MOUNT VERNON, Maine — The 14-year-old girl who was reportedly found dead Monday by her mother has been identified.
The Kennebec County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a 14-year-old deceased female Monday evening at approximately 6:06 p.m. at a home in Mt. Vernon.
She has since been identified as Brooke McLaughlin.
According to a release issued Wednesday evening by the Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss, the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit is investigating the incident as a suspicious homicide, as determined by an autopsy conducted by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta.
MSP evidence technicians and detectives searched for evidence and conducted interviews into the early morning hours on Tuesday, the release says.
According to the release, police are seeking information regarding sightings of a red 2010 Chevy Impala Monday evening into early Tuesday morning with a Maine support wildlife registration plate registered to 510-AVW. Police located the missing vehicle Tuesday morning in Wayne.
The homeowner discovered the vehicle was missing from her driveway Monday afternoon.
Police ask if anyone has information regarding this case, to please contact the Maine State Police at 207-624-7076.
In a letter circulated by RSU 38 superintendent Jay Charette, where the girl is reported to be a middle school student, he said the district is "working with various agencies to offer our support in a timely and appropriately sensitive manner to our students and staff given the nature of this tragedy."
NEWS CENTER Maine spoke with Charette Thursday afternoon.
“It’s been challenging, this kind of news always hits people really hard ... We will be working with crisis and counseling as well with our own school guidance counselors, we have a team of counselors in the district, that will also be providing services,” Charette told NEWS CENTER Maine.
“This is a very welcoming and open community, so a loss of student hits all of us in some way, because we’re not a huge district and everybody, like I said, knows everybody, so it is absolutely devastating," Charette added. "It’s really tough having these conversations with staff, family members, community members, board members, you know, all the way across. The more I talk about it, the more it hits me personally.”
This investigation is ongoing. No additional information has been released.