission to search his 1-acre property with a lawn-mower-type device equipped with ground-penetrating radar.

"I gave Paul my opinion — that no good deed goes unpunished — but it’s up to him to decide," Kuehn said. "The only danger of talking to volunteers is there’s no credo, there’s no code, there’s no Fourth Amendment."

Fields agreed to the search, provided the searchers do not enter his mobile home, said Detective David Boruchowitz of the Nye County Sheriff’s Office. The detective said Fields rebuffed Miller’s suggestion he take a lie detector test, and told them, "You’re wasting your time because she’s not out there."

The chance meeting that triggered the latest development in the case occurred in July, when Miller was in New Jersey to help search for Julia Madsen, an elderly woman who had left her Shore vacation house for a walk in Island Beach State Park. (Madsen remains missing.) While at the Shore, Miller dined every night at Grif’s Crab House, a landmark of the Seaside Heights boardwalk. That same week in Nevada, Paul Fields went to court to have his missing wife declared dead.

And here is where coincidence came into play: Grif’s is owned by John Grifo, who, along with his wife, had attended North Arlington High School with Maureen Fields.

Grifo showed The Star-Ledger’s account of the Nevada court ruling to Miller. Miller — whose organization receives far more requests for aid than it can possibly accommodate — immediately decided the Fields case deserved his group’s attention.

Miller had founded the volunteer search-and-rescue group in Dickinson, Texas, in 2000, after his family endured a 17-month wait to find the body of his missing teenage daughter, a crime victim. EquuSearch has helped locate over 100 sets of remains since then, along with several hundred missing persons. The unmanned surveillance plane was instrumental in seven of those finds.

In New Jersey, Maureen Fields’ family expressed gratitude for EquuSearch’s efforts. "I don’t know at this point whether it’s going to make a difference, but anything’s worth a shot," said Kathy Errico, Maureen’s sister, who lives in North Arlington. She said word of the search — coming 3½ years after Maureen’s disappearance — made her a bit weepy this week.

File photoMaureen Fields, missing person.
DAUNTING TERRAIN

Paul Fields has said he doesn’t know what happened to his 41-year-old wife but believes she may have run off — by herself or with someone else — and perhaps become the victim of foul play. He said he went to court in July to have her declared dead because that was the only way he could free up the couple’s jointly held assets.

Maureen Fields failed to show up for her job as a bank teller in Pahrump — an hour west of Las Vegas — in February 2006. When her car was found the day after she went missing, police initially believed it to be the site of a suicide: The seat was reclined, religious pamphlets were fanned out on the passenger seat, and a container for 30 Xanax pills was empty. They theorized she had taken the pills, then wandered into the desert to die.

As a result of that assumption, the initial search — an extensive one using dogs, horses, ATVs and a helicopter — focused on the area within three miles of the car.

This week’s search is looking miles farther — on the assumption her body was transported elsewhere.

The unmanned surveillance plane employed by EquuSearch flies at about 400 feet in the air, filming the terrain below it. The film is then fed into a computer software program that highlights any ground disturbance — an unexplained depression, for example. It can spot items as small as a Styrofoam cup.

However, the terrain around Pahrump is daunting: a rugged, choppy desert floor dotted with mesquite bushes.

Miller said that even if this week’s search is unsuccessful, it will not end his organization’s effort there. The group was successful in a Beaumont, Texas, case on its fifth visit and has been to Aruba eight times to search for student Natalee Halloway.

"We just don’t quit," he said. "We’re just getting started on this."

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/search_begins_for_missing_nj_w.html

Edit to add link - Hat Tip to SuzieQ

[Nut44x4]

No copy/paste allowed   Lot's of pix and info
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/f/fields_maureen.html

[Nut44x4]

 


Photo courtesy of the Nye County Sheriff's Department in NevadaHandout photo of Maureen Field's car off the road in Chicago Valley, Ca. in 2006.

[Nut44x4]

http://www.nampn.org/cases/fields_maureen.html



Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: February 15, 2006 from Pahrump Valley, Nevada
Classification: Missing
Age: 41
Hair Colour: Reddish Brown
Race: White
Gender: Female
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Details of Disappearance
Maureen Fields of Pahrump was last seen on February 15. Her 2004 Hyundai was found abandoned on February 15 in he Chicago Valley, just over the California border in Inyo County. According to her husband, he last saw his wife on the morning of Feb. 15, the day after Valentine's Day. They had what he described as a "spat" that morning, moments before she left for work. For the previous three months, Maureen, 41, had worked as a teller at the Pahrump Valley branch of Wells Fargo Bank however she never arrived at work on February 15th.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Nye County Sheriff's Office
Detective Division
(775) 751-7000

[SuzieQ]

I sure hope that Tim finds something. I always thought there was a 7 year wait before you could have someone declared dead. It must be different in each state.

[Nut44x4]

http://texasequusearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/FieldsMaureen2.pdf

http://texasequusearch.org/2009/10/missing-maureen-fitzgerald-fields-age-41-pahrump-nevada-21406/