JACKSON — Maine State Police have charged a 24-year-old man with murder in the death of a Florida firefighter who vanished 12 days ago in Maine.

Police this afternoon charged Daniel Porter with murdering Jerry Perdomo, of Orange City, Fla. Porter, who was one of the last people known to have seen Perdomo alive, was arrested at the Jackson home rented by Porter’s father.

Porter was to be taken to the Waldo County Jail in Belfast.

Perdomo has been missing since Feb. 16. His car was found in a Bangor Walmart parking lot.

Police over the weekend searched Porter’s father’s house – the last place Perdomo was seen alive.

Porter and his girlfriend, Cheyanne Nowak, 25, were located in Connecticut last week after buying a new car and leaving the state following Perdomo’s disappearance.

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the  Maine Public Safety Department, told the Associated Press that  the homicide was drug-related, but he said further details would be spelled out as early as Wednesday in court documents.

In Florida, firefighters from Seminole County — Perdomo’s colleagues — had been discussing coming to Maine to look for Perdomo.

McCausland also said Perdomo’s body has not been found, but he would not elaborate on what efforts are under way to locate it.


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