It’s been a year since Kiannah Soctomah’s mother was killed in a car crash during a police chase.
Noah Mushero, 39, of Bangor, and Sheena Soctomah-Rolfe, 39, of Orono, died in a crash on Finson Road on July 22, 2024, following a chase by a Penobscot County Sheriff’s deputy. A year later their families still don’t have full answers as to what happened that day, Soctomah said.
The deputy was chasing Mushero and Soctomah-Rolfe before their speeding vehicle left the road and hit a tree. Their deaths were not witnessed because the chase happened “shortly before” the crash, police said previously. Soctomah-Rolfe had an active warrant for alleged drug trafficking, and it was the second police chase the pair were involved in within two days.
A year later, Soctomah, who turns 18 on Friday, feels a deep sense of longing and sadness because of how much she misses her mom.
“This feeling is like a heavy cloud hanging over me, making it hard to concentrate on anything else,” she said. “I just want to be able to talk to her again and hear her voice.”
Soctomah said she feels horrible about the lack of answers as to what happened. She doesn’t even know the name of the deputy who was chasing them.
A Bangor police investigation into the sheriff’s office chase and subsequent crash was still open as of May 14 while the department waited for reports from the medical examiner. The Bangor department had completed its investigation as of July 16 and given the report to the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office, Bangor Sgt. Jason McAmbley said.
The sheriff’s office did a preliminary review, but it did not have all the reports it needed, Sheriff Troy Morton said. Once those reports are received, there will be a “thorough review and conclusion,” Morton said.
However, those results will only be released “once any or all civil matters are resolved,” Morton said.
Morton did not respond to follow up questions about what reports were needed and what legal action may be happening. The Bangor Daily News could not find public record of a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office in state or federal courts.
There is no dashboard camera footage of the chase from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office. The cameras were installed but not turned on, according to the sheriff’s office.
Mushero and Soctomah-Rolfe loved each other but the two weren’t supposed to be together the day of the crash, family said in the days after the crash. Mushero was on probation and one of his conditions was that he was not supposed to have contact with Soctomah-Rolfe, Bangor police said.
