The Harbor's Hidden Skeleton: Lobsterman Found Sealed in Wall

The Harbor's Hidden Skeleton: Lobsterman Found Sealed in Wall

The calm of a Maine harbor hid a 23-year secret until Tropical Storm Bette peeled open a seawall and revealed a nearly complete male skeleton with bound wrists and a skull fractured from a single blunt strike-how did a lobsterman end up sealed inside masonry mixed for a harbor project? Who used the project's own materials to bury him and why was the death ruled an accidental drowning for decades?

In this episode, we follow the facts uncovered at Carvell Cove: the discovery, the forensic details, the 1996 harbor project, and the ledger entry that reopened the case-what does the evidence suggest about who had the access, the materials, and the motive?

Person: Duane R. Hansen Date (disappearance): September 7, 1996 Discovery date: September 4, 2019 Location: Carvell Cove harbor wall, mid-coast Maine Status: Previously ruled accidental drowning; skeleton identified with bound wrists

- Skeleton found in a cavity four feet across and three feet deep inside the seawall. - Orange nylon dock line looped twice and knotted bound the wrists of the skeleton. - Commercial fishing license issued to Duane R. Hansen, expiration October 1996, recovered in left rear pocket. - Skull showed a single fracture at the base consistent with one blunt-force impact from behind. - Contractor Richard Norris recorded a $1,200 "materials cost" entry on September 9, 1996, in his business ledger with no supplier or invoice.

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