Girls evacuated after suspicious man spotted

TOWNSHIP 1 RANGE 9 – Girl Scouts attending a local summer camp were bused south to sister camps on Tuesday after a suspicious man was spotted in Baxter State Park.

Girls attending Camp Natarswi were given the option to either go home or be bused to the Girl Scouts of Kennebec Council’s Camp Pondicherry in Bridgeton or Camp Kirkwold in Readfield, said Liz O’Donnell of the Abnaki Girl Scout Council.

“This man was never ever seen at the camp but because we are in the park and we did not know where he was we decided to evacuate,” O’Donnell said Tuesday. “Safety just had to be first.”

On Monday night, the Abnaki Girl Scout Council evacuated all 66 campers and 18 staff to the Millinocket Middle School. The campers spent the night at the school and 52 girls were bused south on Tuesday, O’Donnell said. The remaining 14 girls decided to return home.

The Girl Scouts, all fourth- to eighth-graders, chose which camp they wanted to attend for the remainder of their week, depending on their particular interests and skills, O’Donnell said. She said the council was unsure what it would do if the man was still in the area next week when the next camp is scheduled.

Camp Natarswi is located near the south entrance of Baxter State Park.

Despite the evacuation, local law enforcement officials do not consider the man to be dangerous, said Chris Drew, chief ranger at Baxter State Park. The man, John Burke of Salem, N.H., is considered a missing person, he said. Burke is 6 feet, 1 inch tall and approximately 190 pounds.

Burke drew attention to himself on Sunday when local officials responded to a call about a man acting strangely at a campground near Ambajejus Lake. He was located at a rafting camp near Spencer Cove, but he ran into the woods and swam across the cove in order to flee from deputies from the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department, according to Mark Latti, spokesman for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Latti said one warden assisted the deputies in the search for Burke.

Officials told the Bangor Daily News on Sunday that Burke had prematurely left a New Hampshire hospital and that he was not wanted for any crime.

Ranger Drew said Tuesday that police and Burke’s family are concerned for his welfare.