In the slow pace of the work day at Target, McNeal, 20, could be found in time-wasting antics by the fitting rooms. A coworker in her matching red shirt and khaki pants wandered over, approaching with a genuine smile as McNeal recalls showing no hesitance in inviting Lizzi to join him.
During their work just four months ago, the two kindled a friendship which sparked and flourished from conversation. Lizzi’s best quality described by McNeal was her sincere and genuine interest in others. The ability to open up to Marriott seemed natural for McNeal. In his wit and humor, the two related in kindness and laughter.
“She would ask you about your day and remember tiny details you told her about some ranting, and sit there intently listening to your stories,” said McNeal.
After four months of constant texting, October 8 was the last day McNeal saw his friend in person. This day, Marriott had been on a field trip to Odiorne Point exploring the tide pools of the East-Atlantic coast.Texting Marriott, McNeal recalls his friend’s kindness as she told him of her incident which resulted in soaking shoes, going into the water to help pull up her fallen lab partner.
In her soaked shoes, dripping with bravery and fortitude, Lizzi found herself at McNeal’s doorstep in his offering of a dry pair. In the comfort of his home, the two planned to get lunch for the upcoming Wednesday, incidentally just the day after her disappearance.
In continuance of their conversational routine, the two expressed nothing out of the ordinary as they texted that night and all Tuesday morning with prospects of seeing each other Wednesday.
That Tuesday evening, Lizzi was on her way off the UNH campus as a student commuter. It was that night when the messages to McNeal stopped. Looking at his phone, the last message received from Lizzi to McNeal was in lieu of his new haircut, replying in laughter and complement.
Wandering through the day, the silence from Lizzi left McNeal uneasy about their failure to see each other in the plans they had previously made.
After reports from Target of Lizzi’s disappearance from work, McNeal recalls being disturbed from his sleep by a knock at the door. Rolling out of bed, McNeal approached the door where Greenland officers stood with grim news. Reporting the news and asking of any noticeable changes in behavior, McNeal responded to the police in dumbfound honesty.
“She definitely wasn't the type to run away, especially because she had made plans with me [yesterday]
and with her girlfriend later in the week,” said McNeal.
The devastation of her disappearance left McNeal in a surreal state, as though living out the plot of a budding mystery show of dramatic horror.
“Her silence suddenly made sense to me and I couldn't help but think the worst, that I was the person in the beginning of those shows, that this interview was the start of her final story.”
In the pains of hopelessness but reflection of Lizzi’s immense good nature, McNeal mustered a burning dedication to his friend in the start of a lengthy search. Hearing of her final text in Dover, NH, McNeal describes having an extra set of eyes out looking for Lizzi couldn’t hurt.
Driving through the back roads of Dover Point, the afternoon sun glaring behind, McNeal hunted for her car in the bustling town.
“It was driving me crazy as I was passing all these side roads, thinking that she could be down any one of them but if I looked through all of them I wouldn't make much progress further; but if I missed one of them and she had been there, I would never forgive myself.”
Wrestling with these thoughts, McNeal pushed his search to downtown Dover. Passing in and out of roads, he found himself in the eerie Mills and abandoned lots. The overwhelming weight of Lizzi’s possible suffering in these areas pushed his search further.
McNeal’s driving barely ceased as ideas sparked in his head of where to find her abandoned vehicle. Coming to the Greyhound station, the sea of cars provided both a sense of optimism and persistence in McNeal as he check every car in the overcrowded lot.
“I decided to check the greyhound station because that's a place to hide a car in plain sight with everyone leaving their cars over for weeks at a time. I was strangely optimistic at the start of the search
simply because of the sheer amount of cars there, but as I got through aisle after aisle of cars my optimism dwindled. When the final aisle proved fruitless I was so frustrated.”
Continuing on, McNeal found himself in the Portsmouth parking garage, running up every level, examining every car in determination. Reaching the very top, the sun had set and the darkness of the night left a sense of defeat which rested heavily on his shoulders as the search in his return home.
At the news of her murder, McNeal showed little surprise but heavy grief as his new-found friend was so quickly taken away. Recalling his search nearly a month after her disappearance, Mcneal left a message to Lizzi, as well as her community, as he reflects on the fragility of life and the darkness of the world which resonates without her.
“Elizabeth Marriott, a few days ago while I was driving around frantically trying to find you, I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen, and it was very calming and strangely relieving. Now knowing what I know, I find this to be a wonderful coincidence; a resplendent collage of colors and light saying goodbye to me. Rest in peace friend, I'm sure I'll see you again.”
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