Kitty Wardwell Remains May Be Those Found In Freezer: Police

LEWISTON, Maine — The remains of a body that were found inside a storage unit by relatives of a man who had rented it and died earlier this month may be those of a woman who was reported missing in 1983, Maine State Police said Saturday.

The relatives were cleaning out the Lewiston storage unit on Friday afternoon when they found the body inside an unplugged freezer, state police spokesman Steve McCausland said.

The remains haven't been positively identified, but McCausland said they may be those of Kitty Wardwell, who was reported missing 28 years ago at age 29.

The storage unit had been rented since 1992 by Francis "Frank" Julian, who was Wardwell's on-again, off-again boyfriend and was the last person known to see her alive. Julian died on Oct. 1 at age 80.

Julian told Salem, N.H., police that he dropped Wardwell off at a motel there after a fight on June 6, 1983, and traveled back to Maine without her, according to the Maine State Police missing persons website. A close friend of Wardwell officially reported her as missing the following month, and a subsequent police investigation indicated she was likely a victim of foul play, the website said.

Officials with the Maine medical examiner's office have removed the freezer, with the body still inside, and taken it to their offices in Augusta, McCausland said.

An autopsy to determine the identity and cause of death is expected to be performed Monday.

Comments

[pinknlynn]

09:51 AM on 10/25/2011

A possible murderer lives to the ripe old age of 80.....there are some things we will never understand.

[Truebie]

09:30 PM on 10/24/2011

How sad that there will never be justice for that poor woman.

[omegas3]

05:48 PM on 10/24/2011

Closure?

[Renee Johnson]

04:27 PM on 10/24/2011

sad for whomever it is in that freezer...God rest their soul..

[CapsFan1988]

02:56 PM on 10/24/2011

...reminds me a little bit of last week's episode of Dexter.

[mdipary2004]

10:29 AM on 10/24/2011

Nice he got away with it, just like the woman from Colorado got away with killing her boyfriend. Theres equall justice

[peeowedaboutit2]

08:00 AM on 10/24/2011

The only thing I can think about this case is, Frank Julian should be determined beyond benefit of the doubt to be the Killer since he has had possesion of the body, was the last kown person to see/be with her and is the person who rented and had access to the stoarage unit. Therefore, his assets should be siezed and turned over to the victim's family as restitution. If he had been convicted of the murder back then, he would not have accumulated 30 more years of assets and asset appreciation. He profited from this murder illegally and the profits rightly belong to the victim.
Furthermore, if there is not a law allowing this, there should be in the future.

[mdipary2004]

06:54 AM on 10/24/2011

she need to cool off

[BowlingForRevenge]

11:40 AM on 10/25/2011

That's what he said!

(sorry couldn't resist)

[rcwcfa]

05:55 AM on 10/24/2011

I guess he got tired of the cold shoulder.

[ddokken69]

04:29 AM on 10/24/2011

Its hard to believe though I guess not impossible for someone to keep a body frozen in a deep freezer for 30 years without someone noticing somethings wrong. LUCY YOU'VE GOT SOME SPLAINING TO DO?????????????

[johnjfoote]

05:17 AM on 10/24/2011

The freezer was unpluged, she must have been dried out.

[BowlingForRevenge]

11:42 AM on 10/25/2011

I'm thinking the body might not be all that dried out.
The freezer had about 6 in" of insulation on all sides and they seal pretty tight when they close. It could be soup.

[goldsilver50]

03:39 AM on 10/24/2011

He thought no one knew, but God knows all..... and in the end he will pay for a long time.

[emeathead45]

06:08 AM on 10/24/2011

LMAO. Good one. That is funny.

[lovemassacres]

09:24 PM on 10/24/2011

There is nothing funny about that statement...

[Lt2u]

04:16 PM on 10/24/2011

Wonder why God keeps folks in the freezer.

[msminnie]

03:09 AM on 10/24/2011

This is the 4th time in a month I've heard about dead bodies being stored in a freezer. Most people I know have a freezer in their garages. Things that make you go HMMMMM.

[Susan Shaffer]

02:56 PM on 10/24/2011

we recently bought an old house and are in the process of renovation. we were without a bathroom for a while and used the neighbours. the windows were changed and a horrible smell emanated from between the brick cavity before it was rendered and tiled. My 5 year old daughter said it was a rat. Happy to have a bath in my own home in spite of the smell I got into the bath. The next day due to I guess grunt used to remove the second window the body of a petrified rat fell onto the sill. I told my daughter and she said "I told you I saw a rat" Because she is so much shorter she could see up into the cavity.

[tinkerbelladonna]

09:56 PM on 10/24/2011

thank you for sharing that disgusting story

[thecaptainb]

03:02 AM on 10/24/2011

Poor police work to not have discovered this body in the freezer years before. As with any unsolved potential murder cases, even a follow up cold case investigation would have easily solved this case. How many other cases have been neglected in this county.

[Tolms]

11:27 AM on 10/24/2011

Sadly with most cities/countie budgets spread paper thin, justice simply gets put on the back burner.

[Barry Black]

10:43 AM on 10/25/2011

.....or in the freezer in this case!

[Susan Shaffer]

02:56 PM on 10/24/2011

and this really is a cold case.

[lshaft]

02:34 AM on 10/24/2011

This is not rocket science - Back in the day (And I only graduated from the police academy in Philly in 1970) we would search every nook and granny!!!

[re4u2]

03:07 AM on 10/24/2011

You mean Nook & Cranny? Read the article again... he did not rent the storage unit until 9 years later. So just what would you have been searching in 1983 if he didn't rent the storage until 1992? You have to read the facts first before you say it's not rocket science. Guess you were never an investigator.

[lshaft]

03:24 AM on 10/24/2011

You fail to see he was a "granny" and, although he rented the unit in 1983, how long did he own the freezer and how long were the remains contained there before he moved the freezer to the storage unit???

And you worked investigations where???

[Tolms]

11:28 AM on 10/24/2011

Leave Granny out of this Shaft.

[tccat4]

02:18 AM on 10/24/2011

I pray the M. E. finds strength to open the freezer that has been unplugged for the last unknown years. Goes to show, now the old man faces the ultimate judgement !!!!

[goldsilver50]

03:41 AM on 10/24/2011

Amen.