WATERVILLE — A body found in the Kennebec River near the Hathaway Creative Center on Water Street has been identified by police as a 43-year-old woman.
The body of Lexxi T. Sironen underwent an autopsy by the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office, which is running more tests to determine the cause of death, authorities said Wednesday. Both Waterville Police and Maine State Police are still investigating the circumstances of Sironen’s death, and no cause has been identified.
Police were called to the scene at the Brookfield Facility around 8:15 a.m. Tuesday for a report of a body floating in the reservoir in that area from a worker at the Brookfield Power Facility.
The body was removed around 11:40 a.m. with help from the Waterville Fire Department and Brookfield crane operators, according to a news release from Deputy Chief Bill Bonney. The body was pushed up against the gates by the dam, said Fire Chief David LaFountain, and firefighters deployed in boats to recover the body.
Sironen, who police said was a transgender female who was born a man but identified as a woman, was living as a transient in Waterville along the riverbank near the Head of Falls on Front Street, the news release said.
Police were familiar with Sironen, Bonny said, and are talking with other transients in the area to get information. Sironen had previously been arrested on warrants in Waterville, according to published police logs.
The Brookfield Power Facility owns multiple dams along the river, including the Lockwood Dam by the Hathaway Creative Center.
Police asked that anyone with more information on the case to Waterville Police Detective David Caron at 680-4700.
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