Story Archive

Suspicious Circumstances

Kevin R. Curtis, 57, of Augusta, Maine, loaned his car to a friend, who then crashed it. Police say the driver was unconscious, and decided he was probably on heroin. No, Curtis says, he was just stunned: “The airbag hit him right straight in the face. He wasn’t breathing right and said his eyes were burning.” When officers found two plastic bags of white powder from the glove compartment, some of which was spilled on the friend’s pants, that “confirmed” it: he was arrested and the powder confiscated as evidence. No, Curtis told police when he found out, those were the cremated remains of his dead father. “My sister had them and gave some of them to me just recently,” he said. He ordered a cremation urn, and while waiting for it to arrive he put the ashes in the car rather than in the house so as to not risk “the kids ripping them open and having them everywhere.” It took the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office two days to test the powder. “At the time we didn’t have the correct testing equipment to test it,” said Lt. Chris Read. “It has since come back negative.” Sheriff Ken Mason confirmed they were “human remains,” and returned them to Mr. Curtis. (RC/Kennebec Journal) ...Only two days? I guess Curtis is white.