WATERVILLE — Steven C. Brandon was a registered nurse, licensed massage therapist and propane delivery driver who was building a house in Thorndike when he disappeared in 2004 from his Winter Street apartment.

His remains were found Saturday — eight years later — in a wooded area off North Riverside Drive during a search for missing toddler Ayla Reynolds.

Brandon, 54, died of an apparent suicide, according to his mother, Ann Brandon, 86, of Steuben.

“It was deliberate, and it was precipitated by a disturbance,” she said Thursday. “It’s a relief because we didn’t know if he was dead or alive. I’m sorry how it turned out, but I’m glad to know it’s over.”

She didn’t want to discuss the nature of the disturbance or who it involved, but a story from the Morning Sentinel, dated Aug. 24, 2004, reported he apparently was distraught over an argument with his girlfriend.

He was last seen Feb. 16, 2004, and reported missing March 1, 2004, according to that report.

Ann Brandon learned her son’s remains were found from Washington County Sheriff’s Department deputies, who visited her at the request of Waterville police, she said.

Former Waterville police Detective John Weeks, who worked on the case in 2004 and retired from the force in 2005, said Thursday that he was surprised to learn that Brandon apparently killed himself.

“I don’t recall that there was anything that led me to believe he would do that,” Weeks said.

When he disappeared, Brandon had worked for Maingas, based in Fairfield, for 15 years.

Ken Leclair, an office worker who has been with Maingas 25 years, remembers him well.

“He was a really nice guy,” Leclair said Thursday. “He delivered propane. He was always kind of a happy guy — a great worker.”

Leclair said he felt sad when he read in Sunday’s paper that Brandon’s remains had been found. He recalled that Brandon did not show up for work one day and co-workers became increasingly concerned as time went on and he did not appear. They always wondered what happened to him, Leclair said.

“I was here when that happened and it was shocking,” he said. “We always held out hope that he’d be found alive.”

Deputy police Chief Charles Rumsey said police won’t comment on the cause of death until the state medical examiner’s office has completed its examination and report.

“We have not heard back from them and it may be some time before we do,” Rumsey said.

Rumsey said state and local police, as well as a medical examiner, went to the scene after Brandon’s remains were found off North Riverside Drive, which is off Mayflower Hill Drive. As seen from an aerial map, the site is diagonally across Messalonskee Stream from the Alfond Youth Center on North Street.

Ann Brandon said her son was born Sept. 30, 1950, in Lancaster, Pa. She spoke lovingly of her son, at first speaking in the present tense.

“He has property in Thorndike, was building a place there and thought he could spend the winter there in a trailer, but the trailer was not warm enough,” she said. “So he took an apartment in Waterville for the winter. The house in Thorndike he was building was very unconventional. It was unusual and very green.”

She said he loved Maine and he was responsible for drawing her and his sister, Susan, with whom she now lives, to the state. Other family members eventually came, too. His sister Sarah also lives in Steuben, and a brother, Jon, lives in Bath. Another brother, Fred, lives in Andover, Mass.

She said her son was a star athlete in high school, loved hiking and had hiked on the Appalachian Trail. He also loved to dance.

“He was very giving and sharing,” she said.

She said she wants to write a letter to the searchers who found her son’s remains, which included his clothing and wallet.

“They inadvertently, looking for Ayla, found Steve,” she said. “That was an answer to a prayer, unwittingly.”

The family has not planned a service for her son.

“Whatever we have will be intimate,” she said. “Just family.”

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

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