Denise Hart missing since Jan. 2015, remains found on rural Vermont road Dec. 2015.

I'm not sure, but there are a few things in particular that leave me baffled here including her frequent trips to Vermont. Her mother was quoted in a different article as mentioning Denise made many trips to that area in Vermont in 2014 (keep in mind the drive from where she is in Connecticut to the area she was visiting is not short, its over 3 hours), but readily admits she's wasn't sure of the nature of the relationship Denise had with the Vermonter she was visiting. Additionally, police have never released details regarding the individual either (i.e: if the person was a boyfriend she met online or a friend from Connecticut who moved to Sudbury, VT, which I personally highly doubt because Sudbury literally is a town of 575 people). On a side note, I am not entirely convinced the drug trade is not a part of her frequent Vermont visits, but that is my own pure speculation. However, there is an opiate epidemic happening in the area which is highly entangled with couriers (many times young women) who bring opiates and other drugs into the Vermont area from out of state urban locations such as Boston, NYC, Hartford, Albany. Furthermore , local news outlets have mentioned numerous times (unrelated to Ms. Hart's disappearance and murder) that since 2008 there has been an astronomical increase in gang activity and affiliation in Vermont because of the opiate epidemic sweeping the state which is bringing in out of state inner city gang members (http://m.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Police-officials-Gang-activity-in-Vermont-at-6729621.php) Now from the numerous articles I have read and even on Topix, nothing suggests that this the case with Ms. Hart, but I'm not entirely convinced. Overall, I do think it is entirely possible her frequent trips were related to drug trafficking, it wouldn't be completely unheard of and her murder is related to gang and/or drug activity.