Maine

Missing Maine Mother Found Dead; Boyfriend Charged With Murder

A body found Wednesday in a Maine home has been identified as a woman reported missing a day earlier. The father of her twin daughters is being charged with her murder.

Police in Waterville were searching for 29-year-old Melissa Sousa, a mother who was last seen on Tuesday morning putting her twin girls on a school bus by her house on Gold Street. Authorities found a body in Sousa's basement. Thursday, the Maine Medical Examiner's Office determined the remains were Sousa's.

Sousa's longtime boyfriend, 28-year-old Nicholas Lovejoy, was arrested as police continued to search for her. Thursday, Maine State Police said Lovejoy was being charged with Sousa's murder.

Friends reported Sousa missing Tuesday night, and Waterville police asked state police to assist them in the investigation. A team of state police detectives and evidence technicians are in Waterville and have joined local police in their investigation.

Sousa was last seen around 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday putting her daughters on the bus near the duplex home at 32 Gold St. where she lives with her children and Lovejoy, their father.

Lovejoy was arrested by Waterville police around midnight Tuesday after his SUV was stopped on Summer Street, police said. He was charged with having a loaded rifle in the car an endangering the welfare of a child, as he had left his kids alone at home.

Police said Lovejoy was interviewed by investigators on Wednesday morning and was cooperating with them. He is being held at the Kennebec County Jail on $2,000 bail.

According to Maine State Police, Sousa is originally from the Haverill area of Massachusetts. A co-worker told Newscenter Maine that Lovejoy and Sousa came to Maine from the Bay State. Sousa has a brother in New Hampshire and her mother lives in Massachusetts.

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