Missing Virginia woman found dead in Dayton

Maine State police are investigating the death of a Virginia woman whose body was found in Dayton on Monday.

Dispatchers received a 911 call around 3:30 pm. on Monday, Sept. 2, reporting a dead woman in a car parked near Goodwin’s Mills Road in Dayton, said Shannon Moss, public information officer with the Maine Department of Public Safety in a press release.

The woman matched the description of Autumn Cleveland, 23, who had been reported missing from Newport News, Virginia, said Moss.

The State Police Major Crimes Unit South is investigating Cleveland’s death, and an autopsy will be conducted to determine cause and manner of death.

A social media post from Cleveland’s family asking for the public’s help in finding her went viral on Monday. Her mother, Rene Cleveland, wrote that Autumn had arrived in Maine on Thursday and checked out of the room she was renting on Saturday. The last contact the family had with her was by phone on Saturday night according to the Facebook post.

Rene Cleveland, in a more recent Facebook post, said the family was overwhelmed by the support they received from relatives, friends and strangers across the country.

“At this time, we are asking for privacy and continued prayers, should you have any more to spare, so we can grieve as a family. Thank you, a thousand times, again and again to everyone who had any part in helping us,” she said.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.