Edward J. Hackett was on parole for a 1994 kidnapping and robbery.

WATERVILLE (AP) – A 47-year-old parolee has been arrested for the abduction and murder of Colby College student Dawn Rossignol, state police said Tuesday.

Maine State Police said they expect the Attorney General’s office to formally charge Edward J. Hackett with murder in the next couple of days.

Hackett, who was on parole from a Utah prison where he served time for a 1994 kidnapping and robbery, was first arrested Monday at his parents’ home in Vassalboro on a charge of parole violation.

Rossignol’s body was discovered Wednesday near Messalonskee Stream in Oakland. The Colby senior, 21, was reported missing the day before when she failed to show up for a doctor’s appointment in Bangor.

Her car was parked nearby, and police said she was abducted after leaving her dormitory on the campus of the Waterville liberal arts college.

State police Lt. Timothy Doyle said Hackett and Rossignol did not know each other, and that Hackett had no connection to Colby.

“This was a random act of violence,” Doyle said.

Doyle said police were pointed in Hackett’s direction by the Department of Corrections, which checked Hackett’s background and identified him as a possible suspect. Police in Utah said Hackett’s first conviction in that state was in 1979 for theft, and he was in and out of the state prison during the 1980s, escaping at least twice.

Doyle declined to give more details about the investigation, including how Rossignol died.

Colby president William Adams said campus security has been upgraded since Rossignol’s death, but that students need to be aware and use caution.

“There’s a tremendous relief here, but also a reminder,” Adams said.

Hackett’s arrest came a day after a funeral Mass for the dean’s list student. Rossignol was from the northern Maine town of Medway.

Hundreds of people packed a church for Rossignol’s funeral in St. Agatha. Gov. John Baldacci telephoned Rossignol’s parents to express his condolences and pledge the state’s commitment to the investigation, a spokesman said.

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AP-ES-09-23-03 1832EDT