The FBI is now probing the disappearance of a 15-year-old Buxton girl, missing since Nov. 8.
Buxton Officer Mike Grovo, lead investigator in the case, said the FBI joined the investigation Wednesday to find Coreen F. Wiese.
Grovo met Wednesday in Buxton with agents from the FBI, which he said offered its help. He said the offer was common as a courtesy, and that the FBI has resources not available to local police.
“My main goal is to find this young lady,” said Grovo, who has been working with scant sleep in the past week.
Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Boston, said Wednesday the office is aware of the case of the missing Buxton girl.
“It’s not unusual for the FBI to offer assistance to local police on any matter,” Marcinkiewicz said, referring further questions to Buxton police.
Capt. Tom Roth of the Westbrook Police Department, who hasn’t been involved in the investigation into the missing girl, said the FBI typically gets involved in cases that cross state lines.
A massive search in the Bonny Eagle High School area by police and the Maine Warden Service failed to find the girl Friday. The search included canine teams, airboats, aircraft and a large turnout of volunteers, including Bonny Eagle students.
The Maine Warden Service said Monday its investigators had found suicide notes Friday that they attributed to Wiese. Grovo said Wednesday while suicide is a possibility, “we’re not putting our bets on that.”
Wiese is the daughter of Wesley and Cindy Wiese of Henry Hill Road. On Saturday, the girl’s mother read a prepared statement at the Buxton town hall. Her father then pleaded to his daughter: “I love you very much,” he said. “Contact us any way you can.”
The parents declined comment in a call to their home Tuesday. “They don’t want to make any comment at this time,” a woman answering the phone at the home said.
Police are working around the clock to find the missing girl. Grovo said Buxton police were pursuing any possible avenue to find the girl. He said Buxton officers were searching abandoned buildings and looking under bridges. But Grovo said Wednesday there’s nothing to lead police to believe that foul play is involved. But Grovo has called the girl’s disappearance “out of the ordinary.”
A sophomore at Bonny Eagle High School, Wiese went to school on a school bus on Nov. 8, but then disappeared. Investigators for the Warden Service said a witness believed she saw the girl about 11:30 a.m. near the Route 25 bridge at the Limington Rapids on the Saco River.
Mark Latti, a spokesman for the Maine Warden Service, said Tuesday that investigators found two suicide notes Friday.
Latti said the notes were found in two places, one under the bridge on Route 25 at the Limington Rapids and another at the girl’s home in Buxton.
While the content of the note left at the girl’s home has not been released, the message under the bridge is a simple one. It has the date “11/8/06” over the letters “RIP CW.” Latti confirmed that Warden Service investigators believe the message scratched onto a beam under the bridge was left by Wiese.
Latti said wardens also found personal effects, including an MP-3 player and a cell phone, near the bridge.
Grovo said the cell phone is being reviewed by the state’s forensic lab in Lewiston for recent calls and text messages. The missing girl also had a page on MySpace.com, and Grovo said police are reviewing it searching for clues to her disappearance.
Wardens are focusing their search at the rapids near the bridge and down the Saco River. Latti said wardens are walking and scanning the riverbanks.
“We’re focusing on it could have been a suicide,” Latti said Tuesday. “If she’s dead, that’s where she is.”
On Monday morning, Grovo said the “fast and furious” waters of the Saco River, which has been swelled by rains, have prevented divers from searching the river.
The water is too high to safely put a diver in, Latti said. Wardens will resume a search from an aircraft as soon as weather permits.
Grovo visited the rest area at the Limington rapids and walked along the banks of the Saco River there Sunday morning. “I’m checking all the spots,” Grovo said.
The Limington rapids, about 4.5 miles from Bonny Eagle High School, is a favorite hangout for local teenagers. There are ledges along the river and the rest area has picnic tables. “She loved the water, the falls,” Grovo said Sunday.
Police have interviewed the students who saw Wiese Nov. 8 at Bonny Eagle High School.
Although police have said there was no indication that Wiese was abducted, officials expressed concern about the girl’s health because Wiese, who has epilepsy, is without her medication. “We’re concerned about her health,” Grovo said. “She does have seizures.”
Kevin Adams of the Warden Service said Friday that, given the clues searchers found, “the likelihood of foul play is low from what I’ve seen (now).”
Wiese is 5-foot-3-inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. She has long brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, white sneakers, a pink T-shirt and a blue or gray coat.
Lori Napolitano, an assistant principal at Bonny Eagle High School, said Friday wardens asked the school for the girl’s records and photo. She said Buxton police interviewed some students Friday. Napolitano said she didn’t personally know Wiese.
Gary Stevens, also an assistant principal and athletic director, said Friday Wiese played field hockey and had signed up for indoor track three weeks ago. She had good attendance and maintained her athletic eligibility. “She’s been a very good student,” Stevens said.
Providence Stanley of Standish, a clerk at Low’s, a variety store near Bonny Eagle High School, said Wiese was a frequent customer at the store.
“She’s a good kid,” said Stanley. “Very pleasant and polite. She always laughed. My heart goes out to her parents. I can’t fathom it.”
Rhonda Peebles of Steep Falls has been Wiese’s Girl Scout leader for five years. “Coreen is a real sweetie. She’s bubbly and full of life,” Peebles said. “She was always smiling, a wonderful student.”
Grovo said anyone with information on Wiese should call Buxton police at 929-6612.
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