It’s a sad story to be sure but it also sounds like one of those cases where circumstances conspired against rescue.
Norton had a stroke the Friday before Columbus Day and was found in his locked office by USM police the following Wednesday after a co-worker reported he’d missed a meeting and couldn’t be reached, said Norton’s mother, Linda Norton, of Kingfield.
Norton was single, so he didn’t have a wife who would have reported him missing, his mother said. He also was known to sometimes take off on hiking trips and leave his car in a university parking lot while he was gone, USM spokesman Bob Caswell said.