Amy Drake 18 Murdered Sept-Nov. 2006, ME
Police Call Woman's Disappearance Suspicious By News 8 WMTW POSTED: 11:05 am EDT October 17, 2006 UPDATED: 11:18 am EDT October 17, 2006 SKOWHEGAN, Maine -- Skowhegan police said they are following leads in the case of an 18-year-old woman who has been missing for nearly a month. Detective Dan Summers told News 8 that he considers the disappearance of Amy Drake suspicious. Drake, of Skowhegan, was reported missing on Sept. 24, two days after visiting her mother. Summers said Drake did not take a purse, clothing or other items from her apartment. He also said that nothing seemed out of the ordinary when Drake visited with her mother last month. http://www.wmtw.com/news/10095400/detail.html

Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Woman missing for weeks By DARLA L. PICKETT Staff Writer SKOWHEGAN -- Police have stepped up their search for 18-year-old Amy Drake, who they say disappeared about three weeks ago. "It is suspicious. We're really concerned and worried about her well-being. We reported her missing since Sept. 20 and still no one has heard from her," Detective Daniel Summers of the Skowhegan Police Department said. Drake left her purse at her mother's home and did not take any clothing from her apartment at 24 South Factory St., Summers said. "She has no change of clothes, no purse, no money, no friends have seen her, so how is she surviving out there?" Summers asked. He said a search of her apartment has provided no clues to her whereabouts. Summers said all his other cases have been put on hold while he dedicates himself full-time to the search for Drake. The Maine State Police are also involved, he said. "We don't have anything pointing to any foul play right now, but we haven't had one phone call as far as where she might be, not one phone call coming in as a lead." The teen had been working odd jobs, but was currently unemployed, Summers said. Summers said the missing teen visited her mother, Norma Drake, every day at her Beech Street home before her disappearance. The mother was the one who turned over the purse to police, he said. Attempts to contact the mother were unsuccessful. Summers said her boyfriend is in jail on charges that were in place before the missing person's report was filed. Summers is asking the public for help. Drake has a Playboy bunny tattoo above her right breast. People can call the police hot line, anonymously if they want, at 474-6915. Darla L. Pickett -- 474-9534, Ext. 341 dpickett@centralmaine.com http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/3233319.shtml

Body of Missing Teen Found In Norridgewock By News 8 WMTW POSTED: 10:22 am EST November 26, 2006 UPDATED: 5:08 pm EST November 27, 2006 NORRIDGEWOCK, Maine -- A body found last week in a wooded area of Norridgewock has been identified as that of an 18-year-old Skowhegan woman who'd been missing for more than two months. Authorities said Monday afternoon that the dead woman was identified by the state medical examiner's office and the state police crime lab as Amy Drake. Detectives said Drake was last seen at her mother's home in Skowhegan on Sept. 24 and was reported missing a few days later. Investigators aren't commenting on the cause of death, but the medical examiner's office has declared the death a homicide. Deer hunters found the remains Friday off the River Road in Norridgewock. An autopsy was performed over the weekend, and DNA was used in identifying Drake. http://www.wmtw.com/news/10399029/detail.html

The unspeakable becomes very real from the Morning Sentinel Two people are dead, one a child and one an almost-child. Anthony Tucker, 13, of Palmyra, was an eighth-grader at Somerset Valley Middle School in Hartland; his mother's boyfriend, 39-year-old Todd Curry, was charged Tuesday with his murder. Amy Drake of Skowhegan was 19; her remains were found last Friday in rural Norridgewock. Police are hunting for her killer. Their deaths are unimaginable; the forces that may have played into them are not. Anthony's accused murderer, Curry, was arrested on a domestic assault charge in January; one area resident said "this whole neighborhood was petrified of him." The same neighbor says she called police several times about gunshots coming from the home Curry shared with Anthony's mother. He claimed he was engaged in target practice -- after dark. Drake's best friend, Tracy Turner, told this newspaper that the Skowhegan teen, who had been missing since September, had descended into a life of drugs and hung out with the wrong crowd -- even though she also visited her mother every single day. Turner claimed her friend had holes in her arms from shooting up. Just as alarming, Drake's boyfriend -- and the father of her child -- pleaded guilty this summer to domestic assault against Drake and was sentenced to six months behind bars -- but was out on a stay of that sentence when Drake was last seen. This was the same man who Drake told police had punched her in the head, broken her nose, thrown her to the floor in a previous assault -- and threatened to kill her if she reported the assault. Two slayings, two young people whose lives were cursed with horrific violence, who will never live to see the brightness of the sun, taste the pleasure of a summer ice cream cone, delight in the antics of their own children. We are sorry for what they had to endure in their brief lives, we are sorry that we could not help them -- and we are so very sorry for their deaths. http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/view/columns/205559973.html

Loved ones gather to remember victim in unsolved killing By LARRY GRARD, Blethen Maine News Service Sunday, December 10, 2006 SKOWHEGAN - Dozens of relatives and friends filled Smart and Edwards Funeral Home on Saturday, providing some comfort to the mother of a 19-year-old girl who police say was killed, and her body left in the Norridgewock woods. All remembered an Amy Drake whose childhood was a happy one until drug use took its toll. Drake's mother, Norma Drake, was comforted by her sisters and others as she sat near the urn that contained her daughter's ashes. Touching words of remembrance came from Amy Drake's friends and from her mother. But before those loving sentiments, the Rev. Mark Tanner used words such as "horrific" and "devastating" to describe the circumstances that led to Drake's killing, which remains unsolved. He urged those gathered to maintain a certain vigilance. "We all have a job to do," Tanner said. "We have a responsibility to one another. We have a responsibility to our young people, and to the ones around us ­ to keep our eyes open." Drake disappeared Sept. 27, and hunters found her body on Nov. 24. She left behind a 2-year-old child, Torence Drake. "The voices that God has given us are voices that allow us to speak. Some of the worst mistakes we can make as people are to keep our mouths closed," Tanner said. Norma Drake entered the funeral home sobbing. Sisters Darlene Cote of East Livermore, Loretta Norris of Litchfield, Penny Conley of Augusta Diane Chicoine of Fayette and Darlene Robertson were there to comfort Drake. Conley and another sister, Elaine Levesque, sat in front with Drake. Drake nodded as Tanner told her that she was surrounded by loved ones. "I want you to know that our hearts are all with you today," Tanner said. Tanner then recounted some of Amy Drake's childhood stories, such as cheerleading, picking fiddleheads and playing cards with her mother. He then read a message that Norma Drake had written: "Amy my beautiful daughter, we were not ready for you to go. You will not be forgotten, sweetheart. Sincerely missed, Mom." Tanner then read a message from Amy Drake's friend, Megan Theriault: "Now I'm scared about going through life without you. You knew all my secrets." Tammi Harlow read a note from her daughter Monica, who had been a friend of Amy's until they lost touch with each other two years ago. Monica Harlow included a poem titled "Best Friends." Tracy Turner then walked into the small parlor that contained the urn and pictures of her best friend. Carrying a bouquet of roses, Turner said she hoped Amy Drake is in a better place. "I just miss you in the worst kind of way," Turner said, her voice trembling. "My beautiful angel, my sister, my friend. I will never forget you. Rest in heavenly peace, my beautiful angel, my beautiful friend." Turner and Norma Drake, both crying, hugged. Following closing remarks and prayers by Tanner, the group drove to Livermore Falls for burial, then a luncheon. http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/061210drake.html