Rodger Merton Day – Missing 1973

Thursday October. 4 1973 was a sunny brisk day in Porter Maine and the Fryeburg Fair was in full swing of their annual one week run of family festivities.
Fourteen year old Rodger Merton Day left his home in Porter that morning with every intention of going to that fair.
He was never seen or heard from again.
Rodger’s father, Merton Day would look for his son at the Fryeburg Fair every year until his declining years prevented him from doing so.

Word of Mouth

The night before Roger had told his older siblings that he was going to skip school the next day to attend the Fryeburg Fair.
It is assumed that Roger left directly from his home in Porter to head to the fair and that he went alone. No one reported seeing him at Sacopee Valley Middle School that day and no one came forward after his disappearance.
His siblings did not think to ask Roger how he was planning on getting to the fair (some 19 miles away). Perhaps it was assumed he planned on thumbing a ride which was not uncommon in those days, or maybe he had made prior arrangements for a ride, but with whom?
In any case, their is no conformation that Roger Day ever made it to the Fryeburg Fair.

Investigation

The family states that Roger’s case was “lost in the shuffle to some degree” and was not picked up on again by the State of Maine until soon after his father’s death in 2010.
Roger Day’s is still not listed in the Maine’s missing persons online database.
A segment of the Maine State Police Major Crime Unit-South’s weekly highlight log of 1/21/13 (since removed) stated: “Detectives Farley and Keaten conducted a further search of a residence in Porter where it is believed ROGER DAY may be buried. DAY has been missing since 1973. They were assisted by an UMF Geology Professor who used a ground penetrating radar unit to survey the basement floor of the residence. The radar unit showed another abnormality in the basement floor. A second dig of the basement will be scheduled in the coming days.”
And the follow up on 2/4/2013; “Nothing further was found in the basement and the investigation continues. Detectives conducted interviews with family members and updated them on the case status.”

Talk of the Town

This is where the case for Roger Day takes an ominous turn. Nobody digs up the floor of a basement without a damn good reason. Obviously Roger’s family is no closer to finding out what happened to Roger from this basement search, but it opens up a line of questioning that cannot be ignored.
What led investigators to believe Roger was buried there and who’s basement was this? Was it a friend of the family? Was their anything besides the abnormalities in the basement floor found? What were the abnormalities? It may be that the residents of Porter have the answers that the detectives did not find at this home.
Any information regarding Roger Merton Day contact: Maine State Police Detective Chris Farley 207-657-3030 – christopher.p.farley@maine.gov