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Former student’s body found in Orono

Posted on Monday, September 14th, 2009, 2:13 am

Police discovered the body of a 19-year-old former University of Maine student in Orono on Sept. 9 after a two-week search, according to Orono Police Department Capt. Josh Ewing.

Collin Bates had committed suicide and was found between 4 and 5 p.m., Ewing said. Ewing declined to say how the police knew it was suicide out of respect for the family.

Bates attended UMaine last year as a first-year student, but wasn’t enrolled full-time, according to Peter Bates, Collin Bates’ father. He had begun to study business, and hoped to join the Marines this fall.

“He was going to join the Marines and graduated from Orono High School — where he was an honor student, and he played football and basketball [and] ran track,” said Peter Bates. “He was full of life. He loved fishing and hunting and outdoor activities and camping and loved going to the beach.”

The body was found “in the woods in the Ayers Island area,” Ewing said.

“He had transferred to the University of Rhode Island,” said Vice President of Student Affairs Robert Dana. “[He] was a great student there [Orono High] and a great athlete. Well-loved by many.”

Collin Bates was last seen alive Aug. 26, according Ewing. Orono police officers began searching for him with the assistance of Down East Emergency Medical Institute.

“They had access to a canine tracking dog,” Ewing said, but a passerby found the body before the dog did.

Collin Bates was born April 24, 1990 — the son of Peter and Constance Bates — and graduated from Orono High in 2008. In high school he was a running back for the Orono Red Riots, according to the Bangor Daily News.

A burial mass ceremony for Bates was held Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. at Resurrection of the Lord Parish, St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Orono.