Skeletal remains found in the woods of New Hampshire have been identified as those of a Vermont man who was reported missing last year. Devin Whitham, 38, of Saxton Rivers, Vermont, was last seen leaving a convenience store in New Boston, New Hampshire in April 2023. Whitham’s car was found abandoned at Lang Station, along the New Boston rail trail on Monday, April 24, according to New Boston police. Crews of law enforcement and volunteers searched the area by foot and by helicopter at the time, but could not find Whitham, who had no ties to the area and had been reported missing due to concer ..read more

The driver of a pickup truck that burst into flames after a rollover crash on Interstate 89 in Vermont overnight has died, according to state police. Vermont State Police said they responded to a single-vehicle crash on I-89 south in Georgia around 11:59 p.m. Sunday. A Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck had reportedly rolled over and was on fire. Upon arrival, state police troopers said the vehicle was in the median of the interstate, fully engulfed in flames. Georgia firefighters extinguished the flames and troopers determined that the lone person in the vehicle, the driver, had sustained fatal ..read more

A Vermont man charged along with his mother in the death of his stepfather, who police say was lured to a parking lot and shot multiple times in 2019, was sentenced on Monday to 18 years in prison. Kory Lee George pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in his stepfather’s death. David Auclair, 45, of Williston, was shot in a trailhead parking lot in Hinesburg. His body was found partly under his pickup truck. The morning after he was killed, Angela Auclair called police to report her husband missing. She said he had been called in to work the night before and n ..read more

The man accused of starting a fire outside independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Vermont office earlier this month will remain detained pending further legal proceedings, a federal judge ordered Thursday. Shant Michael Soghomonian was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of maliciously damaging or attempting to damage and destroy by fire a building used in interstate commerce, according to the indictment filed with the court. Soghomonian, 35, has not yet been arraigned. Surveillance video shows the man throwing a liquid April 5 at the bottom of a door opening into Sanders’ third-floor office i ..read more

Hundreds of Vermont farms are still recovering from last July’s catastrophic flooding and other extreme weather as they head into this year’s growing season. Dog River Farm, in Berlin, Vermont, lost nearly all its produce crops in the July flooding. The farm removed truckloads of river silt and sand from the fields before another round of flooding in December washed away more precious soils, wiped out the farm’s garlic planted in late fall and left behind more silt and several giant holes in a field, said owner George Gross on Wednesday. “We had 15,000 garlic heads — bulbs growing here which i ..read more

A Vermont man is facing multiple charges in connection with sexual assault involving a child, police said. Daniel Reilly, 66, of Lowell, Vermont, is accused of sexually assaulting a child in Barton multiple times over a number of years.  Police arrested Reilly on Friday following an extensive investigation, which included an interview with him. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday at Orleans County Superior Courthouse. It is unclear if he has an attorney ..read more

The man accused of starting a fire outside U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Vermont office a week ago has had past brushes with the law involving guns and a history of traveling from place to place, prosecutors say in court filings arguing that he should remain detained. Security video shows Shant Michael Soghomonian throwing liquid at the bottom of a door opening into Sanders’ third-floor office in Burlington and setting it on fire with a lighter last Friday, according to an affidavit filed by a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Seven employees working in th ..read more

Vermont’s Goddard College, a small school known for its progressive education, is closing after years of declining enrollment and financial struggles, the board of trustees announced. The decision to close at the end of the semester was heart-wrenching but unavoidable as the school, created in 1938, faces financial insolvency, the board said in a statement Tuesday. Goddard currently has 220 students, compared with more than 1,900 in the early 1970s, the board said. “The closure of Goddard College is a significant loss for students in search of an alternative, progressive higher education,” boa ..read more

A Vermont man accused of killing a 19-year-old police officer in a head-on crash during a pursuit in Rutland last summer pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a new elevated charge of aggravated murder. Tate Rheaume, who was ordered held without bail pending an evidence hearing, was “engaged in extraordinarily dangerous driving” at more than 80 mph while also moving in and out of traffic before the fatal crash, Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan said. According to a police affidavit, the July 7, 2023, pursuit started after Rheaume, 20, broke into the home of an ex-girlfriend with whom he has ..read more

The man charged with setting a fire outside the Vermont office of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders had been staying at an area hotel for nearly two months and was spotted outside Sanders’ office the day before and the day of the fire, according to court paperwork filed by a federal agent. Shant Michael Soghomonian, 35, who was previously from Northridge, California, entered the building on Friday and went to Sanders’ third-floor office where security video showed him dumping a liquid on the bottom of the door and setting it afire with a lighter, according to the special agent with the Bureau of Alcoho ..read more