A man goes missing and his remains are discovered 2 years later In the late summer of 2014, a quiet property in Jefferson, Maine, became the center of a grim discovery that unearthed a secret buried for over a decade. On August 27th, investigators unearthed human remains from a shallow grave in the front yard of a residence on Neck Road. The remains were later identified as those of Charles E. Woodburn, a man who had vanished without a trace twelve years prior.
The state medical examiner's office confirmed that the 62-year-old man's death was a homicide.
Charles, who was last seen alive in 2002, was never reported missing by his then-wife, Diane Woodburn. It wasn't until 2010, shortly after Diane's own death, that her son from a previous relationship finally filed a missing person's report for his stepfather. This report set in motion a chain of events that would eventually lead investigators back to the very ground Charles once called home.
The investigation into Charles's disappearance and murder unveiled a complex family dynamic. After Charles was last seen, Diane continued to live in the Jefferson home and later remarried a man named Robert Gaudette. Following the discovery of Charles's body, Diane's son, Brian Darling, came forward with a startling accusation. He claimed that his mother had killed her husband and that Gaudette had been aware of the crime. Darling alleged that Gaudette had even disclosed details of the killing to him after Diane's death.
Gaudette, however, vehemently denied these claims, suggesting that Darling's accusations were motivated by a dispute over inheritance. While Gaudette admitted to having suspicions about what had happened to Charles, he maintained his innocence and denied any involvement or direct knowledge of the murder. As of late 2014, no arrests had been made in connection with the homicide of Charles E. Woodburn, leaving a cloud of suspicion and unanswered questions hanging over the small Maine town.
