BLUE HILL, Maine — State police are investigating whether items found near Seven Star Hill belong to a local woman missing since July.
Volunteer searchers found several items, including a backpack, on Friday that might belong to 37-year-old Jessica Grindle of Blue Hill. Investigators haven’t made that determination, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Grindle, who is a diabetic and the mother of two young boys, was reported missing Aug. 22. Friday’s efforts to find her continued searches done by state police and the Maine Warden Service last month.
[State police seek help in finding missing Blue Hill woman]
McCausland and family members said that there is simply no way to know what has happened to Grindle without more information.
“We have had no leads as to her whereabouts. No confirmed sightings,” McCausland said Wednesday. “We are still looking for help from the public. The bottom line is that she’s missing, so our goal is to find her.”
State police cordoned the area where the items were found Friday as part of the investigation. Grindle is an experienced camper familiar with the Seven Star area, said Alicia Pearson, Grindle’s cousin.
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Family members and friends held a candlelight vigil at the Blue Hill town office on Wednesday night — Grindle’s birthday — to help draw public attention to the Grindle case.
About 50 people attended.
State police issued a bulletin seeking the public’s help in locating Grindle on Aug. 24. She was last seen in late July.
“There are a great deal of emotions that go with a loved one whom is missing, and I read that it’s called ambiguous guilt. You can’t move forward and you can’t do anything but [feel] continuous grief,” Pearson said Wednesday.
“Tonight is about hope and love for Jessica. It is her birthday, and if she were here, she would want us to celebrate. She believes in traditions,” Pearson added.
[Volunteers search again for missing Blue Hill woman]
Grindle is 5 feet, 3 inches tall, weighs 150 pounds, and has brown hair and blue eyes, state police have said. Anyone who has seen her in the past month is asked to call Maine State Police in Bangor at 207-973-3700.
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