ORONO, Maine — Officials will continue to use aerial teams this week in search efforts for a Maine Maritime Academy student who has been missing for more than a week.
Lt. Dan Scott of the Maine Warden Service said Monday morning searchers will continue to rely on aircraft to locate David Breunig, 21, of Westbrook.
Scott said the warden service does not plan on deploying any ground search teams this week “other than local wardens keeping an eye on areas of the [Penobscot] River during their regular patrols.”
Scott said aerial searches are the most effective way to comb the river because the search area is so large.
Police have said Breunig had been attending a party on Crosby Street on Feb. 26 but decided to head to Mill Street bars near midnight.
Breunig’s cellphone last pinged a tower at 12:05 a.m. on Feb. 27, and the closest route from Crosby Street to Mill Street is across a train trestle over the Stillwater River.
The Stillwater River flows into the Penobscot River just east of the train trestle. Police were notified by a woman that she saw a man matching Breunig’s description heading toward the tracks around the time his cellphone last pinged.
“We’re just hoping aerial searches will turn something up,” Orono Police Chief Josh Ewing said Monday. “We’re waiting to hear something from the wardens.”
Ewing also noted Orono police’s end of the investigation has closed.
