Despite a week of ongoing and determined searching by Portland and South Portland police departments and volunteers, family and friends of a missing 24-year-old Windham native are not giving up hope that the woman will be safely found.
Lynn Moran, who had been visiting family in Windham for the Columbus Day weekend, was last seen in South Portland on Anthoine Street near the Casco Bay Bridge at around 11 p.m. on Oct. 10.
Police and the Maine Warden Service have been searching Portland and South Portland neighborhoods and coastline since last week but have turned up nothing. Police and Moran’s family are requesting the public’s help in finding the woman. Anyone with information should call Portland police at 874-8575.
Oct. 10 timeline
According to Portland police, Moran was last seen in South Portland at 11 p.m. on Columbus Day after spending the afternoon and early evening in the Old Port.
Using eyewitness accounts, police have been able to retrace Moran’s steps before she went missing. Between 2 and 3 p.m. on Monday, police say Moran visited Norm’s Bar and Grill on Congress Street for lunch with friends. From late afternoon to early evening, Moran was seen at Gritty McDuff’s on Fore Street.
At around 8:30 p.m., Moran visited with an acquaintance at a Market Street apartment. She was seen walking along Market Street between 9 and 10 p.m. A Bull Moose Music employee told police Moran came into the store at around 10 p.m.
After leaving Bull Moose, Moran was seen walking along Middle Street between 10 and 10:30 p.m. A motorist then claims to have seen a woman matching Moran’s description walking along Anthoine Street in South Portland at around 11 p.m., the last time she was seen.
“We have eight detectives assigned to the case,” Portland Police Lt. Vern Malloch said. “And until we exhaust the leads and investigative strategies were pursuing, we’re not going to give up.”
Malloch would not comment further on the case.
Windham connections
According to Moran’s aunt – Kellie Mierop of New Jersey, who is acting as one of the family’s spokespersons – the 100-pound, 5-foot, 2-inch Moran loves Portland’s night-life and cultural offerings. Moran especially enjoyed the Old Port where she would meet with friends on her visits home.
Moran is the third youngest of six siblings. Her youngest sister attends Windham schools. Another sibling lives in the Portland area and the rest live out of state, Mierop said. An accomplished dancer, Moran decided to attend Portland High School because of its dance offerings.
“She is mostly into her work now, but she loves dance and excelled at it,” Mierop said.
While not very active in the Windham area, preferring to spend time in her beloved Portland, Moran “loved the peace that the woods offered here,” her aunt said.
“She loved coming home to Windham. This was her home. She would come home at least once a month,” Mierop said.
Moran now lives in Shrewsbury, Mass. working as assistant director for Eliot Community Human Services, Inc., a group home for foster children.
“She loves her job. It’s a tough job and she’s highly respected,” Mierop said. “She’s just incredibly dedicated to her career and treats the children as if they are her own.”
Moran’s mother and father have lived in Windham “forever,” said Mierop.
While trying to remain hopeful and positive, Mierop said the family is “doing the best they can” and are dedicated to helping police in the search for Moran.
“It’s a constant effort to get fliers out, working with police, doing what we can to get her back,” Mierop said. “Both South Portland and Portland (police) are excellent though. They keep us involved and informed and are doing a great job.”
Outpouring of support
She said family members from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and all over Maine have come to the family home in Windham to comfort each other and “put their heads together” trying to figure out where Moran may have gone or what could have happened.
“We want her back. She’s a true gift to anyone she meets. This family is such an incredibly kind and giving family – everyone knows this family – and support is coming from all over to find Lynn,” Mierop said.
Strangers, hearing about the case in the news media, are offering their help to the family.
“People are coming to the house with food – people we don’t even know. We find fliers up and we don’t know where they came from. Search efforts are filled with volunteers who just want to help. It’s just so amazing. You could say it’s the one good thing coming out of all this,” Mierop said.
Lynn Moran
Lynn Moran, 24, is missing and is believed last seen in South Portland Oct. 10.
Lynn Moran, 24, is missing and is believed last seen in South Portland Oct. 10. People who may have knowledge pertinent to the investigation can call Portland police at 874-8575. Courtesy photo
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