LEWISTON – Rumors, speculation and dead-end leads plagued a police investigation Friday as the local search for fugitive Derek Bo Dube entered its third day.
The 26-year-old convicted felon remained free into the night and it was unknown if he was still in the Lewiston area.
A green Ford Explorer that Dube had been reported riding in Thursday night was spotted early Friday in Bowdoin. Police were unable to stop the vehicle, and there was no confirmation Dube actually had been inside.
“There is no solid link between that Explorer and Derek Dube at this point,” Lewiston police Lt. Tom Avery said.
At 7 p.m. Friday, a woman reported a van full of people acting suspiciously at the corner of Pine and Lisbon streets. The caller told police the driver of the van was an associate of Dube, and that one person in the vehicle appeared to be covered with blood.
Police stopped the van, bearing California plates, at Bartlett Street and East Avenue. Several officers approached the vehicle from all sides before speaking with the occupants. Dube was not inside. There did not appear to be a link between the van and the fugitive.
At 9:45 p.m., Lewiston and state police went to outer Sabattus Street after it was reported Dube was seen driving there in a green Dodge Neon. A caller told police Dube was heading back toward Lewiston after leaving a home on High Street in Sabattus, a short distance away from the Elm Street neighborhood where Dube committed a home invasion in 1999.
Police searched the area around outer Sabattus Street, but the suspect was not found.
Lincoln County sheriff’s officials have been hunting for Dube since the start of the week. He is a suspect in a pair of home invasions and a slew of burglaries in the Boothbay Harbor area, police said.
He is also wanted for leading police on two chases and with failing to report to his probation officer in Auburn.
Dube was last known to be in the Twin Cities area after reportedly driving there in a stolen car and spending Wednesday night with an Auburn woman.
Several times on Thursday, Lewiston police raced to locations in the downtown area after receiving reports that Dube had been spotted there. Each time, police found no trace of the fugitive, and the trail went cold.
Friday was not without good news for Lewiston police. In an unrelated case, a fugitive from Lewiston was arrested in Oxford County after evading capture for nearly two weeks.
Kevin Ayer, 38, was arrested on a warrant charging him with burglary. Police said Ayer broke into a home on St. Patrick Avenue on July 4. Police and agents from the Central Maine Violent Crime Task Force began searching for Ayer, who was believed to have fled the area.
On Thursday, Ayer ran from a residence in Livermore after police began closing in. Police in Oxford County found and arrested him on Friday, although details of the capture were not available Friday night.
Avery said the officers will remain on the lookout for Dube into the weekend. The Lewiston man has been described in recent days as depressed and suicidal. He is also believed to be armed with a handgun.
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