Sari Carlson was a smart woman with a warm personality, her brother said.

Sari Carlson celebrates her birthday with an order of pancakes at Wilson County Barbecue in Portland on April 14, 2024. Photo courtesy of Thad Carlson

The 51-year-old moved from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, in the spring of 2022 because she wanted to live on the East Coast; she was drawn to Maine’s beautiful scenery and coastline, her older brother Thad Carlson said.

Sari Carlson’s body was found in the water near Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth last week. The cause and manner of her death are still under investigation, according to Maine State Police. The agency had asked for help identifying the Portland woman on Friday and released her name Wednesday.

Thad Carlson, who lives in California, said he didn’t know how or why his sister died but that she had been battling a kidney disease before her death.

They grew up in small, rural Ashby, Minnesota, and moved away after graduating high school and college.

Both of their parents have passed away, Thad Carlson said. Their mother, Karen Lucia Gilthvedt, died in 2001, and their father, Ronald Wayne Carlson, died in 2020, but the siblings stayed in touch with occasional visits every few years.

Thad Carlson said he had flown out to Oregon to see his sister a few years ago and visited her in Maine for her birthday last year.

Sari Carlson preferred to live a quiet, introverted life, he said, but she stayed in touch with a close circle of lifelong friends, even though they lived all over the country.

Her brother said his sister always did what she set her mind to. She went on an expedition to Antarctica about five years ago, which was a big moment for her, he said.

Thad Carlson said his sister was stylish and loved music, art and theater — and he really appreciated her sense of humor, sensitive nature and positive attitude.