PROSPECT (AP) – It’s been nearly a month since Harrison Damon, 17, died after tumbling from the deck of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge during a snowstorm, but his body has not been recovered.

Family members and friends have regularly been searching along the shore of the Penobscot River, looking for remains of the Orland teenager who overcame difficult challenges and maintained a bright outlook on life.

Born five weeks premature, Harrison suffered from meningitis and cerebral palsy, but defied doctors’ predictions that he would never walk.

Initial reports indicated that Harrison jumped from the bridge, but his stepmother, Michelle Damon, and the rest of his extended family said suicide was not in his nature. They described him as positive, optimistic and caring, kind and loving, involved in sports, Scouts and church activities, always respectful and helpful.

“I don’t believe he was capable of committing suicide,” Lisa White, Harrison’s mother, told the Bangor Daily News.

Harrison was a few grades behind in school because a shunt inserted in his brain to reduce pressure from fluid build-up had delayed his development.

“He had endured so much in his life – meningitis, the shunt, cerebral palsy and learning disabilities,” White said. “For everything to end this way it just makes you wonder.”

Despite those early hardships, Harrison persevered.

“He worked hard,” Damon said. “He was an honor roll student and was active in Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts. And he was a champion track star. He never won any titles, but he stuck at it.”

Harrison had begun attending services at Orland United Methodist Church with Damon and other family members and had decided to join the church this spring.

“He loved it there. He wanted to do whatever he could to help,” Damon said.

Harrison had a remedial math class after school on March 5 and was scheduled to come home on the late bus. But the class got out early and he had to wait for the bus, which may have caused him some confusion.

“He was used to doing everything on a schedule,” Damon said.

By the time the late bus arrived, Harrison was gone. Security tapes from the high school gave no indication as to why he left school on foot.

“He was fooling around as he left class. He was smiling, happy,” she said.

When Harrison didn’t return on the bus, family members began to look for him. They checked the school, calling teachers, bus drivers and the police. It was cold and dark, and snow had begun to fall.

Later that evening, police began receiving calls from witnesses reporting that a boy had jumped from the bridge a little after 7 p.m. Some said he was not wearing a shirt, and one witness told family members that the boy was afraid.

“He said he could see fear in his eyes,” White said. “And in retrospect, he said he didn’t think that Harry let go of the rail. He said he watched as Harry’s hand slipped from the rail.”

Harrison was afraid of strangers, according to Damon, and often had trouble recognizing people in vehicles. Strangers trying to coax him to their cars may have caused the frightened boy to become even more anxious.

Carol Damon of Brooklin, Harrison’s grandmother, believes her grandson was suffering from hypothermia and was disoriented. That, she said, would explain why he had taken off his jacket and his shirt.

“He was so confused and scared,” Carol Damon said. “When people asked to help him, he got even more frightened.”

Family members acknowledge that they probably will never know for sure what happened.

“There just aren’t any answers yet,” Michelle Damon said.

Although authorities continue to monitor the river, the active search has ended.

But for the Damons, friends and some community members, the effort continues. So far, they have found Harrison’s backpack and a small, black globe, the “20 Questions” game that he played constantly.

“We need to find him,” she said, “to find his body, so he can be put to rest and we can have some closure. He’ll always be with us. But we haven’t had a funeral. We haven’t been able to say a proper goodbye. He deserves to be put to rest.”