AUGUSTA — Maine State Police arrested a Stockton Springs man and charged him in connection with the death of 63-year-old Dorothea Burke in the summer of 1984.

Charged with murder is Kirt Damon, 57, who was 20 years old at the time of Dorothea’s death.

Damon was taken into custody Tuesday evening at his residence in Stockton Springs and taken to the Waldo County jail. Damon’s first court appearance was Wednesday in Waldo county Superior Court, according to a release from the Maine Dept. of Public Safety.

Dorothea’s family was notified of the arrest on Sept. 23, 2020 by members of the State Police Unsolved Homicide Unit. 

On Saturday, June 23, 1984, Dorothea Burke attended a family wedding and was preparing to celebrate her birthday. Dorothea was well known in Stockton Springs and had retired from a Sardine Plant in Belfast. She had lived in the Stockton Square for a number of years.  

Burke was last seen in a bar room in Bucksport, Maine. She was reported missing when she failed to return home. Her body was found on Meadow Road in Stockton Springs on June 28, 1984.

The Attorney General’s Office, the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Maine State Police were part of the initial investigation in 1984.  Detectives never stopped working this case and pursed all possible leads and avenues over the past 36 years. 

That work culminated with the case being presented to the Waldo county grand jury where an indictment for murder was handed down for Kirt Damon. Although detectives have done a number of recent interviews in the Stockton Springs area, Detectives are asking the public to contacted them if they have any new information. Detectives can be contacted at the Unsolved Homicide Unit in Augusta by calling 207-624-7143.