Longtime Seacoast Teacher Found Dead on Maine Trail

The body of a retired teacher from the Oyster River Cooperative School District was found along a wooded trail on Tuesday, according to police officials.

Police were called after Deborah Kolbjornsen, 66, didn't come back from walking her corgi on a trail in a wooded area off Lorraine Drive in the Cape Neddick section of York around 6:15 p.m.

After an extensive search by the York Beach Fire Department, York Village Fire Department, York Ambulance, York County Emergency Management Agency and the Maine State Warden Service her body was found after several hours on a trail around two miles from Lorraine Drive, according to police.

An autopsy will determine the cause and manner of death.

Kolbjornsen retired from the district in 2017 after 29 years retiring as a kindergarten teacher at the Mast Way Elementary School, Superintendent James Morse told Seacoast Current.

"She was one of the most amazing human beings on the planet. Children loved her, her staffmates loved her. She was just an extraordinary individual," Morse said.

Morse said he saw Kolbjornsen a week ago at a retirement celebration for some of her former colleagues.

Members of the Oyster River Alumni Association remembered Kolbjornsen on their Facebook page.

"She was so sweet and the perfect kindergarten teacher for Nicholas. Unbelievably sad," Jennifer Sneirson Kun wrote.

"She was so kind and giving of her time and knowledge," Kerri MacPherson wrote.

"She went by Mrs. K. I remember when her husband came in to Mast Way and taught my class all about Norse heritage and how their name wasn't really that complicated. Bjorn is a common name, which means bear," Roger James Martin wrote. "Kolbjorn means Black Bear. Kolbjornsen means the son of Kolbjorn, the way that Johnson means son of John."

York Police asked anyone with information about Kolbjornsen to call them at 207-363-4444 or Seacoast Crime Stoppers at 603-431-1199.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH

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