AUGUSTA — City and Maine State Police detectives are investigating a death discovered Thursday morning at an apartment on Mount Vernon Avenue.

Deputy Chief Jared Mills, of the Augusta Police Department, who declined to identify the 43-year-old man, described the death as unexplained but not necessarily suspicious. Mills said the state medical examiner was scheduled to perform an autopsy Friday to determine how the man died and whether a crime took place.

“We really don’t know what the cause is one way or the other. It wasn’t apparent,” Mills said. “I expect some concrete answers in the next 24 hours. We should have answers pretty soon.”

Augusta firefighters and rescue workers were called to 95 Mount Vernon Ave. around 5 a.m. Thursday for a person experiencing a medical problem, Mills said. Paramedics arrived at the apartment to find the man was dead.

However, Mills said the manner and cause of death could not be explained easily, so detectives from the Augusta and state police were called to investigate. Detectives remained at the scene collecting evidence until around noon.

Steven McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said state police sent a couple of detectives to assist with the investigation, but the Augusta Police Department was taking the lead. State police investigate all homicides in Maine except those that occur in Bangor and Portland, which are investigated by police in those cities.

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“I suspect this is going to remain an Augusta police investigation,” McCausland said.

A group of about a dozen people congregated outside in a driveway next door at 97 Mount Vernon Ave. as the detectives worked. The group seemed at ease, smoking, talking and drinking coffee. None, however, would comment on the police investigation.

City records indicate the building at 95 Mount Vernon Ave. is a three-family dwelling owned by Steve Quinn. Mills said tenants should be allowed to return to their apartments today.

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @CraigCrosby4


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