A Bar Harbor man accused of killing a young local woman is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Wednesday.
Jalique Keene
Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said that Jalique Keene, 21, will be in court Wednesday, but he was unsure of the time. News Center Maine (WCSH/WLBZ) reported that Keene, who is being held without bail at the Hancock County Jail, will appear at 8 a.m. in Ellsworth.
Keene is charged with murder in the death of Mikaela Conley, 19, of Bar Harbor, whose body was found by a Maine State Police dog about noon Saturday in a wooded area near the intersection of Route 3 and West Street in the Mount Desert Island town. Police searched for the young woman after her family reported her missing on Friday.
Conley worked at a coffee shop in Bar Harbor called Mount Dessert Bakery, News Center Maine reported. Her family owns the 2 Cats restaurant on Cottage Street.
“We are so saddened by the loss of Mikaela Conley. Our thoughts and love are with her family as we remember a girl with an electric smile, amazing art skills, enthusiasm, determination, and so much promise and potential,” bakery staff wrote in a Facebook post.
Mikaela Conley
State police, who arrested Keene on Monday night, have not given a cause of death.
News Center Maine reported that Keene and Conley had known each other from high school. Keene was a star athlete at Mount Desert Island High School from 2010 to 2014, according to the TV station. Conley also attended Mount Desert Island High School.
Keene graduated and went on to play football at West Virginia State University. A photograph and brief biography of Keene is posted on the football team’s 2015 roster listing him as being a freshman, 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds.
The team’s coach, John Pennington, did not respond to an email seeking information about Keene’s current status with the team.
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