Missing Veil Files: Case File 006 — Brianna Maitland | The Car Left Behind

Case File 006: Brianna Maitland

On March 19, 2004, nineteen-year-old Brianna Maitland left her shift at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery, Vermont… and never made it home.

The following day, her car was discovered abandoned along Route 118—backed into the side of an empty farmhouse. The scene was unsettling. Her belongings remained. But Brianna was gone.

In the weeks leading up to her disappearance, there were signs that something wasn’t right. A moment earlier that day left her visibly shaken. Witnesses would later report seeing her vehicle in the area overnight. And investigators would eventually determine that foul play was likely involved.

More than two decades later, Brianna Maitland remains missing—and her case remains unsolved.

In this episode of Missing Veil Files, we walk through Brianna’s final known movements, the discovery of her vehicle, and the unanswered questions that still remain.

🕯️ If you have any information regarding this case, please contact the Vermont State Police.

🎙 Missing Veil Files is a series by Veil of Echoes — a true crime and paranormal podcast.

📓 SHOW NOTES / SOURCES 

This episode of Missing Veil Files covers the 2004 disappearance of Brianna Maitland in Montgomery, Vermont.

All information presented in this episode is based on publicly available records, investigative summaries, and media coverage. Some details discussed remain unconfirmed and are presented as such.

🗂 Sources:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation — Brianna Maitland Missing Person Listing 
•  Vermont State Police — Official case information and public statements 
•  The Charley Project — Brianna Maitland case profile 
•  NamUs (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System) — Missing persons database entry 
• Burlington Free Press — Ongoing case coverage and updates 
• Dateline NBC — Feature episode on Brianna Maitland 
• Disappeared (Disappeared) — Case episode 
• 20/20 — Case mention 
• The Vanished Podcast — Episode covering Brianna Maitland 
•  Compiled timelines and investigative summaries from publicly available records 

🕯️ Note:

This case remains open and unsolved.
 Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Vermont State Police.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Beneath the ordinary world lies a veil, and behind it, the voices of the lost still whisper.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

We are your guides into the shadows, where true crime meets the paranormal.

SPEAKER_03 0:15

From chilling crimes to haunted histories, we uncover the stories that refuse to rest.

SPEAKER_02 0:23

This is Vale of Echoes. Montgomery, Vermont, March nineteenth, two thousand four. A quiet stretch of road, no streetlights, no witnesses, an abandoned house sat just off Route one hundred eighteen, dark, empty, falling apart, and sometime after midnight, a car was found, backed into the side of the building, not crashed, but left, had lights off, driver's door opened, inside, her belongings remained. But seventeen-year-old Brianna Maitland was gone. No signs of a struggle. No clear explanation. Just a car left behind in the dark. And a question that has never been answered. This is Missing Veil Files. Case file episode six.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

This series is researched and narrated by Bria, Zach, and Lindsay of the Veil of Echoes podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Missing Veil Files exist to keep names spoken when the world grows quiet, to honor the missing, and to stand with the families searching for answers. If there is a case you believe deserves to be told, you can reach us through the Veil of Echoes Podcast on TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

This case does not begin with a clear explanation. It begins with something left behind, in plain sight. A car, an open door, and a scene that doesn't fully make sense. What happened here was quick, quiet, and whatever occurred in those moments left almost nothing behind. This case file concerns the disappearance of Brianna Hope Maitland. Brianna was born on October 8th, 1986. She grew up in East Franklin, Vermont, a small rural town near the Canadian border. Those who knew her described her as independent, strong-willed, and determined to do things her own way. She had recently moved out of her parents' home, working toward her GED and trying to build a life on her own terms. Brianna worked long hours, including a late shift at a restaurant called the Black Lantern Inn. She was balancing responsibility, freedom, and the uncertainty that comes with starting over. She was just 17 years old.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

At the time of her disappearance, Brianna Maitlin was approximately five feet five inches tall. She weighed around 105 pounds. She had light brown hair and blue eyes. She had a small nose ring. She was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, a dark zip-up hoodie, blue jeans, and black boots. These details matter. They are often the last confirmed pieces of someone's story.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

On the morning of March 19, 2004, Brianna took an exam to receive her GED. After completing the test, she met her mother for lunch to celebrate. Her father was out of state at the time, working in New York. Her mother would later describe Brianna as being in good spirits. She talked about the future, about college, and about what came next. That afternoon, the two spent time together, shopping and running errands, but at one point something changed. While standing in a checkout line, Brianna suddenly noticed something outside. She stepped away saying she would be right back, and when she returned, her mother noticed a shift. Brianna seemed unnerved, shaken, and agitated, and she didn't explain what had happened, only that she needed to go home and prepare for work. It would be the last time her mother saw her.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Later that afternoon, Brianna was dropped off at a friend's home between approximately 3 30 and 4 PM. At some point before leaving for work, she left a note, saying she would return later that night. She then got into her car, a 1985 Oldsmobile sedan registered to her mother, and drove to her shift at the Black Lantern Inn.

SPEAKER_03 5:31

Brianna completed her shift and clocked out at approximately 1120 PM. She told co-workers she needed to go home and rest before working her second job the next day. By all accounts, she left alone, got into her car, and drove off into the night. She was never seen again.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

The following day, on March 20th, a Vermont State police trooper was dispatched to an abandoned house along Route 118, just over a mile from Brianna's workplace. There her car was found, backed into the side of a building. The rear of the vehicle had pushed into the structure, breaking through part of the siding. A piece of plywood that had once covered a window lie across the trunk. Inside the car, two of Brianna's paychecks remained. An outside, loose change, a water bottle, and an unsmoked cigarette were scattered nearby. At the time, the scene was not treated as suspicious, but the vehicle was assumed to have been abandoned, and it was towed away.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Brianna was not reported missing right away. Her friend, the one she left the note for, had been away for the weekend. When she returned, the note remained untouched. Assuming Brianna had stayed elsewhere, she did not immediately raise concern. It wasn't until March 23rd that Brianna's mother began searching for answers. Calling friends, calling workplaces. No one had seen her, and no one had heard from her. That same day, a missing person's report was filed.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

Yeah, have you seen this is just so eerie to me. Have you seen the photo of this car? I haven't. Honestly, I don't even think I've heard of this case. It is terrifying. I will say this is it is um. I remember watching this long time ago on um disappeared.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

It's definitely out of place.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

It's just eerie and like it's backed up into an old farmhouse. I just feel abandoned.

SPEAKER_03 7:51

Yeah, but definitely whoever did it did it in a hurry and just kind of.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

Yes. Yeah, but that's how it was left. Yeah. Just out there. Scary. It's creepy. Isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 8:06

It just looks like it belongs to that house.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

I was very saying it looks like it belongs to the house. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

So I'm saying if they would have shut the driver door, people probably wouldn't never thought a second thought. And like, huh.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Yeah. But yeah, def something definitely, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Bad happened.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Unfortunately, yeah. Um 22 years.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

But yeah, that was that was her too. She was really pretty.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

17.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:35

Sad. Say Vermont?

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Yeah. Yep. And it was just a mile down from her workplace, and I could have swore s someone. Those photos were taken, but I thought it was taken by some like a passerby, and he was interested in t uh. Um. Yeah, here we go. Yeah, passing motorists found the scene odd enough that they had stopped and took pictures. One of the photographers reported some loose change, a water bottle, and a bracelet, or necklace on the ground next to the car.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

Hmm.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

But Yeah, what the fuck?

SPEAKER_02 9:13

Eerie. Very eerie.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

Kind of like the whole disappearance of uh that one family from Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_02 9:19

Yeah, that was weird.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

Your truck just on the side of the road, your dog's still in there, alive, starving, so something happened to you not to be able to do that. I think they I still think they probably just got lost and ended up wandering three miles away. Yeah, because they said they didn't find anything norm like out of the norm on their body when they found them weathering.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

No, so two days later, Brianna's parents went to the Vermont State Police. They provided photos, looking for answers. Instead, they were shown a photograph of a car, abandoned, damaged, left behind an empty house. They recognized it immediately. Her mother would later say, though, she felt something was wrong the moment she saw it, that the scene the way the car had been left didn't feel like Brianna.

SPEAKER_03 10:12

Over the years, multiple theories have emerged regarding what may have happened to Brianna Matlin. None of them have been confirmed, but several details continue to raise questions.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Some investigators believe the scene where Brianna's car was found may have not been an accident, but something staged. The positioning of the vehicle backed into the side of the building has led to questions about whether it was left there intentionally, as if placed to be discovered.

SPEAKER_03 10:48

Several individuals later reported seeing Rihanna's vehicle near the abandoned house during the hours after she left work. One witness believed the headlights were on. Another reported seeing a turn signal blinking. Years later, a couple came forward claiming they saw a man standing in front of the vehicle with another car nearby.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Now why would you wait we're years fucking later? I am so that that is the one thing I hate the most is when people are like 20 years later.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Oh, by the way, I did see somebody during that time around that area. Like, why the fuck did you wait 20 motherfucking years to come out and fucking say something, you stupid ass?

SPEAKER_03 11:31

I know. I agree. A lot of these situations couldn't have been avoided. It's a lot of these kidnappings. Well, I did see them talking to somebody, they followed into the woods.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

And you didn't think to mention it, but 20 fucking years later?

SPEAKER_03 11:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

It's dumb.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

Yeah, it's sad. Uh, but I couldn't uh go it's just eerie. Like, could you imagine driving at night seeing like a blinking light on like a creepy cart? I just abandoned a creepy ass building.

SPEAKER_03 12:04

I mean, it's just speculation, but from what their claim is, they saw a man standing by that car with another car nearby. Right. Then of course it seems staged, but then definitely seems like something went wrong because never mentioned anybody else in the other car they saw.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Right.

SPEAKER_03 12:26

But they're all if that guy was the one getting out of the car, and they never said that either. They just said they saw him buy it.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:34

So I mean, I just feel like there's two people to this play.

SPEAKER_02 12:37

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

But none of these sightings have been confirmed.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

In the weeks before her disappearance, Brianna had reportedly been involved in a physical altercation with another female. Some have questioned whether that incident may have placed her at risk. But investigators have never confirmed a direct connection.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Those closest to Brianna have also spoken about subtle changes in the time leading up to her disappearance. Moments where something felt off, unexplained. Including the incident earlier that day when she returned to her mother visibly shaken. When she saw or who she may have encountered, has never fully been explained.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

Investigators now believe foul play is the most likely explanation. There have been leads over the years, including anonymous tips, and individuals who were questioned in connection to the case, but none have resulted in charges, and none have been proven.

SPEAKER_02 13:50

Some theories suggest that Brianna may have been involved with individuals who placed her in a vulnerable situation. Brianna Maitland has been missing since March 19, 2004. Her case remains unsolved.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

Over the years, investigators have continued to follow leads. Evidence has been re-examined. Witnesses have been re-interviewed, and DNA collected from Brianna's vehicle has been tested.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

In 2022, investigators confirmed that a DNA sample found in her car matched an individual who had previously been questioned. But that person's identity has not been publicly released, and no charges have been filed.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

The case is still active, not closed, not forgotten.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

In recent years, law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has renewed efforts to bring answers to Brianna's family. A reward has been offered for information leading to her recovery. Is that ice cream? Oh sorry, that was creepy. It was.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

You know what's funny? We had an ice cream truck pull up at work today.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

So we all went out and got ice cream. Actually, our doctor our doctor that worked today, Dr. Hartling, she paid for all of us. Oh, that's sweet. Yeah. She was like, it's Friday. Go outside and get y'all something on me. I was like, you didn't have to do it twice. Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

That's oh, that was creepy.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

You know, it would have been even creepier if we did it like when it was John Wayne DC. Oh, my God.

SPEAKER_02 15:48

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Bye! Hell no. Yeah, that would have been fucked. Investigators have made one thing clear. This is not a cold case. It's an unsolved one.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Yeah, so right here says that, um, in the week following Maitland's disappearance, they received an uh police received an anonymous tip claiming that she was being held against her will in a house in nearby Berkshire, ten miles from Montgomery. The rented house, then occupied by Raymond Ryans and Nathaniel Charles Jackson, two known drug dealers from New York, was raided by police on April 15, 2004. Various drug paraphernalia was discovered inside, as well as substantial amounts of cocaine and marijuana, but no sign of Brianna was found. Upon interviewing Maitlin's close friends, law enforcement was informed that Maitland had allegedly experimented with hard drugs in the recent past and was acquaintances an acquaintance of Ryan's and Jackson. And then it says here in late 2004, police received another statement from an anonymous older female who implicated both Ryan's and Jackson in Maitland's disappearance and alleged murder. Signed affidavit contained allegations written in graphic detail that Maitland had been murdered approximately a week after her disappearance. A woman who provided the affidavit claimed that Ryan's murdered Maitland during an argument over money she had lent him to purchase crack, and that her body had been temporarily stored in the basement of a recently incarcerated local woman's home. Maitland's body was then allegedly dismembered with a table saw and disposed of on a pig farm. Law enforcement was unable to corroborate the claims in the letter. Jesus Christ. Then the Maitland family additionally reported that they had received several anonymous phone calls from persons claiming Maitlin was tied to a tree in the woods and that she had been disposed of at the bottom of a lake.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

And did they check the fucking lake?

unknown 18:05

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Probably fucking not.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

But the fucked up part is there's been a like, these are probably just some assholes.

SPEAKER_03 18:11

Oh yeah. Being assholes. You know, some of them were. Definitely.

SPEAKER_02 18:15

Definitely. And that's just sad because you don't what happened? Like, what where is she? What happened? But more than two decades later, her family is still waiting, still searching, and still asking the same question. What happened to Brianna? If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Brianna Maitland, you can contact the Vermont State Police. Even the smallest detail could matter.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Brianna Maitland was seventeen years old. She left work that night and never made it home.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Her car was found on a quiet stretch of road back into an abandoned house, left behind as if something had happened in the space between arrival and escape.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

So if you hear snoring good old sound effects.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

We just put him to sleep.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

Yeah. Somewhere between leaving work and that empty roadside, her story stopped. But hers is not the only story still unfolding. Her family continues to search, to speak her name, to wait for answers.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

As long as her name is spoken, this case is not over.

SPEAKER_03 19:46

Thank you for holding a space for Brianna's story. Missing Veil Files will return every other Saturday, taking the time these cases deserve.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

Like your theories, you know, what what actually happened to her.

SPEAKER_02 20:19

Well, who knows? You know, maybe this kind of thing will help bring more awareness to brings new leads at least. Yeah. Until then, keep your ears open.

SPEAKER_03 20:32

And the fail closed.