Three and a half months of uncertainty came to end Tuesday night when a discovery confirmed what many had long feared: teenage snowmobiler Richard “Shaw” Jackson had plunged into the frigid waters of China Lake on his way home from work.
Jackson’s body was found by two fishermen around 6 p.m. Tuesday in the west basin of the lake, in an area known locally as “The Narrows,” according to Deborah Turcotte, spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The warden service announced the discovery late Tuesday night.
Jackson, 18, was a junior at Erskine Academy in South China, where he was known as “Shaw.” He had been missing since the night of Jan. 1.
At Erskine, students dealt with the news during the school day on Wednesday in different ways, according to Assistant Headmaster John Clark. Under school plans, staff were notified at a meeting in the morning. Students were told while meeting in their advisory groups, and were offered the opportunity to meet with counselors if they wanted to, Clark said.
“It kind of has been a two-part incident (with the initial disappearance and then Tuesday night’s discovery) and kids just handle grieving differently,” Clark said. “Many were holding on for hope he would turn up or there was some other explanation. I think for kids holding on for hope’s sake, they struggled more today than they did the first day.
“At least now it is final, but it certainly is a terrible ending.”
That sentiment was echoed again and again on a family-created Facebook page, “Help find Richard ‘Shaw’ Jackson,” which included more than 30 comments on Wednesday. Tuesday night, the family member who created the page noted that Jackson had been found, “but not the way we intended.”
“There will not be a day that passes by that he will not be thought of,” the family member wrote. “But we do thank God for giving us our time with Shaw.”
The fishermen who found Jackson’s body were familiar with the previous search efforts, so when they discovered the body they contacted authorities, according to Maj. Gregory Sanborn of the Maine Warden Service. The Maine Warden Service was assisted by the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office in removing the body from the lake.
“We are appreciative that the efforts of these anglers resulted in Shaw being returned to his family,” Sanborn said.
Turcotte said Wednesday that Jackson’s snowmobile had not been recovered from the lake and she didn’t know whether there were further plans to search for it. Jackson’s body “was brought to the funeral home and the medical examiner will determine the cause of death and at that point our part (in the investigation) is finished,” Turcotte said.
“The most important thing was to help the family,” she said.
Jackson had last been seen leaving Pinkham’s Corner Fuel off Route 32, where he worked as part of a co-op program through the Capital Area Technical Center in Augusta. He was believed to be heading home on his black Yamaha snowmobile, which had just been serviced, according to the warden service.
Wardens, police and volunteers spent the first four days of the search combing area snowmobile trails throughout China, Vassalboro and Winslow, but there were no signs of Jackson. The last two days of the search focused around a small island in the west basin of China Lake, called Bradley Island, where tracks were discovered leading to open water.
A hovercraft, several airboats, airplanes, a helicopter, snowmobiles, and sonar equipment were used during the search, which was suspended the night of Jan. 7.
Dave Pinkham, owner of Pinkham’s Corner Fuel, said in an earlier interview that he was Jackson’s boss and got to know the 18-year-old well enough that “he was like my own kid.”
A month after Jackson was still missing, Pinkham said that Jackson continued be mentioned each day since the search ended.
“Three, four times a day I meet somebody who will ask me about it. There’s a lot of heartfelt sorrow,” Pinkham said at the time.
Pinkham said he would remember Jackson for his intelligence and work ethic.
“He had a very good head on his shoulders,” Pinkham said. “He was very ambitious; a good, hard worker.”
For his part, Clark said he will remember Jackson as a “nice young man who had a nice circle of friends.”
“He certainly was a good addition to Erskine Academy and will certainly be missed,” he said.
Scott Monroe — 861-9253
smonroe@centralmaine.com
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