WELLS

Body of missing woman found in tidal waters

The body of a Kennebunk woman missing since Sunday was found Thursday evening in tidal waters near the Drakes Island side of Wells Harbor.

Wells police Sgt. Kevin Chabot said local police, with assistance from the Wells harbormaster, found the body of Kathryn J. Ryan, 61, around 5:30 p.m.

Investigators from Wells and Kennebunk police departments and the Maine Marine Patrol said Ryan’s death was not suspicious. The Maine Medical Examiner’s Office will examine her remains to determine how she died.

Authorities said Ryan’s vehicle was found Wednesday in a town parking lot on Drakes Island in Wells. At the time, police said they were concerned for her well-being because she may have had medical issues.

MACHIAS

Man sentenced to 3 years for role in death of son, 12

A former Maine man who was acquitted of manslaughter in the death of his 12-year-old son has been sentenced to three years in prison for giving the boy drugs without a prescription.

WABI-TV reported that Edward Smith, formerly of Lubec, was sentenced Wednesday in Washington County Superior Court following his conviction last month on a charge of giving the boy a small amount of Valium.

Prosecutors say the 44-year-old Smith failed to give his son proper medical attention when he was suffering from the effects of diabetes. The boy died in April 2012.

The defense said Smith gave his son the Valium because he thought the boy had a stomach bug and didn’t realize he was suffering from diabetes.

The Valium had been prescribed for the father.

INDUSTRY

Woman facing two charges after crash with child in car

Police say an Industry woman was charged with driving drunk after she crashed her car with a 6-year-old child inside.

Lt. David Rackliffe of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department said 43-year-old Tina Timmsen was arrested on charges of operating under the influence and endangering the welfare of a child.

Rackliffe told the Sun Journal that a deputy stopped to help Timmsen after noticing her vehicle off the road Tuesday night.

The deputy smelled alcohol before Timmsen allegedly left the scene, driving more than a mile before stopping again.

Timmsen was arrested after field sobriety tests were conducted. The child was picked up by a family member.

Timmsen is free on $3,000 bail.

BATH

Auto fire destroys home as cold hampers response

A house at 4 Libby Court in Bath was destroyed Thursday morning by a fire that posed challenges for firefighters because of the extreme cold weather.

Firefighters were called at about 8:30 a.m. for a fire in a Ford pickup inside a carport, said fire Capt. Chris Cummings.

The carport was attached to the house, and when firefighters arrived flames had spread to the wall of the house and up into the attic, he said.

Temperatures near zero created complications. Hoses that weren’t being used quickly froze. Also, the cold sapped energy from batteries, which reduced the effectiveness of equipment like the department’s thermal imaging camera, which firefighters use to locate areas that are still burning within a structure, Cummings said.

One person was home at the time. Nobody was injured, and two dogs and a cat made it out safely.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office determined that the fire started after the resident had left a space heater underneath the pickup to thaw components that had become frozen.

The Bath department called in firefighters from Brunswick, West Bath, Woolwich, Phippsburg and Wiscasset to help douse the fire and provide coverage in case other emergency calls came in, Cummings said.

VINALHAVEN

Trio facing meth charges as drug probe widens

Drug agents charged three people with trafficking methamphetamine after evidence of a small drug-making operation was found in a tool shed on Vinalhaven.

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency charged Ryan Rairdon, 25, of Houlton; and Hilary Walker, 20, and Owen Adair, 23, both of Vinalhaven, after the alleged lab was discovered Wednesday.

After receiving a tip, police found a plastic bottle, rubber tubing and chemicals that can be used in the production of methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug. The MDEA’s Laboratory Enforcement Team seized the material.

The investigation led agents to a home on Overlook Hill Road where evidence of methamphetamine manufacturing was seized, though no lab was found.

Police expect to make additional arrests, including those who might have supplied the people making the drug with pseudoephedrine, present in many cold medicines, which is needed to make the drug and is closely regulated by the state.

The location of the shed and the property owner’s name are not being released because that person was unaware of the methamphetamine-making operation, police said.

The three people arrested were taken to Knox County Jail pending a future court appearance.

AUBURN

Documents in baby’s death say accused was frustrated

Court documents indicate a Maine man charged in his 3-month-old son’s death told police he forced a pacifier into the infant’s mouth an hour before realizing he wasn’t breathing.

A state police detective wrote that 24-year-old Danny Adams of Lewiston told police he was frustrated that the infant wouldn’t stop crying on the morning of Dec. 17, after Adams had been using heroin and marijuana the night before.

The Sun Journal reported that Adams told police he caused several injuries by squeezing the child. The affidavit indicates Adams told 18-year-old Kaitlyn Baker, the baby’s mother, to call 911 while he performed CPR. The cause of death was asphyxiation.

Adams is being held without bail and is due in court on Friday. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Man named on 15 warrants arrested without incident

South Portland police have arrested a 36-year-old man who was wanted on 15 warrants issued by nine different law enforcement agencies, mostly for theft, burglary and passing bad checks.

Officers Ben Macisso and Scott Corbett tracked down Michael Allan Thurston at 1 p.m. on Thursday in a vacant third floor apartment in the 800 block of Broadway and arrested him without incident, police said.

South Portland police were assisted by members of the Maine Violent Offender Task Force, which was operating in the area on an unrelated matter.

The warrants were from Gorham, Biddeford, Westbrook, Windham, Yarmouth and Portland police, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, State Police and State Probation and Parole.

Thurston was being held at the Cumberland County Jail without bail for allegedly violating his conditions of probation.

AUGUSTA

Former state lawmaker guilty of reduced charge

Brian Jones of Freedom, a former Democratic state representative, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of disorderly conduct and failure to provide his correct name in connection with his arrest for having sex with a woman in a van in a park-and-ride parking lot in West Gardiner.

Jones, 57, initially was charged in September with indecent conduct and failure to give his correct name.

On Thursday in Augusta District Court, the indecent conduct charge was replaced with a disorderly conduct charge and he was given a 12-month deferred disposition.

IIf he avoids further criminal trouble and complies with conditions, he can withdraw those pleas and the charges will be dismissed.

That hearing is set for Jan. 14, 2016.

The case was heard by Judge Patrick Ende, and Jones was represented by attorney Mark Dion, a Democratic state representative from Portland.

According to Maine State Police, the trooper who arrested Jones discovered his identity only when he found Jones’ car, bearing Maine legislative plates, across the street at the West Gardiner service plaza. Both the park-and-ride lot and the service plaza are just off the Maine Turnpike.

At the time of the incident, Jones released a statement saying he was “deeply embarrassed” by his actions and said they were related to “my long-term struggle with alcoholism.”

Jones, who served one term in the Maine House, was defeated in November by Republican Mary Anne Kinney of Knox.

– From staff and news services

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