The Korea Herald

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Police seek ID of body found in U.S. storage unit

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Published : Oct. 25, 2011 - 17:30

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LEWISTON, Maine (AP) -- A man who died this month at age 80 took a secret to his grave -- a secret that was discovered only after his family went through his belongings in a storage unit.

Inside an unplugged freezer, they found a set of human remains that investigators believe may be those of his girlfriend, who disappeared in 1983, when she was 29. Now investigators are trying to confirm the identity of the body, the cause of death and who may have been involved.

State police were awaiting results of an autopsy on Monday. DNA tests were under way to determine whether the body was that of Kitty Wardwell, who was last seen with boyfriend Frank Julian.

The gruesome discovery came as a shock to Lewiston residents including Jane Child, who knew Julian as a kind shop owner who'd allow customers to put items on layaway when they were short on money. It's difficult to reconcile that image with a potential killer who stashed a body in a freezer, she said.

“It just gives me the creeps,” Child said Monday while shopping at Blackie's Fruit Stand, near the store where Julian worked with one of his sons.

The storage unit was rented in 1992 by Julian, who died on Oct. 1. Back in 1983, Julian occasionally lived with Wardwell 100 miles (160 kilometers) away in Holden.

Julian told police in New Hampshire that he last saw Wardwell after an argument that June, when he dropped her off at a motel in Salem, New Hampshire, before returning to Maine, police said. She was reported missing the following month by a close friend.

A state police investigation indicated she was likely a victim of foul play in Maine. Because of that, the investigation officially remained open.

The freezer was inside a 10-by-10-foot(3-by-3-meter) storage unit at a Moore Self Storage Facility in Lewiston, where Julian dutifully paid in advance for the unit, coming around every three months to pay in person, owner Gary Boilard said. The last payment was made on Sept. 6, so the unit was rented through November, he said.

The storage company's previous owner kept good records, indicating Julian rented the unit 19 years ago on Oct. 6, Boilard said.

Boilard described the situation as “bizarre.”

“How do you keep a secret that long?” he said.

The family was going through boxes inside the storage unit when the remains were discovered Friday, and half the unit was still filled with boxes when state police alerted Boilard.

“There were boxes on tops of boxes. From front to back, from top to bottom, it was full of boxes,” he said.

Other than the freezer, there was little else of interest stashed in the unit -- mostly household items, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Before Julian's death, he was working at a variety store with his son after closing his own store on Main Street. Before that, from 2001 to 2007, he'd run the One Stop Shop in a space he rented from Hubert Nadeau, selling T-shirts, Christmas decorations, knives and “just about anything,” Nadeau said.

Nadeau said he was surprised by the news of the body's discovery.

“He was a very nice guy,” Nadeau said Monday. “I had no idea what it was all about.”

Both Wardwell's and Julian's families are being kept in the loop on the investigation, and both families are cooperating, McCausland said. Dwight Collins, Wardwell's brother, said the family was awaiting further word on the body but declined to comment further. Other family members either couldn't be reached or declined to comment.

The process of determining the victim's identity could be time-consuming because of the condition of the body. Wardwell's family members have donated DNA samples that will be compared against DNA from the body, McCausland said.

Julian was 52 when Wardwell disappeared. An obituary in the Bangor Daily News described him as a former restaurateur and novelty salesman who played on John Bapst High School's 1948 championship football team.

 

<한글 기사>

80대 美노인,  여자친구 시신 28년째 보관

여자친구 사망의 비밀 간직한 채 최근 사망

이달 초 미국에서 사망한 80대 남성이 28년 전 실종된 여자친구의 시신을 창고에 보관하고 있었던 것으로 드러나 경찰이 조사에 나섰다.

미국 메인주(州) 경찰은 프랭크 줄리언(80)의 유가족이 그가 빌려쓰던 창고에서 유품을 정리하던 중 시신을 발견하고 경찰에 신고했다고 25일 밝혔다.

시신은 플러그가 뽑힌 냉동고 안에 보관돼 있었다.

경찰은 유해가 1983년 실종된 줄리안의 전 여자친구 키티 워드웰(당시 29세)이 라고 보고 정확한 사인과 신원을 조사하고 있다.

경찰에 따르면 줄리언은 당시 실종 사건을 조사하러 나온 뉴햄프셔 경찰에 워드 웰과 다투고 헤어진 이후 연락이 닿지 않았다고 진술했다.

경찰이 여러 차례 조사를 진행했지만 줄리언은 한 번도 용의 선상에 오르지 않았으며 워드웰의 실종과 관련해 체포된 사람도 없다.

조사 결과 줄리언은 1992년부터 자택 인근에 보관창고를 대여한 것으로 드러났다.

창고 주인 게리 보일라드는 줄리언이 사용 요금을 항상 선불로 납부했으며 세 달에 한 번씩 직접 사용료를 냈다고 말했다.

보일라드는 "줄리언은 창고에 상자를 가득 쌓아놨다"면서 "앞뒤로 빽빽이 상자가 들어차있다"고 설명했다.

그러나 메인주 치안국의 스티븐 맥커스랜드 대변인은 "창고에는 냉장고 외에는 특이 사항이 있는 물건이 없었다"면서 "대부분이 집기류였다"고 밝혔다.

줄리언은 두 번 결혼해 11명의 자녀를 뒀으며 생전에는 아들과 함께 여러 종류의 가게를 운영했다.

줄리언의 이웃 제인 차일드는 그를 돈이 모자랄 때면 외상으로 물건을 내주던 친절한 가게 주인으로 기억하고 있었다.