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LISBON. At a boat ramp, the trail of the Maine mass murderer ends.
Police are now combing the river with divers and sonars in search of fresh clues.
Neighbor Susanne Murphy, 50, crawls on the floor at home in the evenings – for fear that the shooter is lurking in her backyard.
– I am hypervigilant, she says.
Yellow cordons are strung across the Androscoggin River.
A drone and helicopters roar in the air. Divers comb the water, while heavily armed police search the deciduous forest.
Investigators seem particularly interested in a boat ramp at a parking lot. Here the last traces of the suspected perpetrator Robert Card, 40, were found.
Left everything at the boat ramp
Two days have passed since Card opened fire on a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston, Maine. 18 people were shot dead, and 13 were injured.
Four hours later, his white Subaru was found, with the headlights on and the door open, 14 kilometers away. Inside the car was a weapon.
Everything had been abandoned at the boat ramp in Lisbon.
– There was a whole parade of sirens here, says neighbor Susanne Murphy, pointing with her hands along the street.
During Friday, the police intensified the search in the area around her house. Her concern is that he is out there somewhere in the woods.
– There are many places to hide here for those who want to, she says and her eyes widen.
– We have had helicopters above us the whole time. It is quite a bizarre experience to get the searchlights straight down into the garden.
Note that resembles a suicide note
Behind her house also flows the river, which the police fine-tune with sonars.
The coast guard is also looking for the boat that the suspected perpetrator owns.
But so far, the police do not have many clues to go on.
A note is said to have been found in Card’s home, among other things. According to US media sources, the message is similar to a suicide note, with information on how to find his things, or dispose of possessions.
It is this information that should have made the police focus on the water and forest where the car was abandoned.
Received 500 tips
They are looking for possible evidence, but also “potential bodies”, stated at a press conference. The police have so far received over 500 tips from the public.
– We follow every tip that comes in. It doesn’t matter how small it is, or how many. We will put all the resources we can into this, says Ryan McGee, police chief in Lisbon, during the search operation to Aftonbladet.
So far, the motive behind the shootings is unknown. However, Card is said to have suffered from mental illness and “heard voices”, according to relatives. There is also evidence to suggest that Card did not choose random locations for his acts of insanity.
The theory: Aimed at the deaf
One theory is that his ex-girlfriend can be connected to one of the crime scenes. Another theory is that he targeted deaf people.
Four out of eight victims at the Schemengees restaurant were deaf and playing the game cornhole when Robert Card opened fire. They never heard the shots coming.
Card, too, is said to have been a frequent cornhole player, had hearing problems and recently started wearing a hearing aid, sources close to the Daily Beast say.
Susanne Murphy looks away towards the forest where the police continue the search for the mass murderer. No one knows how long until she and her neighbors will be asked to stay indoors.
– I am hypervigilant. Game on, she says defiantly.
“Crawling along the floor”
At the same time, the fear is there. Especially when darkness falls. Then she has all the lanterns lit on the outside of her gray terraced house, in the hope that it will scare away potential perpetrators.
– Since my windows are quite low, I crawl along the floor in the evenings. Sometimes I dare to cautiously peek over the edge and out the window, she says.
– The police need all the eyes they can get around here.
On weekdays, she works as a specialist in grief processing. She believes the massacre will affect many throughout Maine for a long time to come. Whether Card is found, alive or dead.
– Maine is known for being a very safe state – now that security has been taken away from all the residents here.