Identified! ME - Stacyville, WhtMale 40-60, UP8812, 'Chris' knitted cap, Nov'10 - Christopher Roof

[aThousandYearsWide]

"The identification came when Sydney Copp, who had attended the same church as Roof and was his student when he was a substitute teacher at Concord-Carlisle High School, called police with a tip on Aug. 9. Copp thought the description of the body’s clothing was similar enough to Roof’s to report it to police. Detectives then obtained a DNA sample from Roof’s family, and were able to match the body to his identity."

Man whose remains were found in northern Maine isn't the 1st member of his family to die mysteriously

I always find it incredible when the person that breaks the case is not a family member and is still thinking of them after all these years. Like he really made an impression on him.

Also don't blame the family. Sounds like he was really well off and smart, and that could have played into why his family didn't report him missing.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Oh my gosh! I know who his mom was! I was reading about her a few months ago. I am training for my yoga teacher certification and stumbled upon her Wikipedia page.

Marcia Moore - Wikipedia

 

[Sine]

The podcast Dark Downeast has an episode out this week about this case. Sydney Copp, the former student of Chris Roof's who provided the key tip, is interviewed. Interestingly, there was a Facebook group that sprung up in January 2011 about Chris's disappearance but activity soon fizzled out. It is suggested that his family discouraged concerned friends and acquaintances from reporting him missing. A new detail to me is that, while his hometown was Concord, MA , he was living in NH until the end of August 2010. Sounds like there will be a part 2 coming where the author of the Bangor Daily News article about Chris's mother/family will be interviewed.

 

[evilwise]

This family's culture would probably make for an interesting study although I doubt they would be cooperative about explaining it.

 

[Susikatze]

This family's culture would probably make for an interesting study although I doubt they would be cooperative about explaining it.

I think it is fairly self explanatory if you know New England "aristocrat" culture.

Plenty such stories, including the heiresses and heirs experimenting with cults, esoteric and drugs in the 1970s.
But this one is a particularily sad one as both, mother and son met a grim fate.

 

[evilwise]

I think it is fairly self explanatory if you know New England "aristocrat" culture.

Plenty such stories, including the heiresses and heirs experimenting with cults, esoteric and drugs in the 1970s.
But this one is a particularily sad one as both, mother and son met a grim fate.

They seem to me both like de facto suicides but ones that the rest of the family just accepted, like how many kinds of animals wander off alone to die.

 

[Susikatze]

They seem to me both like de facto suicides but ones that the rest of the family just accepted, like how many kinds of animals wander off alone to die.

Yes that baffles me. Maybe both were estranged from any family? I think i read somewhere Chris was a loner of some sort.

 

[Alleykins]

He had to have been dropped off here, though. They never found a car associated with him, I don't think where he was found was anywhere near a bus route. How did he get to where he ended up? I get he probably walked into the woods, but how did he get to that area in order to disappear?

 

[Susikatze]

How far was it from home?
Taxi? Bus? Train? And then some walking.
Who knows, he may have suffered a mental breakdown and walked for days?

 

[Alleykins]

How far was it from home?
Taxi? Bus? Train? And then some walking.
Who knows, he may have suffered a mental breakdown and walked for days?

Stacyville is in the middle of nowhere.
Not sure where Chris was living in NH, but wherever it was, was at least 5-6 hours and hundreds of miles a way from where he ended up, so I'm thinking walking the whole way here wasn't likely.
We haven't had a passenger train service in these parts for over 50 years or more. He could have made it as far as Portland, maybe Brunswick, on the train, and still would have been hours away from Stacyville.
A taxi from NH to that part of Maine would be a possibility. It would have cost a mint, which might not have been an issue for him, but would have been memorable for the taxi driver.
However, you're probably right about the bus. It stops around there, either in Sherman or Patten. I forgot which town it was. I totally forgot about that little pit stop between Bangor and Houlton. Last I knew, it was the only one. He could have gotten off there and walked into the woods.

 

[carbuff]

My first guess would be that he was hitching rides. Stayville is the middle of nowhere, but it's only a few miles from I-95. I don't know why he would have picked that place to stop, though.

 

[Alleykins]

My first guess would be that he was hitching rides. Stayville is the middle of nowhere, but it's only a few miles from I-95. I don't know why he would have picked that place to stop, though.

Forgot about hitchhiking. That's plausible, too, but I don't know why he'd pick that place, either. There is nothing there. Absolutely nothing. But I do know it's the only bus stop, last I knew, between Bangor and Houlton. That would be the only reason to get off the bus there, to get a snack, a drink, and use the rr. I remember it as being this little rundown gas station/convenient store, more mom & pop than convenient store chain. It could have changed since the last time I was there.

 

[carbuff]

Forgot about hitchhiking. That's plausible, too, but I don't know why he'd pick that place, either. There is nothing there. Absolutely nothing. But I do know it's the only bus stop, last I knew, between Bangor and Houlton. That would be the only reason to get off the bus there, to get a snack, a drink, and use the rr. I remember it as being this little rundown gas station/convenient store, more mom & pop than convenient store chain. It could have changed since the last time I was there.

Maybe he was riding with a trucker who stopped for gas and food, and didn't continue on?

I was actually through that area once, taking Mr. Carbuff to a hike. Somewhere on Rt. 11 north of Millinocket.

 

[Alleykins]

Maybe he was riding with a trucker who stopped for gas and food, and didn't continue on?

I was actually through that area once, taking Mr. Carbuff to a hike. Somewhere on Rt. 11 north of Millinocket.

Yep, that's the place. I've been up route 11 a few times, and I will sometimes take it (one way) to get to the county. Let me tell ya, you go miles and miles without seeing any houses. It's a deserted stretch of a road.

 

[carbuff]

Yep, that's the place. I've been up route 11 a few times, and I will sometimes take it (one way) to get to the county. Let me tell ya, you go miles and miles without seeing any houses. It's a deserted stretch of a road.

It was spooky. And I'm a person who generally likes empty rural scenery. After that trip I totally understood why Stephen King writes horror.

 

[Alleykins]

It was spooky. And I'm a person who generally likes empty rural scenery. After that trip I totally understood why Stephen King writes horror.

Oh, yeah, there's plenty of horror material here.