WATERVILLE — Officials said Monday that results of an autopsy are still pending as police continue to investigate the case of a body found Sept. 6 in the Kennebec River by the Hathaway Creative Center.
Lexxi T. Sironen, 43, was found dead in the river after a Brookfield Power Facility worker reported a body floating in a reservoir by the dam around 8:15 a.m., police said. The Waterville Fire Department and Brookfield crane operators both worked to remove the body, which was pushed up against the gates by the dam, according to Fire Chief David LaFountain.
Both the Waterville Police Department and Maine State Police are still investigating the circumstances of Sironen’s death and have not released any further information.
An autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death is still “pending further studies,” said Mark Belserene, an administrator in the office.
Police said Sironen was living as a transient in Waterville, and friends and family said she had been staying at a family member’s home in the Skowhegan area. A family member who did not wish to be identified had said Sironen was visiting friends in Waterville the week before her body was found.
One friend, Jason Stephenson, lives in Sironen’s previous Waterville apartment on Elm Street. He reported to police being assaulted Sept. 5 and said he thought the people who invaded his apartment were looking for Sironen. Waterville Deputy Chief Bill Bonney said that Stephenson’s case was being investigated separately from Sironen’s death, and that police do not believe there is any connection between the incidents.
People who said they knew Sironen have said they remember her as someone who was giving and a good friend. Chelsea Letourneau, who said she knew Sironen for eight years, said “she’d do anything for anybody.”
Madeline St. Amour — 861-9239
mstamour@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @madelinestamour
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