02-28-2012, 04:27 PM
just published on Bangor Daily News online:
JACKSON, Maine — The brother-in-law of a missing Florida firefighter had just arrived Tuesday at the last place the man was seen — a house on Hadley Mills Road — when the Maine State Police pulled into the driveway with the man who is a person of interest in the case in the backseat.
Chris Lerch, of Florida, said by phone that it was painful seeing Daniel Porter, 24, of Bangor get out of the police cruiser.
“It’s difficult,” he said. “It’s just very difficult.”
Police have said they believe that Porter is one of the last people to have contact with Jerry Perdomo, 31, of Orange City, Fla. — a firefighter and emergency medical technician for the Seminole County Fire Department — who has been missing since Feb. 16. His rental car was found abandoned at the Bangor Walmart the next day.
Porter, who was identified Monday as a person of interest in the disappearance of Perdomo, was in the police car and his father and another man were in a separate car that arrived at the same time Tuesday afternoon, said Bangor firefighter John Higgins, who is escorting Lerch around Maine.
“We just keep ending up back there,” Higgins said, referring to Jackson. “When we got there nobody was there” except for a couple of television crews.
“They brought him in there and they’re still there,” the Bangor firefighter said just before 2 p.m., referring to Porter. “We were asked to leave by the officer, so we left. He said they were in the middle of an investigation and asked us to leave, so we did.”
Seminole County firefighter Troy Todak, who is in Maine to help with the search for his friend and co-worker, remained at the scene with the news media.
Authorities collected evidence from the Waldo County house over the weekend, including a rolled-up piece of carpet and other items, and are searching two cars driven by Porter as well as the missing Florida man’s rental car.
Porter and his 25-year-old girlfriend, Cheyanne Nowak, may have been the last ones to have contact with Perdomo, police have said.
Lerch said he can only speculate on what state police are doing with Porter at the last place his brother-in-law was seen.
“I don’t know what they are doing,” the Florida man said. “I’m not going to try and guess."
now--->
![[Image: IMAG0023-600x359.jpg]](http://bdnpull.bangorpublishing.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMAG0023-600x359.jpg)
JACKSON, Maine — The brother-in-law of a missing Florida firefighter had just arrived Tuesday at the last place the man was seen — a house on Hadley Mills Road — when the Maine State Police pulled into the driveway with the man who is a person of interest in the case in the backseat.
Chris Lerch, of Florida, said by phone that it was painful seeing Daniel Porter, 24, of Bangor get out of the police cruiser.
“It’s difficult,” he said. “It’s just very difficult.”
Police have said they believe that Porter is one of the last people to have contact with Jerry Perdomo, 31, of Orange City, Fla. — a firefighter and emergency medical technician for the Seminole County Fire Department — who has been missing since Feb. 16. His rental car was found abandoned at the Bangor Walmart the next day.
Porter, who was identified Monday as a person of interest in the disappearance of Perdomo, was in the police car and his father and another man were in a separate car that arrived at the same time Tuesday afternoon, said Bangor firefighter John Higgins, who is escorting Lerch around Maine.
“We just keep ending up back there,” Higgins said, referring to Jackson. “When we got there nobody was there” except for a couple of television crews.
“They brought him in there and they’re still there,” the Bangor firefighter said just before 2 p.m., referring to Porter. “We were asked to leave by the officer, so we left. He said they were in the middle of an investigation and asked us to leave, so we did.”
Seminole County firefighter Troy Todak, who is in Maine to help with the search for his friend and co-worker, remained at the scene with the news media.
Authorities collected evidence from the Waldo County house over the weekend, including a rolled-up piece of carpet and other items, and are searching two cars driven by Porter as well as the missing Florida man’s rental car.
Porter and his 25-year-old girlfriend, Cheyanne Nowak, may have been the last ones to have contact with Perdomo, police have said.
Lerch said he can only speculate on what state police are doing with Porter at the last place his brother-in-law was seen.
“I don’t know what they are doing,” the Florida man said. “I’m not going to try and guess."
now--->