DETROIT — Police have identified the man whose body was found in a mobile home early Thursday, but authorities are still investigating how he died, a spokesman for the state medical examiner’s office said Friday.

“They’re still working on it,” spokesman Mark Belserene said Friday afternoon.

State police believe the man is Ricky Cole, 47, who has lived at the house for about a year, Stephen McCausland, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman, said Friday in a press release.

Before moving to Detroit, Cole lived in Newport and Rochester, N.H., according to police records.

“His mother, who lives in New Hampshire, was located overnight and told of the death. A team of detectives continue to gather evidence and conduct interviews today and the death remains suspicious,” McCausland said.

Lt. Chris Coleman, who leads the state police Major Crimes Unit’s north division, said Thursday that a neighbor called police about 3 a.m. Thursday requesting a well-being check at the residence behind him at 24 Main St.

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Somerset County Sheriff’s Department deputies and officers from Pittsfield Police Department went to the home, found the deceased man and called in the Major Crimes Unit.

Several Maine State Police vehicles, including a Major Crimes command truck, were at the home for much of Thursday and remained at there on Friday collecting evidence. A police dog was brought to the scene Thursday afternoon.

Coleman said Friday that he would not be releasing any new details.

Police were familiar with Cole.

Cole was arrested by the Skowhegan Police Department on June 24 on an outstanding warrant issued for failing to appear in court to face a criminal threatening charge, according to the Somerset County Jail intake log.

According to records the Bangor Daily News obtained from the State Bureau of Investigation, Cole’s criminal history in Maine dates to 1985, when he was convicted of theft and fined $50.

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In 1988, he was found guilty of obstructing governmental administration, for which he served 30 days in jail, according to his criminal history. In 2004, Cole was fined $300 after he was found guilty of violating a protection order.

Cole also was found guilty of theft by receiving stolen property and violating conditions of his release, for which he was fined $250, in 2010. Earlier this year, he was found guilty of misdemeanor criminal threatening, the criminal history shows.

Detectives are performing interviews and collecting information and want to speak with anyone who had contact with Cole in the past couple of days.

As part of the investigation, state police interviewed people on Dogtown Road in Palmyra on Thursday, a detective confirmed.

The mobile home where Cole lived is set back from the road and is located across the street from the Detroit post office.

A neighbor who asked not to be identified said Thursday that she was awake at 3 a.m. because of the heat and thought she heard fireworks.


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