Search continues in Maine as officer is charged with lying about taking missing person to hospital

Police in Maine say an officer accused of lying about a missing persons case has been charged with several crimes, including falsifying a report claiming he took the missing man to a hospital.

WASHBURN, Maine — A Maine police officer accused of lying about a missing person case was charged with several crimes, including falsifying a report claiming he took the missing man to a hospital, police said.

Washburn Police Sgt. Chandler Cole resigned from the police force after being charged with aggravated forgery, tampering with public records or information, tampering with physical evidence and unsworn forgery, court records show.

Cole said he had no comment when reached by The Associated Press.

The charges, first reported by WAGM-TV, stem from the case of a missing person who appeared to be upset when spotted along a road on March 30.

Cole reported that he picked up Erik Foote and dropped him off at a convenience store, but he told Foote’s parents that he took him to the hospital.

An investigation found that Cole had changed his report to reflect a hospital discharge. But there are no hospital records to support this claim.

Foote has yet to be located in a case that has captivated the community of 1,500 people, which organized another search operation this weekend to look for him.

The Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating.

The municipality is considering whether or not to maintain a police station. Washburn’s police chief retired Jan. 31, Cole resigned in February and a junior officer is working elsewhere, City Manager Donna Turner said.

For now, the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office is providing coverage while Washburn has no police department.