BANGOR, Maine — For many years, Jael Hilderbrand lived on the edge.
And it was there she died, her family says.
Even so, the Bangor Police Department still has her listed as one of four open missing person cases for the city.
Police from Bangor and Brewer went to the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge just before midnight on Nov. 4, 2010, after passing motorists called to report a woman on the edge of the overpass.
Police found the identification for Hilderbrand, a transgender person whose given name was William, in a purse left on the bridge.
“[She] was seen jumping off the bridge into the Penobscot River,” Bangor police Detective Lt. David Bushey said in a Wednesday email.
After she jumped from the span into the cold, dark waters of the Penobscot River, she never resurfaced. Her family later had her declared dead, her adoptive mother, Niki Hilderbrand, of Perry said recently.
“They did everything in their power to search for [her],” Niki Hilderbrand said of police and firefighters who responded to help.
Even though the court issued the family a death certificate in 2014, the Bangor Police Department still has Hilderbrand listed as a missing person.
“The missing person report remains active based on the fact that [her] remains have not been recovered,” Bushey said.
The other missing person cases in Bangor are those of Richard Morse, Roderick Hotham and Sharon Smith.
Family members have different thoughts about what led Hilderbrand to the bridge, with her mother saying she was drinking and running from the law and her stepbrother saying she had a history of suicidal thoughts.
“The police witnessed [her] go under,” stepbrother Larry Hilderbrand said recently. “I believe [she] texted [her] sister just before jumping. I have attended a couple of [her] other attempts, so I know [she] has a history.”
He added later, “I was a police officer at the time of [her] suicide and personally notified my mother while training another officer.”
Jael Hilderbrand was a Passamaquoddy from Pleasant Point who moved to the Bangor area several years ago. She graduated from Shead High School in 2006 and studied cosmetology at Mr. Bernard’s School of Hair Fashion in Bangor during 2008, according to her Facebook page.
She was well known to local police and has a lengthy criminal record, according to prior court listings printed in the Bangor Daily News. She has Bangor convictions that date back to 2007 for assault, theft, criminal trespass, minor possessing liquor, disorderly conduct, theft by unauthorized use of property and violating conditions of release.
She listed her job as an escort-exotic dancer for Cinnamon’s Sweets.
Hilderbrand was very active on Facebook and posted her last message at 11:31 p.m. Nov. 4, 2010. Over the years since then, many messages have been left from people who love and miss her.
“I still follow you just in case,” her adoptive mother posted in January.
Family members of Hilderbrand searched the Penobscot River for their loved one in the days and weeks after her disappearance.
“In my opinion, if [she] hadn’t gotten drunk [she] wouldn’t have fallen off the bridge,” Niki Hilderbrand said.
Hilderbrand was an excellent swimmer, and “[she] thought [she] could get away from the cops,” Niki Hilderbrand surmises. “You do dumb stuff when you drink. You’re not rational at that point.”
Niki Hilderbrand said the family petitioned the court for a death certificate so they could move forward.
“We have closure, and that is the main thing,” she said.