NEW PORTLAND – State police officers remained tight-lipped Saturday while searching for evidence in the slaying of businesswoman Louise Brochu at the New Portland Wood Flooring mill complex beside Route 27.

Mill co-owner Brochu, 50, who was in the process of selling the recently closed mill and property for nearly $2 million, was discovered dead at 8:30 a.m. Friday by police after a customer reported he went to the business and couldn’t find her.

“It’s very early in the investigation,” Lt. Gary Wright said Saturday shortly before two detectives drove into Brochu’s long, tree-lined gravel driveway at 57 Lemon Stream Road.

“We’re still working the scene, processing it for evidence. We’re going to cover every inch of it, so we’ll be here for the rest of the day and into the evening. We’re going to keep pounding it,” Wright added.

Traffic zipped by on Route 27 as Troopers Randy Keaton and Shawn Porter directed their evidence-tracking patrol dogs to search two large fields between the complex and the road.

Wright wouldn’t say if police have a suspect or how Brochu was killed. He also refused to reveal what kind of evidence they had recovered. He did say police had received tips from people who responded to Saturday’s call for assistance via media stories and were following leads.

“If people think they have any information that could play a part in this, we’d certainly like to hear from them,” Wright said. They are asked to contact Maine State Police in Augusta at (800) 452-4664.

The flooring business was owned by Brochu and her three brothers, Guy, Luke and Jim Brochu, all believed to be from Franklin County, who together bought the property three years ago at an auction, New Portland Town Manager Andrea Reichert said.

She said they had recently closed the mill and were selling all inventory.

A few miles away, Lisa Sullivan was anxious to learn if police had released any new information. Sullivan and her husband, Tim, have owned and operated Seven Falls Cabins and Creamery for the past five years beside the Carrabassett River and Route 146 in New Portland.

They learned about the homicide Friday after Tim Sullivan drove by the Brochu yard and saw state police cruisers in the driveway. His wife then went to the post office where she said someone told her Louise Brochu had died, but it wasn’t until later that someone else told her the woman had been killed.

“It’s really scary not knowing whether it was someone just passing through or a personal vendetta. It’s sad. We were shocked yesterday,” Lisa Sullivan said Saturday afternoon in between customers.

She described Louise Brochu as an acquaintance, then said all the wood in the Sullivan house and flooring came from the Brochu mill.

“When we had the restaurant here, she’d come in every day for lunch. She was a really upbeat woman, and she always had big plans. They’d just opened another place around Millinockett somewhere,” she said.

Brochu, she added, frequented Kingfield a lot, especially Anni’s, a combination convenience store, deli and fuel station, but women tending the counter declined comment Saturday.

Sullivan said she felt sad for Brochu’s daughter, Emily, whom she believed was away at college.

She said Brochu put the property on the market back in December, but wanted to sell it herself rather than go through a Realtor.

“She recently made a trip to New York to distribute information on her mill. This is so bizarre,” she added.

Lt. Wright, who grew up in North Anson, also thought it was unusual, saying he couldn’t recall if there had ever been a homicide in New Portland.

The property consists of four buildings that were listed for sale at $1.5 million on several real estate Web sites. If the sale were to include the wood mill and related equipment, the price tag would jump to $1.75 million.