One dead, one missing in Canaan

CANAAN – A mystery deepened Monday in the case of two missing women who shared a red-and-white trailer with a man who allegedly kept police at bay during the weekend with a bow and arrow.

The disappearance of the two women was partially solved Friday with the discovery of the body of Cheryl Murdoch, 37, who last was seen alive July 27.

Police called Murdoch a homicide victim, although they would not say how she died or how long she had been dead. It is the first homicide in rural Canaan, with a population of about 2,000, in more than 20 years.

On Monday, police confirmed that they were searching for a second missing woman, whose husband was arrested after a police standoff Sunday night.

All three people shared the trailer in Canaan.

Detectives would not speculate as to what happened among the three people, Maine State Police Lt. Gary Wright said Monday: “Anything is possible at this point. There is a lot that is unknown here.”

As part of the investigation, state police detectives arrested Shannon Atwood, 36, after the standoff at his Route 23-Hartland Road trailer Sunday night, the same place where Murdoch had been living.

They simultaneously issued a plea for information about Atwood’s estranged wife, Shirley Moon Atwood, 35, who was listed in police bulletins as missing and endangered.

Details were few during a news conference Monday afternoon at the Skowhegan state police barracks, where detectives revealed only that Murdoch was slain, Shannon Atwood was in jail, and Shirley Moon Atwood was missing.

Police said the three had been living in the same home but were unclear as to the relationship among them.

Murdoch’s body was found Friday night in the woods off Scott Road, a dirt road off Lancaster Road, about five miles from the Atwood home. Wright said the body was discovered by a Maine Warden Service search dog that had been searching the area because of information developed during the investigation into Murdoch’s disappearance.

Wright refused to describe the manner of Murdoch’s death, whether she was killed in the woods or whether her body had been dumped there. The winding dirt road is littered with trash, mattresses and old campfire sites.

On Monday, there appeared to be no homes on the road.

About five miles away, investigators were still at the Atwood home at 534 Hartland Road on Monday afternoon, collecting evidence after the standoff Sunday night.

The home is a red-and-white trailer with an addition, neatly decorated with small gardens. A barn and corral are across the driveway from the home, which is surrounded by trees and is a distance from its neighbors.

Wright said that Atwood, who was being held on $20,000 bail at Skowhegan County Jail, was charged with terrorizing, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and reckless conduct after police attempted to serve a search warrant Sunday afternoon. Atwood barricaded himself in the home and allegedly held police at bay with a bow and arrow. He eventually surrendered without injury.

Atwood appeared in 13th District Court in Skowhegan on Monday afternoon, entering a plea of not guilty to all charges and his bail was continued. Court personnel said a search of the Skowhegan court records revealed no previous convictions for Atwood, who is believed to have lived originally in the Bingham area.

His estranged wife, Shirley Moon Atwood, was last seen around the time Murdoch went missing, Wright confirmed. Police originally believed that she was driving a Chevrolet pickup truck, but that vehicle was discovered this weekend.

Wright would not say where the truck was found, but Murdoch’s vehicle was found in Atwood’s driveway. Murdoch was reported missing Aug. 6 when she failed to meet her mother and 13-year-old daughter in Arizona.

Shirley Moon Atwood is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall, 104 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. Anyone with information as to her whereabouts is asked to call the Maine State Police at (800) 452-4664.