LEEDS, Maine — The Maine State Police have identified a man whose body who was found in Leeds on Saturday. Police are calling the death suspicious.
Maine Public Safety Spokesperson Steve McCausland says the man was found on the Bernie Hartford Road by a couple riding on their ATV around 5 p.m.
The couple notified the Androscoggin Sheriff’s Office, where deputies asked State Police to assist them.
Nadi Hagi-Mohamed, 31, from Minnesota was identified by fingerprints and by a family member in that state.
McCausland said Hagi-Mohamed had been arrested on cocaine charges in Rochester, MN in mid-July and had recently relocated to Lewiston-Auburn.
According to the Post Bulletin in Minnesota, Hagi-Mohamed was charged with felony first-degree drug sales.
The Post Bulletin reported Rochester, Minnesota police conducted a controlled buy using a confidential informant and picked up Hagi-Mohamed a short time later.
The Post Bulletin said Hagi-Mohamed was in possession of 16 grams of suspected crack cocaine on him as well as $1,900 in cash, according to court records. The Post Bulletin said the money used in the controlled buy was found in the vehicle.
Residents on Bernie Hartford Road say they were shocked to learn about the events. Rich Sirois and his family were returning from a fishing trip when he received a text message about it. He says he didn't believe it until he saw the swarm of law enforcement blocking him from getting to his house, just past where the body was found.
"They weren't giving us any information at first," Sirois said. "I was a little worried for my family… I wanted to know if I needed to be prepared for some guy cruising through the woods."
Sirois says his road is typically very quiet, with only a handful of cars using it on a daily basis. He says the trail Mohamed's body was found on is actually private property that leads up to an empty camp.
"It's kind of weird thinking, wow... 100 yards away something like that happened and we had no idea," Sirois said. "Interesting how the world seems to be going these days, especially out here in the middle of the boonies, you just never know."
An autopsy was completed Sunday at the State Medical Examiner's Office in Augusta, but the cause of death is not being released at this time.
Detectives and evidence technicians spent Sunday in Leeds gathering evidence along a woods road where the man's body was discovered Saturday.
Detectives are now conducting interviews with anyone who has had contact with him in recent weeks.
Anyone with information regarding Hagi-Mohamed's death is asked to call the Maine State Police at 207-624-7076.