Authorities identify human remains as those of missing 82-year-old Enosburgh woman

Vermont State Police said they have confirmed that human remains found Sunday in a wooded area in Enosburgh were those of an 82-year-old woman whose disappearance last week they described as “suspicious.”

An autopsy performed Monday by the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington identified the remains as those of Roberta Martin, state police said in a press release late Monday night.

“The cause and manner of death are pending at this time,” the release added.

The remains were found Sunday in a wooded area off Sand Hill Road, which intersects with Butternut Hollow Road, where Martin has lived for the past 24 years, police said.

Martin had not been seen or heard from since she had contact with her family late on the night of July 16, according to police. Neighbors reported her missing to authorities the following day, police said, when they went to check on Martin at her residence and she was not there.

Police have declined to discuss any potential evidence in the case and also would not discuss what led them to execute a search warrant at a neighboring house to Martin’s late last week.

In the same press release, police said they had arrested 23-year-old Darren Martell of St. Albans, one of several people who police had earlier interviewed in Martin’s death investigation, on what was described as an unrelated charge.

On Monday afternoon, detectives who were trying to locate Martell found him in a wooded area near the St. Albans Town School, committing a lewd act along the edge of a public walking path before fleeing into the woods as police approached, according to the release.

“The St. Albans Town School went into ‘lock down’ as law enforcement searched the area around the school,” the release stated. “Martell was located a short time later and brought to the St. Albans Barracks.”

He was arrested on a charge of lewd and lascivious conduct and is set to be arraigned Tuesday in Franklin County Superior criminal court in St. Albans, according to the release.

“This arrest and charge is unrelated to the Roberta Martin investigation,” the release stated.

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