LEWISTON, Maine — A man who died this month at age 80 nearly took a secret to his grave — a secret that was discovered only after his family went through his belongings in a storage unit.
Inside an unplugged freezer, they found human remains that investigators think might be those of the man’s girlfriend, who disappeared in 1983, when she was 29. Now investigators are trying to confirm the identity of the body, the cause of death and who might have been involved.
State police detectives were awaiting results of an autopsy being performed Monday. DNA tests might be needed to confirm whether the body was that of Kitty Wardwell, who was last seen with her on-again, off-again boyfriend Frank Julian.
“The answers are going to come from the medical examiner’s office,” said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The storage unit was rented in 1992 by Julian, who died Oct. 1. In 1983, he occasionally lived with Wardwell 100 miles away in Holden.
Julian told police in New Hampshire that he last saw Wardwell after an argument that June, when he dropped her off at a motel in Salem, N.H., before returning to Maine, police said. She was reported missing the following month by a close friend.
A state police investigation indicated she was likely a victim of foul play in Maine. Because of that, the investigation officially remained open.
Wardwell’s and Julian’s families are being kept in the loop on the investigation, and both families are cooperating, McCausland said. Wardwell’s family members have donated DNA samples that will be compared against DNA from the body, McCausland said.
Julian was 52 when Wardwell disappeared. His obituary in the Bangor Daily News described Julian as a former restaurateur and novelty salesman who played on John Bapst High School’s 1948 championship football team.
