Caribou girl found in mother’s garage

CARIBOU – A local teenager missing for eight days was found Tuesday morning in the hull of a boat in her mother’s garage, according to Caribou police.

Simone Willett, 17, appeared in good shape when officers found her during a search of her mother’s home, Officer Chris Thornton said Tuesday.

Thornton and Detective Darryl Pelletier of the Maine State Police were searching a second garage, used for storage, on JoAnne Labbe’s property when they found Willett. Police lifted the canvas cover from a large boat in the garage when they saw something inside.

When they removed the cover, Willett sat up. She didn’t show any emotion or give any reaction, Thornton said.

Labbe began crying as soon as she realized her daughter had been discovered, he said.

The girl apparently had been hiding in the boat and sneaking into the house to use the bathroom and scavenge for food when her mother was not home, Thornton said.

Willett was taken Tuesday afternoon to the Caribou Police Department and later went home with her mother.

No charges will be filed, Thornton said.

Willett disappeared on March 29 after a dispute with her mother. Police were told that Willett had been living at another residence during the week of March 22, but returned to Labbe’s house on March 29. After a dispute, Willett apparently left the house.

Willett is now back with her mother, and both women are taking the necessary steps to get their lives back in order, Thornton said.