READFIELD — Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of 58-year-old Debra Barton, whose body was found by family members Wednesday afternoon in her home in Readfield.

Maine Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said state police were called by Kennebec Sheriff’s Office deputies, who had received a call about 3:30 p.m. summoning them to a house at 789 Main St., also known as Route 17, near Maranacook Market.

“It is a death under investigation but not in the suspicious category at this time,” McCausland said Wednesday night. “At this point, the death has not been put in any category.”

Maine State Police Sgt. Jeffrey Love said the sheriff’s department got a 911 call for an unknown medical emergency at that address shortly after 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Not long after several ambulances and deputies arrived, state police were called in.

He said several other family members were in the home.

Police vehicles were parked along the busy highway, forcing passing motorists to slow down to navigate through the remaining width of pavement safely. More investigators arrived as the afternoon wore on, and the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit van was in the driveway of the home later Wednesday. “We will be working throughout the evening, conducting interviews and gathering information from the residence,” Love said at the scene. Sheriff’s office personnel referred all callers to the state police, saying they were handling the case.

McCausland said Dr. Margaret Greenwald, the state’s chief medical examiner, went to the scene and plans to do an autopsy Thursday in Augusta.

On Wednesday night, only one light was on in the upstairs of the green-trimmed yellow house as neighbors and passers-by wondered what was happening.


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