A pop-up canopy protects a makeshift memorial on the steps of 5 Highland Ave. in Mechanic Falls where a single mother and her two young daughters, ages 7 and 11, were found dead Saturday in the second-floor apartment where they lived. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

MECHANIC FALLS — The community is grappling with growing grief and unanswered questions days after three bodies were found at an apartment on Highland Avenue in Mechanic Falls.

The mother and her two young daughters lived in a second-story apartment at the corner of Elm Street and Highland Avenue. There, pasted on a door at the top of the stairs, is a seven-day notice to pay overdue rent that is dated July 17.

On the lawn Wednesday, flowers, cards, pictures and stuffed toys crowded the bottom of the stairway leading up to that door. Earlier in the week the expanding pile of mementoes was exposed to the elements, but a blue pop-up tent has since been set over the collection to shelter the tributes.

Nearby, on the trampoline where the sisters were often seen playing, is a bright pink life vest.

The multiunit apartment building is on a corner of a heavily trafficked road, with cars now slowing to look at the house and the brightly-colored mementoes.

The bodies were discovered Saturday after Mechanic Falls Police conducted a welfare check at the apartment, and the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit was immediately called in.

Neighbors watched as police spent the afternoon and hours into the evening in and around the apartment, and watched as the bodies were removed by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner.

Autopsies were to begin Monday to positively identify them and determine the cause and manner of their deaths, but those results have not yet been released.

A GoFundMe page to raise money to pay for the sisters’ funeral has identified the two as Hope Marie West, who would have turned 7 on July 27 — the day her body was discovered — and 11-year-old Harmony Mae West. The mother is not named on that page, but the Sun Journal was able to confirm that the mother worked as an inbound sales representative at the former Maine-based Argo Marketing from April to August 2017, and one of the neighbors believed she most recently drove for Door Dash, a job where she was able to take her girls in the car on deliveries.

The GoFundMe page was set up and is being managed by the girls’ great-uncle Dan Parrott, who lives in Nevada, at the request of his sister and the girls’ paternal grandmother in Lewiston. All funds will go directly to the family to cover funeral expenses for the children.

As of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, $5,503 had been raised toward the $10,000 goal.

The girls, who were both born in Lewiston, were students at Elm Street School and hadn’t been to summer school in recent weeks, according to a neighbor whose daughter went to school with them.

As the town awaits answers, many neighbors declined to comment Wednesday. At one house, two people sitting in a house didn’t even get up to answer the door. Others answered a knock, but didn’t want to talk, including a couple who rents an apartment in the same building as the deceased and also declined to speak to the Sun Journal on Sunday.

But Claudia Gomez, who lives in Mechanic Falls, was willing to talk, if ever so briefly, saying she was in disbelief.

“It’s just so sad,” Gomez said. “I can’t believe how someone could do this.”

Neighbors who were willing to speak Sunday said they hadn’t seen the girls playing outside in several weeks, but that they really didn’t know the family very well because the mother kept to herself.

A number of neighbors mentioned that the family had two dogs, a Doberman pinscher and another small, white dog, but no one remembered seeing the dogs for weeks.

The area’s animal control officer, Robert Larrabee, said Wednesday that he was unable to share any details about the family’s dogs due to the ongoing investigation. Responsible Pet Care of Oxford Hills, an animal shelter located in Paris, did not confirm or deny any relevant intake in the past few weeks.

Asked Wednesday about the notice to pay overdue rent posted on the family’s door, Craig McMurray, attorney for the Alfred-based landlord, declined to comment on what had prompted the notice.

On Sunday, Regional School Unit 16 Superintendent Amy Hediger issued a statement noting that “our community is facing an unimaginable loss,” urging the community that “as we navigate through this difficult time, it’s important to acknowledge that everyone will respond differently. Emotions like shock, sadness, fear, and anger will come and go over the coming days, weeks, and months. Some may seek solitude, while others might find comfort in talking with friends or trusted adults. The pace at which we each feel ready to return to our routines will vary.”

As soon as the district learned of the girls’ deaths, the Elm Street School crisis team met to start planning how best to support staff and students “through this difficult time,” Hediger said.

On Monday, members of the staff were invited to the school to meet with Principal Jessica Madsen and School Resource Officer Berni Westleigh to share the details that could be publicly shared, and were then encouraged to gather in ways that felt right to them, Hediger said. Former ESS teacher Rebekah Bilodeau brought therapy dog Nova to summer school to comfort and support students and school counselors and social workers were available to meet with staff.

On Tuesday, students and families were invited to the school where counselors and social workers were there to meet with them.

Lewiston-based Mission Working Dogs, which trains service and support dogs, had dogs available in the library for additional comfort. And, Hediger said, families were invited to participate in activities such as rock painting, journaling, drawing, basketball, or simply visiting with beloved staff members, while meals were served in the cafeteria and families were encouraged to take home informational handouts on grief and dealing with loss.

Asked about how children process grief, Gretchen Johnson, executive director at the Center for Grieving Children, said, “An adult looking to talk to a child about this needs to let the child lead. Letting the child lead the conversation is usually the best approach.”

Often, “providing factual information that is not scary or overwhelming in a calm manner allows the child to ask questions that they may have,” she said, and “answering those questions allows the child to decide how much they need to know and how much they’re ready for.”

These can be hard conversations and “an adult should really steward the conversation in a way that they know will best serve the interests of the child. Specifically, not using overly technical terms, but also not using any phrasing that is not based on facts,” Johnson noted. “We don’t recommend people use terms like ‘sleeping,’ or ‘they’re not going to wake up again.’ We recommend that people use honest terms, like ‘this person has died,’ but in an age-appropriate way.”

Johnson said providing children with reassurance is important in such difficult conversations. “Answer questions that the child may have while reassuring them that the adult’s job is to keep them safe; that they are safe and will remain safe; that sometimes things like this do happen, but that it is very, very rare and that the child is safe and has a lot of people around them whose responsibility is to keep them safe,” Johnson said.

On Monday, the Sun Journal placed a call with the Department of Health and Human Services asking whether the agency had ever had any contact with the family, but that call has not been returned.

The Portland-based Center for Grieving Children is available to answer questions and provide resources for parents, caregivers and community members navigating grief. For resources and support, call 207-775-5216 Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. People can also email the center anytime at cgc@cgcmaine.org and one of its staff members will respond. More resources can be found at cgcmaine.org.