As the search for missing teen Theo Ferrara continued on Saturday, Maine Warden Service Lt. Jason Luce, left, and Freeport Police Chief Nathaniel Goodman, asked the public not to search the woods, but to check any front-door video systems they may have for any sight of Ferrara. Bonnie Washuk/Press Herald

The search intensified over the weekend for a missing Freeport student who has not been seen since Thursday.

“We’ve been in close contact with the family” of Theo Ferrara, 14, said Freeport Police Chief Nathaniel Goodman.

Theo Ferarra, 14, has been missing from Freeport since about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Freeport police say. Contributed photo

Ferrara was last seen about 4:30 p.m. Thursday walking on Flying Point Road toward Brunswick. He was wearing summer clothes – a white windbreaker, a T-shirt, neon-colored shorts and flip-flops. He carried a royal blue backpack, and he is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and weighs about 125 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

The search is mostly centered on wooded areas and trails, within a 1-mile radius of the home near Flying Point Road where Ferrara lived, said Lt. Jason Luce of the Maine Warden Service. “We’re out eliminating areas in that Flying Point Road and Bunganuc Road, area by area. As much as the public wants to help, for now the best thing … is check any buildings behind their house. We’re asking to let us reach out if we need help. Now, we have a very coordinated search effort going on with trained personnel.”

The public is asked not to search in the woods as that could hinder efforts by trained searchers, authorities said.

Crews from the Maine Warden Service, State Police, Brunswick police and Marine Patrol have joined the search. Eight police dogs and 30 search-and-rescue volunteers are contributing to the effort, Luce said. Search planes were grounded Saturday amid high winds.

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“We’re asking (the public) specifically to look from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday. If you were in that Flying Point Road-Bunganuc Road corridor from here to Brunswick,” Goodman said Saturday. He encouraged residents to search their Ring cameras and talk to neighbors.

School officials decided to hold Saturday’s high school home games but opted to cancel the Freeport High homecoming dance. Goodman said the community is worried and the teenager’s parents are distraught.

Freeport fans watch the game between Freeport and Medomak Valley on Saturday. Theo Ferrara, 14, is a freshman at Freeport High School. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

At Saturday’s girls’ soccer game against Gray-New Gloucester, parents expressed a sense of helplessness.

Amanda Soules, 36, of Pownal was watching her daughter Taryn Curry, a junior tri-captain, play.

“She didn’t know Theo that well, but just the thought of someone in our community, a classmate, being missing, it’s difficult to carry on,” Soules said.

Paul Carignan, 55, of Pownal, another girls’ soccer parent, said he was concerned that a search with police dogs had come up empty Friday.

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Police dogs had located a scent near where Ferrara was last spotted, but Goodman offered no further details on those efforts Saturday.

“I can’t imagine the parents, what they’re dealing with,” said Carignan, the father of two daughters. “When I first heard about it, I asked my wife, ‘Can I go look? Can I do something? I think everyone in the community is asking, ‘What can we do to help?’”

Soules said she thought it was appropriate that the school decided to cancel Friday’s homecoming dance and to play Saturday’s athletic contests.

“You’re still thinking about it, but at the same time you have something good to focus on. A sense of normalcy. Because what can you do?” she said. “The Freeport PD wanted to hold off on a volunteer search and to keep students out of the search location. Which is understandable. But if you can’t help, what do you do other than sit with the situation?”

Goodman said authorities have not found red flags that may have prompted the teen to disappear, such as a history of running away. There is no evidence of any foul play, Luce said. The Freeport High School freshman attended class on Thursday, Goodman said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Freeport police at 725-5521, option 2, then option 6.

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