MANCHESTER, Maine – A couple was found dead in a parked SUV on Christmas morning under suspicious circumstances, and detectives were hoping to retrace their steps on Christmas Eve to try to figure out what happened to them.
The victims were identified as 35-year-old Eric Williams and 26-year-old Bonnie Royer, who lived together in Augusta. They resided less than a mile from where they were found in Manchester, state police said in a news release Friday night.
One of the victims called 911 at around 3:30 a.m. Friday from an isolated dirt road near a number of sand and gravel pits, state police said. Officers who responded found both of them dead.
Detectives hope to retrace the couple's steps, and they ask anyone who had contact with them to call state police in Augusta.
Lt. Jeffrey Love, of the state police major crimes unit, said at a news conference that the man was in the driver's seat and the woman was in the passenger seat. He wouldn't say who made the 911 call.
"It's too early to draw any conclusions," he said. "We have called it a suspicious death at this point, but we need to gather more information."
Somerset County police dispatch logs show a complaint was made at 3:34 a.m. about shots fired in the same location, the Kennebec Journal reported.
Autopsies will be performed Saturday.
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