OLD ORCHARD BEACH – The Old Orchard Beach man whose death was described by police as highly suspicious was stabbed to death, his sister said.

An autopsy was being performed on the body of Roger White, 49, by the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta on Sunday, according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. He declined to provide details about White’s death.

A local resident found White’s body on Old Orchard Street behind a building Saturday morning.

White’s sister Cheryl Boucher of Arundel said police told her he had been stabbed. His body was found behind The Whaler, a bar on Staples Street, parallel to Old Orchard Street, in downtown Old Orchard Beach. Friends said White had been at the bar early Friday evening.

Boucher said her brother was well-liked and a lifelong resident of the town.

White lived at the Crosswinds Motel and Cottages and made a living doing odd jobs for various contractors, she said. He was a well-known figure about town, Boucher said. She said she and her brother grew up in Old Orchard Beach with three other siblings.

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“He had a lot of friends. He was a local person who hung around Old Orchard Beach all his life,” Boucher said.

She said her brother attended Old Orchard Beach High School and was the father of two grown daughters. He never married. She said she last spoke to him by phone a couple of weeks ago.

“He was a survivor who lived by his own means and did what he had to, to make ends meet,” Boucher said.

On Sunday, White’s friends at The Whaler said they were trying to come to terms with his death.

“He was a really great guy, fun, kind of crazy and everybody liked him,” said Sue Bachelder of Old Orchard Beach.

Donald Tracy, a friend of White’s since their school days, described White as a gentle soul who had no enemies.

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“I never saw him make anybody mad,” Tracy said.

The two were known as the “Dick and Roger Show” because of their antics, Bachelder said.

Friends still joke about an incident last year involving White and Tracy and a charge of operating a tractor while under the influence.

“We call it the ‘Great Tractor Incident of 2011,’ ” Bachelder said.

Bachelder said White’s friends have little reliable information about what really happened Friday night.

“We don’t know what happened, but we do know our friend is gone,” Bachelder said.

Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at:

bquimby@pressherald.com


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