VERNON, CONN.
Mother, three sons found in Maine after Amber Alert
Additional Photos
Authorities found three missing Connecticut children and their mother safe in Maine on Tuesday morning shortly after a multistate Amber Alert was issued, and police took the mother into custody.
Jackie Morris, 32, and her three sons were found at a motel in Bangor after she failed to return the children to their father after a weekend visit. The boys live with their father in Vernon, Connecticut, and Morris has visitation rights, police said.
Vernon police had said they were concerned for the boys’ safety. Morris’ relatives told officials that she had a history of mental illness.
Authorities were deciding on criminal charges against Morris. The boys – 9-year-old Ryan Lewis and 7-year-old twins Dylan and Brandan Lewis – were in the custody of Maine officials waiting for their father, Jason Lewis, to pick them up, Bangor police said.
The Amber Alert was issued shortly after 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and canceled at around noon. Lewis called police Monday night to report that Morris hadn’t returned his sons.
Morris recently returned to Connecticut after having lived in Maine, relatives told police. Vernon police said she appeared to be homeless and living in her car.
Morris and Lewis were involved in a child custody case in Rockville Superior Court in Connecticut that ended in November with a joint custody agreement that called for the boys to live with their father, while Morris had visitation rights, said Lewis’ lawyer, Benjamin K. Potok. Potok described the custody case as “slightly contentious.”
Morris was living in Southwick, Massachusetts, during the custody case last year, court records show.
WINDHAM
After-prom party results in summonses for 8 people
Windham police issued summonses to eight people on underage-drinking charges Saturday after breaking up an after-prom party on Willow Drive.
Police said the department received an anonymous report about the party on a tip line set up for reporting underage drinking parties.
The property owner, Keith McAvoy, was summoned on a charge of providing a place for underage drinking.
Summoned on charges of illegal possession of alcohol by a minor were Samuel Manley, 19; Edward “Mike” Babbitt, 18; Corey Stevenson, 19; Kyle Dumond, 18; and three juveniles who were not named by police.
Windham police also worked with Gorham police to break up an underage drinking party on Middle Jam Road in Gorham on Saturday.
Windham police said an 18-year-old from Portland was summoned, but didn’t release the name and didn’t immediately return a call Tuesday.
PORTLAND
Popular Maine musicians will perform at civic center
Some of the most successful musicians from Maine will perform together at Portland’s Cumberland County Civic Center on July 12.
The concert, being billed as “The Maine Music Awards Hall of Fame Show,” is scheduled to include performances by inductees Don McLean, Howie Day, Ellis Paul and Dave Mallett, as well as special guests Devonsquare and Carol Noonan.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. show are $39 to $69 and are available at TheMaineMusicAwards.com or Ticketmaster.com.
The show is being organized by promoter Wayne Koss, who organized the Maine Music Awards performances in the 1980s. Koss said in an email that the group to be honored as “hall of fame” members was picked by “unbiased industry personnel from Maine.”
GILFORD, N.H.
Kennebunk lieutenant named new police chief
The town of Gilford is getting a new police chief.
Anthony Bean Burpee of Sanford, Maine, was appointed by the Board of Selectmen on Monday.
Burpee is currently a lieutenant with the Kennebunk Police Department in Maine, where he began as a summer part-time officer in 1997.
He went to a full-time position in 1998 and worked as a school resource officer from 2000 to 2004. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2004 and lieutenant in 2008.
Before his years on the Kennebunk force, Burpee was a corrections officer at the Cumberland County Jail in Portland, beginning in 1995.
According to the town of Gilford’s website, Burpee has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Southern Vermont College and two master’s degrees, one in public administration and another in criminal justice, from Suffolk University in Boston.
Burpee is an adjunct professor at York County Community College in Wells. He was selected from a pool of 47 candidates.
He will be paid an annual salary of $78,400 as Gilford police chief.
WATERVILLE
Police say man fled jeweler wearing rings worth $5,000
Police say they arrested a man for allegedly trying on two rings in a jewelry store and running out of the store without removing them.
The Waterville Police Department said Tuesday that Kevin Barr, 34, of Waterville was being charged with burglary, theft and criminal mischief.
Police alleged that on April 15 Barr entered L Tardif Jeweler in Waterville and tried on several expensive rings before selecting two of them and running out the door. The rings had a combined value of $5,000.
Barr turned himself in to police Sunday. He was taken to the Kennebec County jail with a court date of June 17. Bail was set at $2,130 and had not been posted. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.
PRSQUE ISLE
WW II cargo plane visiting Thursday on way to Europe
A World War II cargo plane that’s on its way to Europe for the D-Day celebration next month is making a stop in Maine.
Officials say Presque Isle is the first stop Thursday on the trans-Atlantic flight from New York to Europe to take part in a re-enactment of D-Day 70 years later.
The plane also will be on display Friday.
Those planning to take part in the activities include Heber Umphrey of Ashland, a paratrooper who jumped from C-47s during World War II; Joseph “Reed” Beaulieu of Van Buren, a pilot who flew the C-47; Donald Collins of Caribou, a veteran who landed at Normandy Beach on D-Day; and Thelma Archer of Presque Isle, who helped build C-47s during World War II.
BANGOR
Expert rescues two eaglets of ailing bald eagle mother
It turns out the sick bald eagle found sitting on a Bangor sidewalk last weekend was a mother.
An expert on Monday scaled nearly 100 feet up a tree to rescue two hungry but otherwise healthy eaglets, estimated to be about 6 weeks old.
The young eagles will be brought to Avian Haven in Freedom, where they will be nursed and eventually reunited with their mother.
Meanwhile, mom appears to be doing much better.
Officials at Avian Haven told WGME-TV that the adult – which has no physical injuries but appears to have lead and some other kind of toxin poisoning – is alert and standing on her own.
ISLAND FALLS
Car hits, kills horse pulling buggy, injures 4 Amish kids
Maine State Police say four young children were injured and a horse was killed when a car driven by a Sherman man struck their horse-drawn buggy in Island Falls.
The children – ages 9, 8, 7 and 5 – are members of the small Amish community in Aroostook County and were transporting wood.
They were taken to the hospital in Houlton with non-life threatening injuries after the accident at about 2:30 p.m. Monday.
Police say Stephen Porter, 62, was driving west on U.S. Route 2 when the buggy emerged from behind a thick tree line into the road without stopping to check for traffic.
Porter could not see the buggy and struck the horse, sending the buggy into the air and ejecting the children.
The crash remains under investigation.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.