BUCKSPORT — A Bucksport woman who went missing after a fire at her home last week was located Tuesday and arrested on an arson charge.
Aza Jerome, 56, was booked into the Hancock County Jail on Tuesday night, according to jail records.
Jerome was found at the Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery in Orland on Tuesday. She was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center for an evaluation and released.
“It is unclear where she had been staying in her weeklong absence,” Maine Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said, “but likely she had sought shelter in some buildings in the area. The fish hatchery is 12 miles from her home on Town Farm Road in Bucksport.”
Jerome was charged with arson after being released from the hospital Tuesday, the State Fire Marshal’s Office said.
She went missing on Nov. 11, the same day her Town Farm Road home was badly damaged by fire.
Fire investigators say the fire caused $50,000 in damage to the house.
“Fire investigators say the fire was set inside the home and a second fire was set in a shed on the property,” McCausland said.
During the search, police advised the public that Jerome is a native of Ukraine and does not speak fluent English.
Deputy Police Chief David Winchester said hunters thought they saw Jerome near Great Pond Mountain in Orland on Monday.
The hunters had a brief interaction with the woman and then she left.
“A fairly lengthy search ensued,” Winchester said. That included a search from the air via a helicopter as well as a police dog. “She was not located.”
Prior to Jerome being found, Sgt. Joel Davis, an investigator from the fire marshal’s office, said Tuesday that investigators would not be able to determine the fire’s cause until they spoke with Jerome.
Last week, at the scene of the fire, Jerome’s husband, Timothy Jerome, 61, was arrested on charges of refusing to submit to arrest and obstructing government administration. He is free on bail.
Aza Jerome moved to Bucksport after the couple were married in 2013 following a long-distance courtship.
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