AssonetRiver.com > Halloween
> October
28, 2001
Photographs
Spark Murder Investigation
Motel Customer Disappears;
Leaves Suspicious Photographs and Notes
The man who had been staying in the room identified himself as Pete Erwin, formerly of Assonet, Massachusetts, had not been seen by motel staff for several days. Police also announced that Erwin is currently the subject of a manhunt by local and state authorities.
Police were called in Sunday after cleaning staff at the Discount Inn reported finding suspicious items in one of the rooms.
While searching the room, Police found "dozens" of photographs of people and vehicles, a Polaroid camera, and a large quantity of documents, many of them burned or in fragments Traubel said.
Little is known about Erwin himself, but a man by the same name was reported missing from a Taunton psychiatric facility in September of this year. Dave Rickson, manager at the Discount Inn had contact with Erwin on several occasions, said he was "polite, but weird, forgetful."
Traubel said that local police have been questioning local residents in the Mary's Pond area in Rochester to establish if they had any contact with Erwin. He also said they are hard at work trying to put a name to their possible victim. "The documents [recovered from the Erwin room] suggest some type of revenge killing. So we think the victim's name or picture may be found in the other materials.
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