PORTLAND, Maine — Police are asking for the public's help to resolve a cold case in which a 62-year-old Bethel woman disappeared a decade ago.
Fay Johnson was last seen alive moving belongings into a rental home in Bethel on March 7, 2012. Ten years later, Maine State Police detectives are no closer to finding her.
"There is no suspect, per se. But she should have not just disappeared off the face of the Earth, and that is what is concerning for everybody," Detective Michael Chavez of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit said.
Chavez said the grandmother had serious medical issues during the time of her disappearance. She took heart medication and had a pacemaker.
"This was a frail woman who had a therapy dog, which makes her disappearance even more strange," Chavez said.
Johnson's dog was found running around her apartment, and she reportedly left a note saying she was planning on moving out.
Detectives said Johnson also left behind her purse, which held her ID and cellphone. Johnson did not have a car at the time and relied on friends to drive her back and forth to Lewiston, where she previously lived.
Several searches around Johnson's home yielded no clues. In the months after her disappearance, family members passed out flyers and released balloons in her honor. Tips about possible sightings included placing Johnson on Alfred Street in Biddeford and at a grocery store in York.
"The people--I spoke to the witnesses--were cooperative but couldn't provide very good details," Chavez said. "The video we had revealed nothing."
Johnson is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 140 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears a medical alert bracelet, marked "pacemaker."
Chavez said after 10 long years, Johnson's family is hopeful someone will step forward with information.
"There are family and friends that are deeply concerned about Fay Johnson's well-being that would just like to know if she is alive," Chavez said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Maine State Police Crimes Unit -South, at 1-800-228-0827.
Johnson's family has set up also set up a Facebook page with information on her disappearance.