A sacred fire has been burning and tribal has sounded since Sunday afternoon, November 22, on the Perry side of the Old Eastport Road, as the search for the body of a missing 23-year-old Pleasant Point man has been unceasing. Up to 50 people at a time have combed the shoreline since Majik Francis disappeared into the waters of Half Moon Cove, and one of those searchers, Perry Fire Chief Paula Frost, says she and many others will continue to search the area so that "we can bring some closure to the family."
     At about 12 noon on Sunday, Francis, Joseph Francis-Stevens and Britney Foss were canoeing through Half Moon Cove to go clam digging. It was about an hour before low tide, so currents were still running when "there was some shifting in the canoe, and they bailed out," reports Frost. None were wearing life jackets or dry suits, and Francis was last seen clinging to the canoe as the other two swam for the shore.
     Foss and Francis-Stevens safely made it to the Perry end of the old toll bridge road, where they ran to Pat Candelmo's house, and a call for assistance was made.
     Responding to the call was U.S. Coast Guard Station Eastport, which sent a 29-foot response boat. Joining them was a HC-144 Ocean Sentry fixed-wing aircraft crew and a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod as well as the Maine Marine Patrol, U.S. Border Patrol, Quoddy Pilots, the Pleasant Point Police Department and the Perry Fire Department. The Coast Guard First District command center reported that with the other state and local agencies, "we were able to search the entire cove and its perimeter before nightfall" on Sunday. The Coast Guard and partner agencies continued their search for 24 hours and covered 193 square miles in their efforts.
     "I just saw a clam bucket and a life jacket when I got there," says first responder Frost. "It was overcast, and a front was coming in with rain, but the water wasn't awfully rough. But it was very cold."
     The canoe was found on Spectacle Island with a life jacket inside.
     Tents were set up as people from the surrounding communities came to help and the search continued overnight.
     "Local divers dived where debris was found, and the state police came in yesterday [Monday] with sonar and their own dive team looking from where [Francis] went down out to Spectacle Island," reports Frost. A Maine Forest Service helicopter also joined the search on Monday.
     Along with many from Pleasant Point, those who volunteered to search or help in other ways came from Perry, Eastport, Pembroke and Robbinston and from the other side of Cobscook Bay from Lubec to Whiting. Majik's uncle, Mike Francis, was among the searchers and notes that he met a man on the beach from Portland who was on vacation and was helping look for Majik. On Monday, searchers split into three teams to cover all of the area exposed at low tide.
     Shortly after 12 noon on Monday, nearly 24 hours after the initial call for assistance, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search, and the Maine Department of Marine Resources' Marine Patrol took charge. "This is a very sad moment in the maritime community, and the decision to suspend any search is an extremely difficult one to make," said Captain Michael Baroody, commander of Coast Guard Sector Northern New England. "Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with the Francis family."
     "Now that it's not a rescue and is a recovery, the DMR will continue working with groups and assign them specific areas to search," notes Frost. "They'll continue on land and water."
     Majik's first cousin, Terri Mumme of Pleasant Point, says, "It's very disturbing. It's hard to imagine what he went through."
     Of the search, Mumme says, "I've never seen anything like this. It's like a nightmare, with the helicopters, the divers in the water, so many people scanning the beaches. It doesn't seem real."
     She says the family appreciates all of the support, from those who are searching to those who have brought firewood and food and beverages to those staying at the site in Perry at the end of the Old Eastport Road. "So many people have been supportive. It's very touching."
     Majik is the son of Martin and Cyril Francis of Pleasant Point, and Mumme notes that Majik was a new dad, with he and his girlfriend Samara having a young son, Felix.
     Mike Francis observes that Majik was a hard worker. "You have to work hard to go clamming," he notes.
     Mumme uses the present tense when she says, "Majik is a great kid. He's fun and always been smart. His smile is infectious. He's always smiling and laughing."
     She adds, "I hope they find him, so the family can be at peace and he can be at rest."