By Dominik Lobkowicz
The remains of Charles E. “Chuck” Woodburn were recovered from this shallow grave (foreground) at 219 Neck Rd. in Jefferson in August. (D. Lobkowicz photo, LCN file) |
A DNA test has confirmed the remains of a homicide victim found buried in a shallow grave in Jefferson are those of Charles E. “Chuck” Woodburn, according to Detective Sgt. Jeff
Love, of the Maine State Police.
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Charles E. Woodburn |
Love confirmed the test results the morning of Nov. 21, saying the confirmation came within the last two to three weeks.
“We’d reached out to the immediate family” for the test, Love said.
The State Medical Examiner’s Office has reported Woodburn was a victim of a homicide, but authorities are still not releasing the exact cause of death.
The state police excavated Woodburn’s remains from the front yard of 219 Neck Rd. in Jefferson on Aug. 27. The remains were located only about two feet below the
yard’s surface, Love said previously.
Woodburn, born on Dec. 4, 1951 in Newburyport, Mass., was last seen alive over 10 years ago.
The state police are continuing to interview people and collect information to narrow down the time line of Woodburn’s death, Love said. Anyone who had contact with
Woodburn back in 2002 to 2003 are asked to call 624-7000.
As far as suspects in the case, Love said, “We’re going to continue to interview people, and then at some point we’ll sit down and present the case and consult with
the attorney general’s office and make that decision.” Love did not give an estimate as to when that sit-down might occur.
According to divorce paperwork filed in November 2003 by Woodburn’s then-wife, Diane Woodburn, she had not seen Charles Woodburn since May of that year. She was
granted the divorce in February 2004 on grounds of “cruel and abusive treatment and abandonment.”
Woodburn was not reported missing until Sept. 2, 2010 – 16 days after Diane’s death.
It was a month before Woodburn was last reportedly seen by Diane that she met Robert Gaudette, a man she would later marry.
In an interview in September, Gaudette said he met Diane in April 2003 at a yard sale he held in Waterville and after they hit it off, he moved in with her on Neck
Road in late June of that year.
Gaudette said he never met Woodburn, and Diane told him Woodburn had taken a large sum of money and left.
Gaudette admitted his belief Diane must have known something about Woodburn’s death, but also said if Woodburn was abusive to her, it may have prompted her to
action.
“As this story is unfolding, it’s almost evident that she had something do with” the disappearance of Woodburn, Gaudette said. Diane and Woodburn were together for
17 years, “now he turns up in the front yard. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say she must have known something.”
