UNITY — Maine State Police came up empty-handed Wednesday after searching Sandy Stream for more human remains after kayakers on May 30 discovered part of a skeleton in the stream.
The remains found May 30 appear to be those of an adult male and were likely in the stream for several years, according to police. They have not yet been able to determine the identity of the person from missing persons files.
“I’ve talked to a number of families across the state and out of state, and so far there’s nothing that this seems to match up with,” state police Sgt. Jason Richards said after Wednesday’s search ended.
Two Maine State Police specialty units — Underwater Recovery Team and Evidence Response Team — were set up at Sandy Stream where it flows under Main Street near the road leading to Unity College. Unity College, the Waldo County Sheriff’s Department, Maine Marine Patrol and the Maine Warden Service helped in the operation, according to Richards.
Richards, who works in the Major Crimes Unit of the state police and is in charge of the section that covers that area, said members of the Underwater Recovery Team searched the ground of the stream, as well as deep holes in the stream.
“The Evidence Response Team supplemented this as well,” he said. “They were walking the shallow areas of the stream. Between the divers and the people wading the stream and people canoeing the stream, we searched approximately a four-mile segment.”
Searchers scoured the area from Berry Road in Thorndike to School Street in Unity, according to Richards.
“We did not find anything further,” he said. “We don’t have a full skeleton. That’s why we’re searching for more bones.”
The remains found May 30 were found in a fairly short stretch of the stream from the Main Street bridge to where a wooden walking bridge crosses the stream, according to Richards.
Members of the Maine State Police Evidence Response Team disembark Wednesday on the shore of Sandy Stream in Unity after searching for human remains. In the foreground is Detective Jonah O’Roak. Behind O’Roak and to the right is Detective Hugh Landry. At left, are Detective Lauren Edstrom and Trooper Nick Gleeson. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel
At the scene Wednesday, after the underwater team had completed its work, Evidence Response Team members were paddling canoes down the meandering stream. They passed under the walking bridge and headed toward Main Street where they disembarked around 2:30 p.m. on a steep incline near the Main Street bridge and pulled the canoes up to the road. The team included state police detectives Jonah O’Roak, Hugh Landry, Lauren Edstrom, Paul White, and troopers Nick Gleeson and Owen Reed.
Richards asked that anyone with information about the identity of the remains call state police at 624-7076.
Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said this was the third time the stream had been searched.
“The new component today was that the dive team was going to do an underwater search to locate any additional remains,” he said.
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