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Contact: Edie Smith, Spokesperson
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
284 State Street
41 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333


Telephone: work (207) 592-4348

Fax: (207) 287-6395

April 19, 2009

Missing Auburn Man Found Deceased Near Kokadjo

Augusta, Maine - A 77-year-old Auburn man who has been missing since last Monday was found deceased at approximately 10:45 a.m. today (Sunday, April 19) about nine road miles from where his vehicle was located Saturday near Spencer Bay, which is west of Kokadjo.

William Young, 77, of Auburn was last seen at approximately 9:24 a.m. on Monday, April 13, driving his mint green Toyota Rav4 near Walton School in Auburn. The vehicle was located by a Maine Warden Service pilot and his crew at approximately 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 18, near Spencer Bay.

According to the Auburn Police Department, Mr. Young was in the late stages of dementia.

Mr. Young’s wife, Claire, told the Maine Warden Service that her husband may have traveled to the Kokadjo area to search for a 75-year-old South Portland woman who had been reported missing by her family the week before, and was located alive on a snowmobile trail in the Kokadjo area on Friday, April 10. Mrs. Young told Game Wardens that she and her husband had discussed at great length the South Portland woman’s situation as a precaution.

“Mrs. Young said that during the conversation with her husband she expressed some concern that he did not end up in a similar situation,” according to Maine Warden Service Lt. Pat Dorian. “For some reason, Mr. Young felt compelled to head to the Kokadjo area and find her. I don’t have any doubt in my mind that this is what happened.”

One indication that Mr. Young may have decided to search for the South Portland woman was that he left a compass behind on a dresser bureau, according to Lt. Dorian. Mrs. Young said the compass usually is put away.

Mr. Young was found by Game Wardens Eric Dauphinee and Tom McKenney approximately 5.4 miles (straight line) or 9 road miles from his vehicle in Spencer Bay Township. He was approximately 10 yards off a winter road. According to Lt. Dorian, it appears that Mr. Young had sat down at the base of a tree, and that is where he was located.

At this time, there is no information as to how long Mr. Young may have been in the Kokadjo area or when he passed away. His body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, where an autopsy will be performed on Tuesday, April 21. The incident remains under investigation.

Mr. Young does not have any family or personal ties to the Kokadjo area, according to Lt. Dorian, who coordinates search and rescue efforts for the Maine Warden Service. At least 12 searches have been conducted in the last 20 years for people suffering from mental or physical illness who have no ties to the Kokadjo region but who have been drawn to the area for unknown reasons, Lt. Dorian said.

Mr. Young’s situation is the first the Lt. Dorian can recall where someone “felt compelled to search for another person who may be experiencing the same medical condition as themselves.”

“It’s one of the most extraordinary things I’ve ever experienced in all my years conducting search and rescues,” Lt. Dorian said.

A large contingent of people was looking for Mr. Young: 31 Game Wardens, including two aircraft, 60 search and rescue volunteers and nine K-9s, a helicopter pilot and crew from the Maine Forest Service.

The volunteer search and rescue groups are: Maine Search and Rescue Dogs, Wilderness Search and Rescue, Unity Search and Rescue, Waldo Search and Rescue, Lincoln County Search and Rescue, Mid Maine Search and Rescue, and SERE Search and Rescue (a division of Brunswick Naval Air Station), and Civil Air Patrol. Also assisting the search efforts were the Marie and Fred Candelero, proprietors of Kokadjo Store, who allowed the Maine Warden Service to set up a command search post there, and the Salvation Army, which brought its emergency response team to the scene to provide food and beverages to the searchers.