New Hampshire Cold Cases: Carrie Moss & Sonya Moore

Carrie Moss was 14 years old in the summer of 1989 and was about to be a freshman at Goffstown High School. Carrie lived with her family in New Boston, New Hampshire, a town about 30 minutes west of the city of Manchester. Her friends consisted of an older crowd, and she often met up with them in neighboring Goffstown, where she went to school. 

Towards the end of Carrie’s eighth-grade year, she had been getting herself into trouble, in school and outside of school. On the afternoon of July 25, 1989, Carrie’s mother, Sally, had asked her to stay home that afternoon because Carrie was due in court the following day to answer to recent marijuana charges. But Carrie, wearing a one-piece swimsuit, stone-washed jeans, and a white t-shirt, left anyway, hopping on her bike and pedaling off to meet friends for an afternoon at a popular Goffstown swimming hole. 

That was the last time anyone reported seeing Carrie Moss alive.

In November of the same year, another family awaited the return of their 14-year old daughter and granddaughter in nearby Penacook, New Hampshire.

These are the stories of Carrie Moss and Sonya Moore on Dark Downeast.

About Carrie Moss

Carrie Esther Moss was born on March 13, 1975. Carrie’s mother, Sally, was superstitious about the number 13, telling Jerel Speck of the New Hampshire Union Leader, quote, “I was worried something bad was going to happen on that date.” End quote.

But nothing bad at all happened that day, for it was the day Carrie was born. She was the youngest of five children. Carrie and her family eventually moved into the home her father had grown up in, just on the outskirts of New Boston, New Hampshire. 

New Hampshire can easily be described as an idyllic place to live. The many picturesque mountain vistas, hiking trails, lakes, and rivers make it easy to enjoy the outdoors in any season. Carrie loved being outside, where she enjoyed picking wildflowers and helping in the garden. She also loved animals. Family photos often show Carrie in the company of dogs, rabbits, and her pet gerbils. Carrie especially loved horses and horseback riding. 

A neighbor of the Moss family, Sally Mudge, told Paul DiNucci of The Nashua Telegraph that Carrie would visit her sometimes when she was outside working in the yard, “She used to come over when I was gardening and sing and turn somersaults. She was a cute little kid.”

But as Carrie grew up, the girl once known as “a cute little kid” began to change. Leslie Fredette, a family friend who was also Carrie’s fourth-grade teacher at New Boston Central School, noticed that Carrie started showing signs of problems once she entered seventh grade at the junior high school in Goffstown. 

Fredette said, “She became more withdrawn, a little less easy to talk to.” End quote. Leslie also shared that she often saw Carrie hitchhiking and tried to pick her up so that at least Carrie was safe with her and not at the mercy of some stranger who had offered to give her a ride. 

Warren and Sally Moss, Carrie’s parents, recognized that Carrie was often getting in trouble and rebelling against them, as teenagers often do. She had also started smoking marijuana and running away from home. But she had a good relationship with her family and she always came back. 

Sgt. Kevin O’Brien, an investigator with the New Hampshire State Police, told The Nashua Telegraph, that he believed Carrie was exhibiting behavior of an independent 14-year old girl, experiencing the typical stresses of adolescence. 

As reported by Cassidy Swanson for the New Hampshire Union Leader, Carrie had an 18-year old boyfriend and she had recently been arrested for possession of marijuana. Carrie’s parents, concerned, scheduled an appointment for Carrie to talk to a counselor. According to The Nashua Telegraph, that appointment was supposed to take place the same day as her court appearance, on July 26, 1989. 

The day before, though, on July 25, Carrie left on her bicycle to meet up with her friends. Carrie’s mother Sally later told Jerel Speck for the New Hampshire Union Leader, “She was being good and promised that she would be back. She rode her bike to Goffstown and never came back. I shouldn’t have let her go.”