Police seek family of man discovered deceased in front of his home

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Dover-Foxcroft Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating family members of a Steadman’s Landing Road resident whose body was discovered on his front porch by a neighbor on New Year’s Day, after apparently being there for days.

A post on the department Facebook page is asking for assistance in locating the family of 77-year-old Clifford James Brown, “Please help us locate Mr. Brown’s family. We have tried everything we can think of to talk to someone without any luck. He most recently moved from Monmouth, Maine. He was believed to have lived in the Portland, Maine area at one time. This was according to a friend.

“The Veteran’s Administration is not releasing any information and opting for a ‘next of kin letter’ that will go out in approximately 10 days. Mr. Brown was in the military in the late 50s and early 60s. We can not be sure it will reach anyone. Please contact us at 207-564-8021 if you have any information.”

Brown’s body was discovered on his front porch by a neighbor on New Year’s Day and had apparently been there for days, Dover-Foxcroft Police Chief Ryan Reardon said on Jan. 2. Reardon, who at the time was in the process of notifying the deceased’s next of kin and could not release the man’s name, said a neighbor noticed the driveway had not been plowed and stopped by the property to check in. “He found the elderly gentleman frozen with the keys in the front door above his head,” the chief said. “He had been there for a few days.”

“There is nothing overly suspicious at this point,” Reardon said. He said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta would be investigating to determine a cause of death.

WABI reports that Brown is believed to have not been in in contact with his family for quite some time and police believe they had been estranged. He is believed to have been living alone in the Steadman’s Landing Road home for a year-plus.