HOULTON, Maine — On Thursday, April 5, at 1 p.m. the Houlton Police Department received a call to respond to the Tourist Information Center on the Ludlow Road to take possession of some mislaid property.
“An employee, Larry McGuire, 65 of Littleton, advised investigating Officer Charles Wampler III that he had gone into the men’s restroom at approximately 12:30 p.m. to clean, but someone was in there so he proceeded to clean the women’s restroom instead,” Chief Butch Asselin said. “When Mr. McGuire returned to the men’s restroom, the gentleman who had been there had left. Mr. McGuire then observed some items that had been left behind. These items had not been there previously. Mr. McGuire then notified a co-worker, Heidi Dolomont of Hodgdon, of his discovery.”
The items that were left behind included a checkbook, an address book, some note cards and an envelope containing $1,890 in cash. Dolomont contacted the bank listed on the checks in an attempt to obtain a phone number and to also let them know she had the checks in the event the owner, Paul E. Bennett, 67, of Freeport, contacted them, the chief said. Once Dolomont was able to obtain a phone number for Bennett, she contacted his residence and left a message on his answering machine.
At 2:21 p.m., Bennett came to the Houlton Police Department to recover his property.
“Mr. Bennett was quite relieved to have his money returned and indicated to Officer Wampler that he was going to write a letter to the Tourist Information Center thanking them for recovering his property,” the chief said.
Officer Wampler later awarded McGuire a Houlton Police Department challenge coin for his honesty.
