Manhunt for Newport gunman continues
10/28/09 | 20 comments
UPDATE

Manhunt for Newport gunman continues


By Christopher Cousins
BDN Staff
Bangor Daily News photo by Scott Haskell
Acting on a report that someone had been spotted nearby, State Police tactical team members wait and watch as other state police officers check a property and buildings on the Pratt Road in Newport just after noon Tuesday, October 27, 2009. After searching this site on foot and with aircraft for about an hour, police cleared the scene.

NEWPORT, Maine — A manhunt for Perley Goodrich Jr. continues today, but has lost its focus on the northern Newport area after a night went by with no reports of the suspect being seen.

Goodrich is wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting death Monday night of his 76-year-old father, Perley Goodrich Sr., at the family’s 146 Rutland Road home.

“We have had no confirmed sightings on him, period,” said Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland this morning. “It is anyone’s guess where he is because of the lack of any confirmed sightings.”

Penobscot Sheriff's deputies increased patrols in Newport during the night and responded to about a half dozen calls from residents reporting suspicious incidents or persons, but none of those calls turned out to be related to Goodrich. Police are continuing with additional patrols in the Newport area today.

Investigators believe Goodrich Jr., who is 45, fled the scene in his parents’ minivan, which was found about two hours later in a wooded area 2.5 miles from the scene of the crime. Police searched that area and others extensively Tuesday, but were unable to find him.

McCausland said law enforcement would continue a heavy patrol presence in the area today, but that Tuesday’s manhunt atmosphere would not be repeated unless someone reports seeing anything suspicious.

“He could still be in the area or he could be anywhere if he got a ride,” said McCausland.

State Police detectives continued to gather evidence from the Goodrich house today and an autopsy begin this morning at the State Medical Examiner's Office on the body of Perley Goodrich Sr. There is no change in the condition of Sandra Goodrich, who remains hospitalized.

Anyone with information about Goodrich’s whereabouts is asked to call Maine State Police at 1-800-432-7381 or just dial 911.

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Comments
20 comments on this item
On 10/28/09 at 11:55 AM, concernsme wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

He would have had to walk back to the main road that night to get a ride. If he continued on the road he was on, no one would have picked him up until the next morning. Anyone who picked him up would probably come forward by now. I think he is probably still in the area, dead or alive.

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On 10/28/09 at 12:08 PM, DaddyBiggs wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Dead, hopefully...

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On 10/28/09 at 12:33 PM, concernsme wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Dear law enforcement officers, please don't respond to a "shots fired" call too quickly. I need time to drag him inside the doorway.

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On 10/28/09 at 12:52 PM, beckers wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

who in thier right mind would give someone a ride toting daddy"sguns i

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On 10/28/09 at 12:57 PM, Michigal wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

concernsme, he shouldn't be too hard to drag at 140 pounds (from earlier story). I'll help. Two of us ought to be able to handle his cold dead body with no problem.

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On 10/28/09 at 12:59 PM, beckers wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

He is not going to carry 5 or 6 guns into the woods to shoot him self with one gun! If he was going to shoot him self he would do it in the house after he shot daddy and beat mommy! He did not make them go into the woods now did he. He is pawning them. Stetson,Newport,Exiter,Corrina schools should be shut down. Clarks hill is in stetson because I lived on it.

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On 10/28/09 at 1:02 PM, JohnDeereGreen wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Halloween is Saturday, lots of little ghosts and goblins will be out, resident hunting season starts Saturday too, might need to step up measures to find this beast.

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On 10/28/09 at 3:52 PM, a_realrain_willcome wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

my friend just saw a load of cops headed toward Corinna

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On 10/28/09 at 4:42 PM, _Deschain wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Good one concernsme!

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On 10/28/09 at 4:55 PM, olmainer wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

did anybody check that scarecrow??lol

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On 10/28/09 at 9:31 PM, OPeggita62 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

There was a possible sightning tonight near where his van was found. I live in Corinna and I have a 7 year old son who goes to the Corrina School and they have been on lockdone now for two days.

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On 10/28/09 at 9:37 PM, karenlite wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

OPeggita62, Do you hear air craft or know of any surveillance, police, in your area?

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On 10/28/09 at 9:40 PM, tcreeley wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

While I respect the police, I don't like to see them dressed like rambo gestapo guys. That is for TV and the military, not for Maine or the domestic US. It is a wonder that we don't see more killings when the police dress like video game guys in a big bad world. It is the wrong message to send our community, and our kids.

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On 10/28/09 at 9:49 PM, karenlite wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Real life is not a video game - police have to be ready for anything.

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On 10/29/09 at 12:04 PM, SeaDogsFan wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

A suspected killer is on the loose and you're worried about how police are dressing. Oh dear god don't make me call the fashion police?

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On 10/29/09 at 12:12 PM, kenzeesmom wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I agree. I think the way the police is dressed is not the issue. The police are not dressed like TV or video games. Thisn is a seperate unit and this is their required uniform to distinguage them from others. I think personally they should "deputize" a few citizens and he would be found quicker. Just a thought. We have the right to bear arms in this country and I fought for that, so let us use it. I don't want to have to lock up everything I have and not let my 10 year old go out and play. I live in Carmel and a friend saw him walking from the Newport area towards Carmel last night and saw a state police at a market, one he knew, and he stated Carmel at this time is destination. I live near a hunting camp so if they don't get him I would be suprised.

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On 10/29/09 at 12:46 PM, concernsme wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If he was walking on the road, then that would be just plain stupid. Was this man carrying weapons? Why would they be still looking in Corinna?

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On 10/29/09 at 1:56 PM, ExMainiac wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Ahhhhhh Newport! I had almost forgotten how charming it is, and how charming the people are. I particularly like the people who are fantasizing about having their chance to shoot Goodrich, who is a "scumbag" (or scrumbag, as one poster put it) because he shot someone. The hypocrisy is mind-boggling.

I still llived in Newport when, during the late 1970s, the town had the highest per-capita murder rate in the state (and probably one of the highest in the nation) thanks to a rash of several similarly charming domestic murders. The town then, as it is now, was a cauldron of drug and alcohold-fueled violence, poverty, and ignorance. No doubt Goodrich is a product of his community, as are the others who cackle about vigilante "justice."

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On 10/29/09 at 9:22 PM, busymominmaine207 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

What I worry of with all the halloween decor I wonder if that scarecrow is not him! Hmmm interesting thoughts there that one poster put up..

He could hide anywhere in a good halloween set up on a lawn!

Anyways they will catch him shortly the cops out here are not swamped to the extent of a lot of crime like back west, they don't give up too

easily and that is what I like about Maine and the law enforcement out here, they do catch their criminals and quickly.. he will get caught I am sure of it

matter of a short time..

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On 10/30/09 at 5:59 AM, meshfox wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

sounds like he offed himself.

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