POLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) – The sister of Sally Shaw, the woman police say was found dead along Route 193 in Cherryfield, spoke about her sister’s death Tuesday.
"He told me that they had found somebody on the side of the road and I kind of felt it in my heart that it was her,” said Shaw, remembering the phone call from State Police. "She had nobody. She was all by herself, found on the side of the road. It was way worse to think that she would be all by herself there.”
State Police are still investigating the incident, which they deemed a homicide. Shaw said there are at least 12 detectives working on the case.
“To think about what may have happened, to think about how long was she there, was she scared, was anyone there to help her or was she all by herself? We don't know any of these questions to be answered."
The office of the Medical Examiner confirmed that the autopsy of Shaw's body is complete, but officials could not release a cause of death at this time.
Susan Shaw moved back to Maine from Florida in early June. She was down recovering from the loss of her husband. Shaw said her sister is the fifth relative in the family to die in the past three weeks.
Shaw said her sister was a mother of three children, all under the age of 40. She has at least seven grandchildren, according to Shaw. They are organizing a fundraiser to pay for the funeral expenses.
She was such a good person and loved. I can't understand why this would happen,” said Shaw. “She loved her grandkids.”
Shaw said that along with Sally’s love for her family came a free spirit.
“She was a sassy bucket, and she would tell you so, right to your face, anything she wanted to tell you,” said Shaw. "I used to tell her all the time, 'Sally, you're fearless, and you've got to have a little fear to show your boundaries and sometimes she would put herself in harm's way, and this may not be any different than anything else she's ever done."
Shaw said her role as the oldest sister has always been to be strong for the rest of her family. While she and her sister disagreed, she said they always reconciled.
"We're the only two girls, so we used to call each other 'only sister' all the time,” said Shaw, holding back tears. “Before we ended the phone call, 'love you to the moon and back.'”