PARKMAN – Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an elderly local man.

Arthur Bailey, said to be in his 80s, was discovered lying in his driveway early Monday morning by a newspaper deliverer. Bailey, who was alive but had a head injury, was taken by ambulance to Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft and transferred to Eastern Maine Medical Center. He died on Thursday.

While the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department does not believe his death was suspicious, it has requested an investigation by the Maine State Criminal Investigation Division in order to dispel rumors that Bailey was attacked.

Sheriff John Goggin said Friday that he had requested CID to perform a general investigation as a backup to his department’s investigation. He also asked the state Medical Examiner’s Office to conduct an autopsy.

“We just want to make sure we’re covering all the bases,” Goggin said Friday.

Police say Bailey had apparently been on the ground for several hours when Laurie Norrie of Palmyra, an independent Bangor Daily News carrier, discovered him about 3:30 a.m. Monday.

Norrie said Friday that she typically turns around in Bailey’s driveway and backs up to his newspaper box. It was when she drove into his yard that she saw the man on the ground. She said she drove up to where he was and hollered to him, afraid to get out of the car because his German shepherd was keeping guard.

“He started moaning so I knew he was alive,” Norrie said. She noticed a light on in the house across the driveway and asked them to call 911. While the neighbor called for an ambulance, Norrie said, she went back to Bailey and threw her coat out the window over the elderly man, still afraid to get out of the car. Norrie said Bailey had blood on the back and front of his head and a rifle was lying nearby.

Goggin said his department did not get involved in the investigation until Wednesday when family members, who were suspicious of his injuries, reported the incident.