There are more than 120 cold cases involving homicides in Maine, according to the Maine State Police and police departments in Bangor and Portland, spanning every corner of the state and stretching as far back as 1954.
Two of the unsolved homicides on that list occurred 40 years ago. They were both in rural pockets of the Maine coast and shocked the tight-knit communities where they happened.
The first involves an infamous road Down East — the epicenter of many local legends but the site of only one verifiable murder.
The second involves a well-known member of a midcoast community, who was just a few months away from retiring but whose life was mysteriously cut short by an unknown assailant.
The Down East cold case started at some point between the night of Feb. 27 and the morning of Feb. 28, 1983. The body of 27-year-old Kenneth Kramer was found on Route 182 in the town of Cherryfield, with multiple shotgun wounds to the chest.
Route 182, also known as Black’s Woods Road, has long been rumored to be haunted by a woman named Catherine, for whom Catherine Hill, which lies along Route 182, is named.
Locals say the ghost can be seen walking along the side of the road, and some say if you drive by and don’t stop to help her you could crash your car. The supposedly haunted nature of the road only added to the mystery of the murder.
Kramer, an Army and Coast Guard veteran who was working as a merchant marine and who played in a local rock band, was last seen the night of Feb. 27, 1983, getting into a car with an unknown person. The following morning, his body was found on the side of the road by a passing trucker.
Maine State Police interviewed more than 100 people that knew Kramer, but according to a Bangor Daily News article published around the time of the murder, little information or evidence was found. According to a 2019 WVII-TV article, some locals believe it was a drug deal gone bad. Police also said that Kramer occasionally informed them about criminal activity in the area.
In the end, the trail went cold, and there have been virtually no updates to the Kramer case since the original investigations in 1983.
Just over six months later, another Maine murder would shock another small coastal town — this one in Lincoln County.
Douglas Parent, 64, was set to retire on Jan. 1, 1984, after nearly two decades running the Waldoboro News Stand, selling newspapers, magazines and other sundries in downtown Waldoboro. He was well-known and well-liked around town, as a businessman, as a member of the local Lions Club, and as a sometime stand-up comedian.
Parent was last seen alive around 8:45 p.m. at his apartment in Waldoboro. He told a friend he was meeting someone at 9 p.m. that night to discuss the terms of that person paying back money Parent had loaned him. The following morning, a friend found Parent dead in his apartment.
At first, police believed Parent had died from a heart attack or other natural causes. It was also unclear if a struggle had occurred, since Maine State Police investigators said Parent’s apartment was very disorganized. But after an autopsy, it was revealed that Parent had died from asphyxiation due to a crushed larynx — an injury that usually occurs due to brute force, such as a car accident or strangulation.
As the months progressed, however, little other information came to light. Though police did eventually determine that Parent had been killed, 40 years later, there are no suspects and the case remains officially unsolved.
Maine State Police still accept tips on unsolved homicide cases, even if there have been no new developments in decades. To send in a tip, use its tip form for either the northern or southern divisions.