Mystery ends as body ID'd
Missing since fall, girl found in river
PORTLAND, MAINE -- The painstaking hunt for a missing 15-year-old girl came to an end yesterday as authorities confirmed the identity of a body found floating in the Saco River in Buxton last week as Coreen Faye Wiese.
She had vanished near her hometown of Buxton, about 20 miles west of Portland, on Nov. 8.
A preliminary identification, made by comparing Wiese's orthodontic work with photographs, was confirmed through DNA tests, authorities said.
The findings of the chief medical examiner -- Dr. Margaret Greenwald, who performed the autopsy -- indicate that the cause of death was "consistent with drowning." The determination of the manner of death was made pending further investigation and toxicology reports.
The teenager's parents, Wes and Cindy Wiese, thanked residents of the rural town of Buxton (population 7,434), law enforcement, the news media, and their family and friends in a statement.
"Because of all your help, and God's will, we are able to bring Coreen home," the statement read.
The Buxton honor-roll student, whose disappearance had baffled law-enforcement officials, was last seen in the vicinity of the Route 25 bridge over the Saco River, near a picnic and rest area that straddles the Standish-Limington town line.
Two days later, on Nov. 10, searchers found Wiese's cellular phone and MP3 player on a steel I-beam underneath the bridge, along with cryptic messages scratched into the rusty girders, including the words "Coreen Wiese RIP."
Investigators probed several possible alternatives, including that Wiese killed herself, ran away, or was kidnapped by a stranger. Her case garnered intense local and national media coverage includ ing an appearance by her parents on the "CBS Early Morning Show."
A candlelight vigil was held May 8, on the six-month anniversary of her disappearance, at Bonny Eagle High School in Standish, where Wiese was a sophomore.
Several teenagers noticed Wiese's body floating in a stretch of the river along Warren Road just before midnight Friday; the site was about 5 miles from where she was last seen.
"It's sad that it ended like this," said Officer Mike Grovo, lead investigator in the Buxton Police Depart ment, "but I'm relieved that she has been found." 