CARIBOU, Maine – A body found on a bank of the Aroostook River in Caribou on Tuesday has been identified as missing Washburn resident Erik Foote, according to Maine State Police, who said the cause and manner of death are “pending.”
Foote, 39, was last seen Jan. 30 near a Presque Isle convenience store. His disappearance and the subsequent search for him have consumed the town of about 1,500 people in Aroostook County.
Foote’s body was discovered at around 1 p.m. Tuesday and then taken to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.
Police released few details after the discovery. Foote’s parents, Allan and Brenda Foote of Washburn, criticized state police for not notifying them that a body was found.
“There’s only one man missing in Aroostook County, and that’s our son,” Allan Foote said Tuesday evening.
Maine State Police Public Information Officer Shannon Moss said that it is protocol to not notify family unless a body is positively identified as the missing person.
Foote was a military veteran known to be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. He moved to Washburn with his parents about a year and a half ago. Though he did not know many people, community members rallied together to search for him.
The case gained more scrutiny after former Washburn police sergeant Chandler Cole was arrested March 29 for allegedly falsifying the police records pertaining to the missing person investigation.
While he was still with the police, Cole reported that he picked Foote up and dropped him off at Freshies, a Presque Isle convenience store, but told the family he brought Foote to the local hospital. Cole allegedly altered his police report to indicate that he took Foote to the hospital. He later resigned.
Cole remains free on $2,500 bail. He is due to appear in Maine District Court in Presque Isle on May 8.
