Berwick police are trying to figure out why a school bus was left abandoned and running Wednesday in the intersection of Worcester and Pine Hill roads.
The bus has the name of a Massachusetts school district on it, but the Bridgewater-Raynham School District no longer operates the bus. It was taken out of service by the district around three years ago and has been sold at least twice since, according to a Facebook post by Berwick police.
Ryan T. Powers, superintendent of the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District, said Wednesday that the bus is no longer part of the district’s fleet.
Powers said in an email that the district does not own its school buses, but contracts with Lucini Bus Lines in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, for its transportation services.
“I did confirm that Lucini had sold that bus and the new owner was supposed to remove the labeling,” Powers said. “The bus is no longer affiliated with Lucini Bus Lines or Bridgewater-Raynham.”
Will Lucini, spokesman for Lucini Bus Lines, said in an email Wednesday evening that bus #165 was sold in 2020 to Harry Franssen, the owner of Bus & Transit Sales, a used bus dealership in Loudon, New Hampshire.
“Part of the deal is for Harry to de-identify the buses, which was not followed up,” Lucini said.
Lucini said he could not speak about what happened to the bus since it was sold to Frannssen four years ago.
But Wednesday night, Frannssen, who now lives in Sumrall, Mississippi, said in an email that any sale records for the bus are in his file cabinet at his New Hampshire office, and he does not currently have access to those records. Frannssen said he was a former sales agent for Lucini Bus Lines Inc.
“I recall the original buyer was a Maine resident. Berwick police have stated the bus has had two owners since it was purchased from Lucini. Therefore I would not have any knowledge (about) who may have abandoned the bus earlier today,” Frannssen said.
Berwick Police Chief Timothy Towne and Steven Shisler, the detective investigating the incident, did not respond to questions about the mystery bus Wednesday.
It was not clear if police had been able to identify the owner, whether the bus had been stolen, or why it was abandoned in the intersection and left running. In the photo provided by police, there is a noticeable pile of snow on the roof of the bus, suggesting it hasn’t been driven in a while.
The bus post on the Berwick Police Department’s Facebook page was stirring up a lot of theories and speculation from area residents. More than 115 comments had been posted as of Wednesday night.
“Stephen King’s next thriller”; “That is so bizzare”; “If no one takes it can I have it”? “Hoping someone didn’t get kidnapped or is in danger,” were a few of the comments posted.
Anyone with information about the mystery bus is being asked to contact Shisler, the Berwick Police Department detective, at 207-698-1136, option 1.
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