Burned body found in truck in New Canada

SOLDIER POND – A body burned beyond recognition was found in the truck of a Soldier Pond man who was last seen early Monday afternoon.

Peter Daigle, 39, the owner of the Lake Road Grocery in Soldier Pond, was last seen about 1 p.m. Monday at his store. His burned 1995 red Ford pickup was spotted by someone in a field off the New Canada Road in New Canada about 2 p.m.

“We don’t have a positive identification of the person in the burned pickup,” Lt. Darrell Ouellette of the state police said Tuesday afternoon. “The body is burned beyond recognition.

“It [the pickup] is owned by Peter Daigle,” he said. “We don’t know if he was the person inside.”

Both the vehicle and the body were brought to the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta on Tuesday. Ouellette said it may be Wednesday before anything comes from the autopsy.

Daigle operated a convenience store at the corner of Sly Brook and Strip roads in Soldier Pond. Police said he lived with his parents, just a short distance from where the burning pickup was found.

Ouellette said the state police, its criminal investigation division and the State Fire Marshal’s Office are involved in the investigation.

Dave Pelletier, fire chief at Fort Kent, said the pickup truck was ablaze in a field off the New Canada Road in New Canada when his firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after 2:20 p.m. Monday.

It took the 20 firefighters only five minutes to put down the fire. That’s when a body was spotted inside the vehicle.

He said someone, he did not know who, spotted the burning vehicle and called in the alarm.

A spokesperson in the medical examiner’s office said the body arrived there about 2 p.m. Tuesday. She did not know whether the autopsy would be done Tuesday or Wednesday.

“Peter [Daigle] is missing,” Ouellette said Tuesday. “We think it might be him in the vehicle, but we don’t have a positive identification.

“In the meantime, we are interviewing people and trying to find out what happened,” he said.