THE NIGHT LIZZI NEVER CAME HOME

 Lizzi Marriott was born on June 10th, 1993, and grew up in Westborough, Massachusetts. She graduated from Westborough High School in 2011 as prom queen and was very active in chorus. She enrolled at the University of New Hampshire to study marine biology, commuting from her aunt and uncle Tony and Becky Hanna’s home in Chester, New Hampshire.

Lizzi was known as a hard-working student with a close group of friends and a strong bond with her parents, Bob and Melissa. Her friends described her as fun-loving, goofy, and lovable. To help pay her way through university, she worked at Target in Greenland and volunteered as a guide at the New England Aquarium in Boston, where she had been for four years. Her favourite exhibit was the touch tanks, and those who worked with her said she always greeted people with a massive smile.

Marine biology was Lizzi’s passion. In a college essay, she wrote: “I’ve always loved the ocean and its inhabitants. Someday, I’m determined to be a prominent figure when it comes to protecting our oceans.” Despite her busy schedule, she always made time for her girlfriend, Brittany Atwood, her first girlfriend. They had met in January 2012 and began dating in February. Brittany described Lizzi as beautiful, kind-hearted, caring, and trusting.

On October 9th, 2012, Lizzi texted Brittany from her night class, saying she was going to visit a friend’s apartment in Dover afterwards. She left a note for her aunt and uncle saying she’d be home around midnight. She never returned.

The next morning, Lizzi didn’t show up for her shift at Target. When Brittany called Lizzi’s parents expressing concern after receiving no response to her messages, the family realised something was terribly wrong. Lizzi was reported missing immediately. To vanish like this was completely out of character for someone who always kept everyone informed of her whereabouts.

Investigators interviewed Kathryn McDonough, a friend Lizzi had recently met at Target. McDonough told them Lizzi was supposed to come to her apartment so they could take photographs at a local cemetery. She claimed that when Lizzi didn’t show up, she went to the cemetery alone.

The search intensified. Lizzi’s family travelled to New Hampshire, offering a $10,000 reward. The FBI joined the investigation. Cell phone records showed Lizzi’s phone was last used in Dover at 10:11PM. Her car was later found abandoned in a parking lot at the university in Durham, miles from where she was supposed to be.

Two days into the search, investigators focused on Pierce Island in Portsmouth. The U.S. Coast Guard used sonar and underwater cameras to scan the murky waters of the Piscataqua River. Then came a shocking announcement: 29-year-old Seth Mazzaglia had been arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Though Lizzi’s body had not been found, investigators had determined she was dead.

The arrest stunned those who knew Mazzaglia. He was a martial arts instructor with a black belt in karate and a University of New Hampshire graduate with a theatre degree. But even more shocking was his connection to Lizzi: Mazzaglia was the boyfriend of Kathryn McDonough, and they lived together in the very apartment Lizzi was heading to that night....