Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Man says Lozada died of drug overdose

BY ANN S. KIM

PORTLAND — A man who told police where to find Elena Lozada's body in the woods of Northport said she died of a drug overdose, police said Tuesday.

Thirty-six-year-old Nathaniel Pete Mincher of Saco told a detective in February that he and Lozada had been taking drugs together and that he left her body in the woods after she died. The remains of the 24-year-old Portland resident were recovered in April.

While Mincher's revelation led authorities to the missing woman's remains, police are seeking help from the public to substantiate the information they have. They want anyone with information about Mincher or Lozada to contact them.

"It's still very much an active investigation," Police Chief James Craig said at a news conference Tuesday.

Lozada's death is still classified as suspicious. No one has been charged in connection with her death.

Lozada's mother, Carrie Cronkite of Westfield, reported her missing in July. The two were normally in close touch, but Cronkite worried when they weren't in contact for an unusually long time. Lozada had recently completed a hospital drug rehabilitation program, but told her mother she did not want to follow up with a residential treatment program as planned. Lozada said she planned to go to Boston instead.

Mincher entered the picture on Feb. 11, when York County Sheriff's deputies were looking into a complaint about his car being abandoned. Mincher told them he had information about Lozada and wanted to talk to a Portland detective.

According to Craig, Mincher told police he picked up Lozada on Congress Street on July 10. Mincher reported that they consumed drugs together -- police would not say what kind or where -- and Lozada died shortly afterwards of an overdose. Police said he brought her body to the Waldo County town of Northport on or around that date. Craig said police believe Mincher had lived in that part of Maine. Two days later, Portland police, along with Maine State Police, the Maine Warden Service and the Medical Examiner's Office, searched an area of woods off Route 52. Several feet of snow blanketed the site, and authorities were unable to find Lozada's body.

They returned in April, recovering Lozada's skeletal remains over the course of two searches.

Mincher could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Cronkite, who attended the news conference with her daughter, Bethany Lozada of Old Town, said she had never heard Mincher's name before. She said there was a chance her daughter was still alive after she took drugs with Mincher, and that he had no authority to pronounce her dead.

"If I saw him face to face, I would ask him, 'Why didn't you take my daughter to the hospital? Why didn't you call 911?'" Cronkite said.

Cronkite described how Elena Lozada was diagnosed with depression as a young teen and began self-medicating with street drugs a few years later. Lozada did not like the lifestyle she had fallen into and dreamed that she would run Lena's House for drug-addicted teens after she overcame her own dependence, Cronkite said.

In that spirit, their church, Family Christian Center in Presque Isle, has started Lena's Fund to help youth struggling with drugs.

"This is Elena's dream coming true. This is the miracle coming out of the mess," Cronkite said.

Police characterized Mincher as a person of interest. He is not in custody and police have been in regular contact with him, Craig said.

Lt. Gary Rogers, head of Portland detectives, said police have received many tips from people who knew Lozada but need to hear from people who know Mincher.

Cronkite has said that she learned after her daughter's disappearance that she was advertising as an escort on Craigslist. Craig said there was no indication that the two met through Craigslist and that it did not appear that they knew each other before.

Mincher has a criminal history that dates back to 1995. He served six years in prison for a 1996 arson conviction in Kennebec County and has also served time for other offenses, including perjury and theft by unauthorized taking.