MONSON, Maine — People are locking their homes and vehicles in this heavily wooded area of Piscataquis County, where police continued searching Tuesday for a man wanted for murder.
Robert G. Burton, 38, is being sought in connection with the death of his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Ginn Gebo, 37, who was found unresponsive by her children at their Parkman home Friday. Burton lived with the family until about a week before her death.
Burton is considered to be armed and dangerous, and state police advised area residents Monday to lock their homes and vehicles and report any suspicious activity, according to state police Lt. Troy Gardner.
“We’re searching high-probability areas based on the information we have,” Gardner said Tuesday. “We have about 40 personnel here” with shifts rotating in and out to provide 24-7 coverage. “We are following up on calls we have [about] where he may be.”
At about 4 p.m., the Maine State Police tactical team and other law enforcement personnel returned to North Guilford Road, which is where Burton’s father and other relatives live and where a stolen truck police believe Burton was driving was found Monday. A police dog team from Rochester, New Hampshire, arrived just before the group of six vehicles left the command post set up at the Parkman Town Office, heading to Monson.
The Rochester police cruiser was seen parked at the end of the driveway of Roger Burton, Robert Burton’s father, in Monson, and the dog’s handler could be seen leading a pack of tactical team officers down the nearby power line and through the fields and woods.
Extra patrols have been called in to provide a quicker response if needed, the lieutenant said.
Colleen Pinkerton, owner of Pete’s Place in Monson; Galen Goodreau of Guilford; and Rick Crocker of Abbot, owner of the Abbot Village Barber Shop, all said they are taking precautions with Burton still on the loose.
“This is my first time ever taking my keys out of my car,” Pinkerton said Tuesday while standing behind the counter of her bakery and hiking supply store. “I locked my car, and I locked my door. I just don’t do that. That is my prevention right now. We also now put the dog on the porch.”
For Goodreau, the second homicide in Parkman in less than a month hits home.
“This happened right after my niece’s husband killed his father,” Goodreau said, referring to the death of David Grant on May 12 and charges against his so n, Zachery Grant, just a mile down the street from where Burton formerly lived with his girlfriend and her two children. “Then [Burton is] on TV saying that happened too close to home.
“I’m locking everything up,” Goodreau said later. “I locked my door because of the kids. I’ve been leaving the keys in my car for years. Not anymore.”
Goodreau and Crocker said they know both the Burton and Ginn families because “we’re all related up here,” Crocker said.
“His father is such a nice guy,” Goodreau said of Burton.
People are calling each other to let them know to lock everything up and take precautions, Crocker said.
“I got a baseball bat right in my house by the door,” he said. “I took it to bed with me last night. He would never come to my house, but you never know. It’s a very sad situation. I do know a lot of people are petrified, absolutely petrified.”
Law enforcement personnel from multiple agencies have been looking for Burton and have a command post set up at the Parkman Town Office. More than 40 law enforcement vehicles were parked at the command post Tuesday.
Parkman resident Debra Emerson went to the town office Tuesday to vote on the school budget and could be heard telling the clerks she locked her car “for the first time in 20 years.”
Emerson lives half a mile from where Ginn Gebo’s family lived.
“She was a lovely young lady with children, and now she has no chance to have a life,” Emerson said, adding that her daughters knew Ginn Gebo better and that she had seen Burton at the store. “It’s a small town.”
She moved to Parkman 18 years ago from South Paris, she said, to get away from the increasing crime rate in southern Maine.
“I’m not exactly scared, but I’m nervous, you know,” Emerson said. “So, I locked my doors.”
State police handed out “wanted for murder” fliers with three images of Burton and pertinent details about why he is wanted.
Much of the focus of the search Monday was on North Guilford Road in Monson.
The stolen truck was processed at the Bangor state police barracks and returned to its owner Tuesday. Burton’s truck, which was found in Guilford, was at the Maine Crime Lab in Augusta for processing on Tuesday, Gardner said.
Ginn Gebo was born in Derby, Connecticut, and is the daughter of Vance Ginn of Abbott and Christine Knapp of Plymouth, her obituary states.
She is survived by her two children; her brother, Jacob Ginn of Parkman; uncles; aunts; nieces; nephews and many other close friends.
Burton’s long rap sheet includes convictions for kidnapping, assault with a dangerous weapon, terrorizing, assault, tampering with a witness, trafficking in prison contraband and several violations of conditions of release. He has used aliases Robert Elliot and Robert Glen Elliott.
He eluded police for two weeks in 2002 before being found in a camp in Willimantic, where a standoff ensued. He was arrested, convicted and eventually sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Anyone who sees Burton is advised to call state police in Bangor at 973-3700 or 911.
Stephen McCausland said at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday that Burton was still at large.
“This is something you watch on TV. It doesn’t happen here,” Pinkerton said. “We’ll all be glad when this is over.”
Watch bangordailynews.com for updates.