Dark Downeast - The Suspicious Death of Alexie Adams (Maine)

Episode Date: December 6, 2021

ORONO, MAINE 2018: A young woman in a college town was found dead in the snow. From the first minutes of the investigation, police assumed she must’ve had too much to drink, fell down, and didn’t get back up in the sub-zero temperatures. Her death was an accident. A terrible, tragic accident.But the family of Alexie Adams and the private investigator they’ve hired aren’t convinced they have the entire truth about what happened to Alexie that night. We’ll dig into the investigation of Alexie Adams’ death -- the evidence, the witness statements, the action and inaction of law enforcement, and the possible missteps leading to an outcome that has left the family with more questions than answers.PRODUCER NOTE: This episode was produced with the consent and participation of members of Alexie Adams’ family. Opinions expressed by interviewees do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Dark Downeast, Kylie Low, or affiliated parties.Anyone with further information about the night of February 2, 2018 and the early morning hours of February 3, 2018 please contact [e-mail]. View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/alexieadamsFollow @darkdowneast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTokTo suggest a case visit darkdowneast.com/submit-case Dark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.

This episode was produced with the consent and participation of members of Alexi Adams' family. Opinions expressed by interviewees do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Dark Down East, Kylie Lowe, or affiliated parties. February 3rd, 2018. It was a frigid morning, barely above zero in Orono, Maine. A woman pushing a stroller noticed something strange in the snow behind the Timberview Drive apartments. She couldn't quite make out what she was seeing. Unable to get any closer because of her son in the stroller, the mother flagged down two individuals walking nearby and asked them to go take a look.

As the two people got closer, they learned the horrible truth. There in the snow was the body of a young woman. Her skin was like ice. As medical personnel and law enforcement arrived, the mother recounted her story to the first responding officer. I almost didn't see her because I had my sunglasses on. And I was like, is that a person? I was like, oh my gosh, I'm glad these nice people got out. And they got out of the car

and there was nothing anybody could do. Yeah. Poor girl. So I'm going to just ask that everyone stay. Within minutes of responding to the scene, the Orono Police Department developed a theory. A young girl in a college town was found dead in the snow. She must have had too much to drink, fell down, and didn't get back up in the sub-zero temperatures. Her death was an accident. A terrible, tragic accident. But the family of Alexi Adams and the private investigator they've hired aren't convinced they have the entire truth about what happened to Alexi that night. We'll dig into the investigation of

Alexi Adams' death, the investigative documents, the evidence, the witness statements, the action and inaction of law enforcement, and the possible missteps leading to an outcome that has left the family with more questions than answers. We need to talk about Alexi Adams. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East. Orono Fire Rescue personnel were the first to arrive at Timberview Drive Apartments in Orono, Maine that morning. They stepped over the crusted snowbank, leaving prints in the top layer of snow as they approached the girl's body to assess her condition. She was deceased upon their arrival. Officer Sarah Angelo of the Orono Police Department arrived next. She asked that fire rescue cover the girl's body so that passersby wouldn't see her. Much of what's known about the

events at the scene are from the body camera footage of Officer Sarah Angelo. Bangor Private Investigations obtained the footage via Freedom of Access Act request and released it to me for this podcast. The first voice you'll hear is Officer Sarah Angelo. Can I just copy that traffic? If you want to give them a call and let them know it is going to be a 48. 10-48. That's an unattended death. Officer Angelo fumbles with a phone, which looks like an iPhone or a smartphone of some kind, attempting to open the camera to photograph the scene before any more footprints are pressed into the crunchy layer of frozen snow around the girl's body. Angelo had been on the scene for about three and a half, four minutes when we hear her speak to the medical personnel. Did you guys notice anything suspicious or just look like she may be drunk and fell down?

Nothing obvious right now. It looks like there may be something in the snowbank over there. Okay. Did you notice anything suspicious? There's no room between that question and Officer Angelo's suggestion. Maybe she was drunk and fell down. This hypothesis seems to have been based on footprints in the snow and the location of what were assumed to be the girl's phone, shoes, and a sock. Fire Rescue handed Officer Angelo a cell phone found next to the body, along with cards they found in a holder on the back of the phone. One of the cards was a driver's license. It belonged to a 16-year-old girl I'll be calling M. Just a note,

I've chosen not to use full names of individuals who were minors at the time. From the moment they found the ID, investigators assumed that that was the name of the deceased. No one checked to see if the girl still lying in the snow matched the photo on the ID found near her. Officer Angelo called in the address on the license and checked the other cards in the holder on the back of the phone. Meanwhile, Orono Police Detective Nathan Drost arrived on the scene, and minutes later, Chief Josh Ewing and Captain Dan Merrill. Chief Ewing asked Officer Angelo where the girl's body was located, and she told him that the body was in the snow near a birch tree, covered up. Chief Ewing told her that in the future, don't cover a body. Officer Angelo's body cam footage continues rolling throughout her conversations with other authorities.

She gives her account of all that's happened so far, and describes what she believes happened to this young girl, based on her own assessment of the scene. I could see her footprints. She's on the other side of this birch. Her footprints go around that green tower thing. She has a shoe on the other side of that. She walks up to the snow bank to the rear of the fire truck and then there's something in the snow. You can see it sticking up kind of the bottom of the hill here. I have no idea what that is. I walked along the edge of that, photographing the steps and everything along the way. Those are the people that found her came from over here? Yes. And then I followed the tracks along the way. Yes. Okay. Those are the people that found her came from over here? Yes. Okay. And then I followed the tracks all the way back to the building over

there to the right side of it. And that's where I lost them. I couldn't find them any because of, you know, this. Probably in a party in here. But you can clearly tell that she fell in the snow over there somewhere. She fell over here and then where she is now. No other prints? No other prints. Not like someone was with her or anything? No, nothing at all. Detective Drost surrounds the area in yellow crime scene tape, but decides to hold off on any further investigation until the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit arrives. As I understand, Major Crimes Unit, MCU, does not have to respond to a scene of an unattended death, not without obvious signs of a crime. According to the officers on the scene,

it did not look like the girl had been killed. No gunshots, no stab wounds, no obvious excessive blood at the scene. However, they opted to have the MCU respond anyway for another reason. He said it looks like hypothermia because somebody fell down drunk. They don't have to come out. I'm almost thinking I don't want to get sued by some parent of a 16-year-old girl. Yes. I think I'm going to ask them to come out. Yes. Detective Drost set up his camera on a tripod and began placing yellow evidence placards around the scene. Meanwhile, a car drives past

the scene once and then again, making multiple passes down the road near the apartment complexes. Officer Angelo assisted Detective Drost in his survey of the scene, pointing out what she believed to be the path of footsteps and the trail of items assumed to belong to the young girl. At this point, there were more footsteps in the snow than could have been attributed to just the victim. The two people who called 911, the medical responders, law enforcement. By the time the photos were taken, multiple sets of prints dotted the surface area of the scene. Nearly an hour and a half after Officer Angelo began rolling body camera footage at the scene, things started to develop rapidly in a new direction. Listen closely.

Honestly, she walked up here first, turned around, whether she fell there or here first, but that is dirty. I don't know if that's old snow that she pulled up? Yeah. That I don't know but I did try to photograph it but now I see something else right here. We have her phone or what was possibly her phone that was found next to the body, along with her ID and cards. Well, that's a... Huh. Well, that's interesting. Officer Angelo pointed out what she believes to be a spot of blood. Detective Drost identified a cell phone in the snow, the second one found at the scene.

Mom's here. Mom's here. The name that we have is not the girl. That's a best friend. She had all her best friend's stuff. Well, we just found a second cell phone, so we were just wondering that. So Mom's here. Seconds later, another officer approached, announcing that the Mom's here, and then informed Angelo and Drost that the girl whose ID they found in the snow near the body wasn't their victim. She was alive, standing right there. With a photo from the woman referred to as the mother of the victim, the true identity of the girl laying in the snow was established. 19-year-old Alexi Adams was born October 17, 1998, in Flagstaff, Arizona. Her family moved to California, where she grew up. She was a normal little girl, and she loved life. She was pretty.

Alexi's grandmother, Shelby, remembers Alexi as a spirited young girl who loved playing dress-up and was fond of animals. When she visited Shelby's home in Missouri, Alexi loved riding the horses. She took a shine to one of the horses. I have about 10 or 11 horses, but she took a shine to the one we call Eclipse. And Eclipse is a paint. She's black and white. She's a beautiful horse, and Lexi loved her. And she'd lead her around in the round pen and ride her. But I call Eclipse Lexi's horse. In January of 2017, Alexi moved from California to Maine with her uncle Rob and his girlfriend. Her uncle Rob was her legal guardian

and his girlfriend was a mother figure in Alexi's life. Alexi finished out her senior year here in Maine and graduated from Bangor High School in June of 2017. She got a job at I-Mart Express in Bangor, but her big dream was to become an actress. That's what her dream was, and she took drama at school and she would dress up there too. Like when she was a little girl, they'd dress up in drama and do plays. And I really believe that that's what she would have probably been. Alexi's obituary paints a picture of a young life filled with beauty and creativity and love for living. Alexi could have been anything she wanted to be if she had been given the time, it reads. She was a lover of all things off-kilter

and artistic and loved to express herself by channeling Lana Del Rey in photo shoots with her friend Christopher. She loved and lifted up her friends who may have seemed different by conventional standards. The obituary reads, Alexi saw the soul. Other people's opinions of her or her amazing friends were irrelevant. Alexi's vibrancy and strong-minded opinions allowed her friends to always feel safe

and inspired by her. She was blunt and to the point, but would also leave you laughing hysterically with her silly antics. Alexi's grandmother clings tightly to the memories of her granddaughter and the special moments they had together when she was young. Went with her to Arkansas one time. We all went and went to a park where there was a natural bridge. And just being with her, you know, and getting to carry her around and talk to her and babysit her.

I just wish I could call the time back. Shelby remembers the day she got the news about her granddaughter. Alexi's dad, Philip, had called. All I could do is jump in my truck and go over to his house and call the preacher to see if they could come over. I just couldn't figure out how she died. I thought maybe she had a wreck in a snow bank or something. Didn't exactly know what happened. And then it was just like they found a woman laying in the snowbank. And that's all, you know, that was all.

Almost four years later, Shelby and Alexi's whole family are still trying to figure out exactly what happened that night. February 2nd, 2018. It was a freezing Friday night in Orono, Maine. Orono is just outside of Bangor and home to the University of Maine's flagship campus. It's a big state school as far as Maine goes, the only Division I team in the state, and over 11,000 enrolled students. The population of the school matches the population of the town itself. During the school year, Orono, Old Town, Milford, and other surrounding towns become the off-campus stomping grounds of

students. Businesses cater to the collegiate population, and apartment complexes offer school-year leases. Among those apartment complexes are the infamous Orchard Trails and the Avenue. I say infamous because anyone who attends or attended the University of Maine like I did knows about these options for off-campus housing and off-campus partying. These residences are designed with students in mind, but they're a far cry from a dorm room experience. The separate bedrooms, equipped kitchens, burnished options, and all-inclusive rent makes them an attractive choice for off-campus housing, not to mention gives students the perceived freedom to do whatever they please.

It's your own place, after all. Why not host some friends for weekend festivities? A quick Google search of these premier student housing options serves up news articles about raucous parties, noise complaints, crowds of over 300 people, and, well, here's a strange one, construction equipment taken on a joyride on the complex grounds. It's unclear if those culprits were ever caught. Listen, it's no secret that some college students choose to partake in alcoholic consumption, whether they meet the legal age requirement for it or not. Parties and drinking are largely accepted as part of college culture, despite the dangers. What we know about the night of February 2nd, 2018 is based on witness statements from individuals who were at or around an off-campus party that night. Witness statements can be flawed by gaps

in memory or intentional deceit or misinformation. As you'll hear, the recollection of that night is riddled with inconsistencies. Further, many of the accounts could not be verified, or investigators did not attempt to verify portions of the witness statements. With that, here is what witnesses say happened that night. On the evening of February 2, 2018, Alexi Adams was with a friend I'll call Kay, a friend who was really more like a sister. Kay was the daughter of Alexi's Uncle Rob's girlfriend. In fact, in statements made to Orono Police, Kay said that she and Alexi set their parents up, Alexi's uncle, her legal guardian Rob, and Kay's mother. Quote, we didn't want to do anything apart, so we were like,

our parents are both single, let's hook them up. So we did. End quote. Alexi and Kay were truly attached at the hip, and so when Kay asked Alexi to go out with her to a friend's house that night, Alexi obliged, even though she had to work in the morning and didn't really want a late night. Kay's mom dropped them off at a friend's house, and from there, they walked down a well-worn trail in the woods to The Avenue, one of those apartment complexes I was telling you about. There were multiple parties at the complex that night, but according to interview transcripts, Alexi and Kay were at apartment 2011 and spent about two hours there, according to Kay's

recollection. They'd invited three other friends to join them at the party too, but by the time those friends arrived, the party was bursting at the seams. They decided to hop in the car of their designated driver and head down the street to Orchard Trails, another off-campus apartment complex. Kay told Detective Chad Lindsay that Alexi wasn't herself after leaving the first party. I kept asking her, do you want to go home? Like, I want to go home. I feel uncomfortable here. Do According to statements, the party at the apartment in Orchard Trails was a birthday party for one of the apartment's residents. There were an estimated 35 or 40 people there, or perhaps up to 70 people, depending on which statement you believe. Regardless, either number would have been tight in the space. The apartments at Orchard Trails are only about 1,100 square feet,

with most of that square footage in four separate bedrooms and two bathrooms. The kitchen and living space, the common areas, those are small. As the crowds grew, so did the noise. At one point over the course of a few hours at the party, one of the tenants tried to clear out the hallway immediately outside the unit, saying that security often made the rounds at the complex and if they were found to be too loud or loitering in the halls, they'd get in trouble. Sure enough, Orono Police Department responded to a noise complaint at the birthday party

and the crowd began to scatter. This is where the details of the evening become inconsistent. In Kay's interview with Detective Lindsay, she says that as cops arrived to break up the party, she and Alexi decided to leave. She brought Alexi to the lower-level hallway to wait for an Uber, or at least tried to bring Alexi down to the hallway. Kay says that Alexi randomly opened the door to someone's apartment and laid down on their floor. Kay scooped her up, apologizing to the residents, and got Alexi to sit down for a few moments at the front door as they waited for a ride. But then, according to Kay, Alexi bolted. I thought she was just gonna go smoke a cigarette because that's what she does,

Kay said. So I just thought that's what she was just gonna go smoke a cigarette because that's what she does, Kay said. So I just thought that's what she was gonna do. Kay went out to check on her, quote, not even five minutes later. And she's gone. Kay heard three different stories from three different people. Alexi got into a girl's car. Alexi got into a car with a bunch of dudes. Alexi walked home. Ied wasn't clear to Kay,

but other witnesses who gave statements to Orono PD provided details of the evening that Kay didn't know or didn't share. Alexi was seen in a bathtub at the Orchard Trails apartment, reportedly sitting in what was assumed to be her own vomit. A short video clip obtained from a person at the party shows a girl assumed to be Lexi slumped over in a tub, head bobbing forward, before the camera flips around to the face of the person taking the video, M, whose ID was found near Lexi's body the next morning. It's around this time that another girl enters the bathroom, according to her own statement to police. This girl, who I will refer to as Dee, did not know Alexi, but she said that it was clear Alexi needed help. Dee was supposed to drive three boys home as their

designated driver, and when she saw Alexi in the tub, she offered her a free ride home. Alexi refused the offer multiple times until finally, Dee was able to convince Alexi to go with her, and Dee, along with Dee's boyfriend, helped Alexi exit the apartment. Alexi tried walking on her own, but fell down the stairs and dropped the phone she was holding. According to Dee's interview transcript, she told Detective Drost that she picked up the phone and continued walking with Alexi, who once again refused the ride home. D gave up and went to her car, but apparently realized she still had the phone in her hand that Alexi dropped. She doubled back to give Alexi one last chance for a ride home. According to D, Alexi finally agreed this time and got into the car with three boys,

driven by Dee. Dee said that she asked Alexi for her address, but it took several tries to get a response. Alexi told her one Colburn Drive, less than one mile away from the Orchard Trails apartments where the party was. According to Dee, Alexi did not give an apartment number or point out the unit. The other passengers in the car attempted to hold Alexi's head up so she would look out the window, but Alexi did not respond to their questions. Dee looped around the road, asking for more clarification from Alexi, but Dee claimed that Alexi just got out on her own, saying the location was fine.

Dee said she watched Alexi approach a building and walk up to a doorstep, but she couldn't be sure that she went inside the apartment before Dee pulled away. Alexi was found frozen in the snow outside Timberview Apartments the next morning. She was about a thousand feet away from her home, at 1 Colburn Drive. Among the individuals interviewed by Orono Police Detective Drost was another girl who I'll call H. She met with Detective Drost along with her mother on February 17th, over two weeks after Alexi's death. The line of questioning is primarily concerned with her movements that night and if she saw Alexi throughout the course of the evening. The girl's recollection of the evening is murky, and she tells the detective that she's unsure recollection of the evening is murky, and she tells the

detective that she's unsure of many of the details, including times, locations, apartment numbers, and who was there. The information I have about this interview between Detective Drost and H comes from a transcript, so I cannot discern tone or body language. However, halfway through the interview, Detective Drost pauses his questioning and starts to inform the girl about the severity of what they're dealing with. Quote, the issue we have is that the tenants provided a place for minors to consume alcohol, which normally would just be a Class D misdemeanor. However, since there was a death involved, it bumps it to a Class C felony, and that's why this investigation is ongoing currently. End quote.

Detective Drost continues to explain that he needs to find out all of the information possible to provide to Alexei's family and ensure that anyone who allowed the minors to consume alcohol is held accountable. Then he said this, quote, I will be up front. You have no business in Orono. You have no business up here partying. I'll tell you that some of the cases that I have to investigate, cases where girls are so intoxicated that a man comes in and takes advantage of them. A college boy who is still at the tail end of puberty. All these emotions and hormones, and then you add alcohol to that on both people's parts and it creates a mess. You have girls waking up where they don't remember what happened the night before.

They wake up with pain in their vaginal area. They wake up with some sort of discharge, something, and they don't know what happened. You have guys that are keeping a tally of how many girls they can sleep with in a night. You have guys that are just their entire night is based around sex and who they might be able to take advantage of. And then you end up with something like this, where had Alexi not been drinking, she'd be alive right now. End quote. Just as a side note, whether he's aware of it or not, this language does wreak a victim blaming. Detective Drost continues speaking about how it's inappropriate for minors to be partying with college boys, that alcohol can impact someone's ability to make sound

decisions, that he's aware that some of the individuals at that party that night had been partying in college dorms and apartments since they were 13 years old. He warns about the ways alcohol impacts females differently than males, and that these parties sometimes have drugs and fights and become dangerous. The girl responds with affirmative yeahs and mm-hmms throughout. Finally, towards the end of the interview, Detective Drost returns to asking about the events of the night. Before the interview ends, Detective Drost tells H to get herself out of the group of friends she's in. He sends her out of the room

before continuing a conversation with her mother off-record. A key interview in the investigation of Alexi Adams' death was with M, the friend whose ID and phone were found near Alexi's body. Detective Drost asked all the same questions. Where was she that night? Who did she see at the parties? Was Alexi drinking? And the big one, how did Alexi end up with all of her belongings? According to M's statement, Alexi lost her phone and debit card that night.

M said Alexi took her phone with the card holder on the back while they were in the bathroom of the Orchard Trails apartment together. And then M lost track of her. M asked Detective Drost if they were going to go through her phone, and he told her only if they had consent or a search warrant. M's parents were in the interview room with her and consented to the search. Detective Drost stepped out of the interview room to collect M's phone from evidence and obtain a consent form, and while he's out, the recording keeps rolling to capture the conversations between M and her parents. They comfort her, and she's crying. Amidst her tears, she says to her parents, quote, I kind of think something bad happened to her, end quote.

M's mom clarifies, quote, like, malicious, end quote. M responds, quote, yeah, but it's, we don't know what happened, end quote. Detective Drost returned to the interview room with M's phone in hand. M checks out her phone and asks Detective Drost where the phone was found. He says it was in Alexei's pocket. M asks, quote, it wasn't in the snow, end quote. He replies that another phone was found in the snow. M moves on and thinks for a second that her black credit card is missing from the holder on the back of the phone, but she soon finds it in a different slot. And then Detective Drost asks this,

Is there anything else that should have been in there that's missing? Because there was another red debit card. M says, But M had just told the detective that Alexi lost her debit card that night. But that's not the biggest red flag about the red debit card. According to case documents obtained through FOAA requests by Bangor Private Investigations, the existence of that red debit card wasn't officially known or documented until February 5th,

two days after M's interview, when the autopsy of Alexi's body was conducted. That red debit card was found down the front of Alexi Adams, prepared by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, noted several items. The belt loops on Alexi's jeans were ripped, and her belt was pulled up high above her pants in the back. The front of her belt was undone. She was not wearing underwear or a bra. If her clothing had any fibers, substances, or other evidence on it, we don't know because her clothing was not sent to be processed. Instead, it was sent with her to the funeral parlor and returned to her family, ending any possible use as evidence.

The only injuries noted on her body by the OCME report were deep scratches on Alexi's lower left and right flanks. However, photos of the scene show visible cuts on her forearm, a small cut and contusions above her left eyebrow and around her left eye, as well as contusions on the left side and back of her neck. Although Alexei's hands were bagged at the scene as per protocol, her fingernails were not collected to test for foreign DNA or other evidence underneath them. According to the OCME, Orono Police Department would have had to request both the clothing and fingernail collection, but they didn't.

Additionally, Orono PD did not request any tests or examination for sexual assault. Then there's the red debit card, discovered during the autopsy down the front of Alexi's pants near her pubic bone. The discovery of that debit card during the autopsy, and its mention two days earlier during Detective Dross' interview with M, are the only two times that red debit card is discussed or noted. I'm not sure what to make of that, except it doesn't seem right or normal or something to be dismissed. The same goes for the position of Alexei's body in relation to what her blood indicated. Alexei was found to have fixed anterior lividity. Fixed, unmoving, anterior, front, lividity, also referred to as liver mortis in forensics,

it's the gravitational pooling of blood in the dependent parts of the body. Fixed anterior lividity meant Alexei had to have been on her stomach for a significant amount of time after she died, but Alexei was found on her side, in the snow. It is typical procedure for the investigating detective to attend the autopsy and put into context any of the medical examiner's findings. For example, a detective would have known that Alexei was found on her side, which does not align with fixed anterior lividity. However, Detective Drost did not attend the autopsy. As far as the investigative documents reveal, this discrepancy between body position and lividity was never followed up on. The temperature reached lows

of negative 2 degrees Fahrenheit that night. That, paired with witness statements that Alexi appeared drunk that night, combined to decide that Alexi died due to a combination of exposure and alcohol consumption. This decision was made before the toxicology report was complete, before there was evidence of alcohol consumption. The toxicology report took several weeks, and when complete, it did reveal that Alexi had alcohol in her system, as well as the parent compound found in cocaine. Despite this, the main drug enforcement agency was not involved in this case. The investigation and the leading theory of Alexi Adams' death was focused on alcohol. And that's how Orono Police pushed forward. From the Orono Police Department officer report for Incident 18-008567, quote, it is believed, based on the evidence at

the scene, that while stumbling through the snow, she fell on three different occasions, losing her cell phone, shoes, and socks during the process. Upon falling the third time, she didn't get back up where she laid in the snow until either passing out from the acute alcohol intoxication, hypothermia, or a combination of both. The temperature was approximately negative 1 degrees Fahrenheit. She was there until approximately 1110 hours when she was found by a passerby. An autopsy and toxicology was conducted by the office of the chief medical examiner, which showed the cause of death as acute intoxication with the combined effects of cocaine and ethanol with a contributing factor of hypothermia. Based on the totality

of the circumstances, it is recommended that the tenants responsible for hosting the parties and allowing a place for alcohol to be consumed by minors be charged with the above listed crimes. End quote. One year later, in January 2019, six University of Maine students faced charges of furnishing or allowing consumption of liquor for minors, including Alexi Adams. Trevor Carter, Christopher Dion, Ethan Smith, and Tristan Harvey were among the six defendants. Those four men lived in that Orchard Trails apartment where Alexi was last known to visit that night. Before making it to the birthday party at Orchard Trails, Alexi was at the apartments of Matthew Greenlaw and then Blake Bickford. The men pleaded guilty to varying counts of the offense

and faced fines and court-ordered community service. The most severe of the consequences were reserved for the men who hosted the birthday party at Orchard Trails. It's assumed Alexi did most of her drinking there. Reporting by Judy Harrison in the Bangor Daily News states that the six men were found not legally responsible for the death of Alexi Adams. Alexi was only named as a victim

in the complaint against Matthew Greenlaw, but felony charges were dropped during plea negotiations. Superior Court Justice William Anderson said that because of this, he could not determine if or how much each defendant contributed to Alexi's death. That was that. Case closed. Except, not for the family of Alexi Adams. In December of 2019, the Association for Private Investigators sent out an email to all the PIs in Maine. Troy Richardson of Bangor Private Investigations read the body of the message detailing the high-level information about a case in Orono, Maine. From that first moment,

even the brief info he learned from that email made Troy immediately reach out to Philip Adams, father to Alexi Adams. Troy Richardson's background is in law enforcement. He worked in corrections and as a police officer, a part-time deputy sheriff, and a judicial marshal. All of those roles together have equipped him with a mix of unique and appropriate skills for the field of private investigation. His mission is clear. Bangor private investigations will help uncover the truth. That first phone conversation with Philip Adams gave Troy even more insight into what exactly this family had been going through. There was a lot to understand, a lot of information that didn't add up. Troy's investigation into the investigation of the death of 19-year-old Alexi

Adams started with Freedom of Access Act requests with the Orono Police Department. It would be the first of many, beginning a delicate dance that became more like a tug of war to obtain whatever documents he could in Alexi's case. To Troy's eyes, the investigation had some holes, to say the least. As I'm reading along, it's a fresh set of eyes to read it, and things will pop out to me that really threw me for a loop.

In the reports, I guess, easy to say, just didn't make sense. It was like there was stuff missing. People's interviews didn't add up. So stuff like that stuck out to me. Just the information and questions were, it just seemed like it was, it just wasn't all there.

I first spoke with Troy and his colleague, Brooke, who was also assisting the investigation during the summer of 2021. He asked for my help in broadcasting Alexi's story. It's their hope that with more attention on the case, the investigation will be reopened to find answers to the still lingering questions. Troy shared the witness statements, interview transcripts, incident reports, body camera footage, and other original case files that he obtained through those FOAA requests with me to serve as the primary source material for this episode.

According to Troy's independent findings, from the very first moment of the investigation into Alexi's death, Troy believes that protocol was broken, missteps were made, evidence was ignored, and law enforcement pushed forward with their eyes on only one theory of what happened that night. Alexi got drunk, fell down, and died alone in the cold. But in Troy's view, there's more than enough reason to believe that that's not all that happened. Troy and Brooke have identified what they believe to be numerous inconsistencies, issues, and glaring holes in the story of Alexi's death. At the scene, footprints around Alexi's body were compromised when fire rescue and

responding officers traipsed through the crusty layer of snow to get to Alexi. There were two different phones at the scene, one belonging to Alexi and one not. A red substance assumed to be blood at the scene was never tested. And as I've already pointed out, the position of her body at the scene when she was discovered doesn't align with autopsy findings. By her being found on her left side after she had been on her stomach long enough

for the lividity to fix in that point means that the body was moved. But that was never discovered because no one was there to tell the medical examiner that she was found on her left side. And when they were standing there talking about how she had fixed anterior lividity, no one was there to question it and say, how can that be possible because she was found on her left side? And that's the science.

Science doesn't lie. It's not something we're making out or assuming. Brooke circles back to the red debit card. The details about the timing of its discovery and Detective Dross' knowledge of the card continues to bother her.

How on earth did he know about this red debit card later that evening, unprompted, when it's down her pants and she's at the funeral parlor, not being processed yet? No. That's the question of the day.

How on earth does a detective know about a red debit card that you can't see on scene and isn't going to be found until two days later? Bangor Private Investigations is retained by the family of Alexi Adams to ask questions, dig up information, and point to issues with the original investigation into her death. Even if you want to go down the road and say, yep, it's 100% possible that everything happened the way that it's being told, that she literally just got disoriented and it was the cocaine and alcohol that caused her to get disoriented in the cold and she just passed out and that alone caused her death.

There are just a few nagging pieces that I have to go back to that say, but there's something else here. I don't know what that something else is, whether it's just part of the story that needs to get out that's not right. I'm not 100% sure, but that red debit card is definitely one of them. Troy and Brooks say there's more that raises an eyebrow in this case. Body camera footage from the noise complaint at the very apartment where Alexi was last known to be that night was not retained. There was no sexual assault examination, despite

Detective Drost himself bringing up in an interview with a witness that sexual assault is very much a concern when a young girl drinks at a party with college-aged boys. Her clothes weren't tested. Her fingernail clippings weren't tested. The list goes on. Troy Richardson has questions. Among them, if Alexi lost her phone and debit card that night, how did those items get back to her at the scene? If Alexi was moved after death, as evidence indicates, where did she die? Was anyone with Alexi when moved after death as evidence indicates. Where did she die? Was anyone with Alexi when she died? Was Alexi sexually assaulted? Where did Alexi get the drugs that were found in her system?

And the biggest one, how did Alexi really die? And is someone responsible? Troy and Brooke, as well as the family of Alexi Adams, they just want Alexi's story out there. They want to talk about Alexi. They want others to ask the same questions in hopes that those with the power to reopen the case pay attention and take a closer look

at what might have happened that night when they lost their beautiful, vibrant, young daughter, sister, and friend. I would like for them to really look at it like it was their daughter and see if they didn't think it needed to be fixed or people should be looked at. And I know they've all went on with their lives, having families and everything, but I still think that they should be questioned and brought out in the open. Alexi's story is not over. Not until the family feels they know what really happened to their daughter and sister.

Troy Richardson of Bangor Private Investigations asks that anyone with further information about the night of February 2nd, 2018 and the early morning hours of February 3rd, 2018, please contact him at BangorPrivateInvestigations at gmail.com. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. Source material for this case was provided to me by Bangor Private Investigations, which they obtained through Freedom of Access Act requests. Other source material is listed at darkdowneast.com.

I'm continuing to share information about missing and unidentified persons in New England. My only goal is to bring attention to these cases in hopes of bringing these humans home to the people who love and miss them. According to the NAMIS listing for this case, 54-year-old Douglas Barter was last seen leaving Miles Memorial Hospital in Damerscott, Maine against the medical advice he was given around 4.30 p.m. on November 6th, 2021. He was wearing blue jeans and a navy blue sweatshirt with a marijuana leaf on the back. If you've seen Douglas, please contact the Waldeboro Police Department at 207-832-4500. Thank you for supporting this show and allowing me to do what I do.

I'm honored to use this platform for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones, and for those who are still searching for answers in cold missing persons and murder cases. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East.