MARIAVILLE, Maine — Local authorities are investigating an auto theft and arson after receiving a report of a sport utility vehicle engulfed in flames Sunday night.
Hancock County Sheriff’s Office officials are releasing few details because an investigation is ongoing, but Lt. Tim Cote said a caller reported the burning Chevy Tahoe around 9 p.m. Sunday.
The abandoned, fiery vehicle was located on a dirt road off Route 181 in Mariaville. The local volunteer fire department went to extinguish the blaze, Cote said. Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Day contacted the vehicle’s owners, who said they had left the SUV parked in Ellsworth and didn’t know it was missing.
Cote said the Ellsworth Police Department would investigate the apparent automobile theft, while an arson investigation would be conducted as a joint effort by the sheriff’s office and the Ellsworth Police Department.
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
