For almost a day she didn’t know if her only brother was alive.
USM Police Chief Lisa Beecher’s younger brother, Linden – the baby of the family – was scheduled to fly out of Logan on United Airlines last Tuesday morning. Two of the four hijacked planes belonged to United.
But Beecher didn’t make that connection until well after the crashes occurred.
“The day started as every other starts. But you never really know what you’re going to face in this job,” she said.
Shortly after she sat down at her desk Tuesday morning, a detective told her about the initial plane crash. She rushed across the hall where there was a television to see exactly what had happened. Beecher witnessed the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center.
“I was completely shocked,” she said.
But within minutes, she got a call that there was a sniper somewhere in Portland’s Monument Square area.
“We have Muskie School people in that area,” said Beecher. “So my immediate concern was for our people.”
She called the Muskie School of Public Service’s office and directed people to stay inside and away from the windows. Soon after the initial alarm, Beecher learned the alleged sniper was only a woman who had pointed a cap gun out a window.
“After that, the day just went from one thing to the next. I was totally focused on work,” she said.
Soon she realized her brother might be in danger.
“It wasn’t until later that I had a minute to call my husband and he mentioned he had talked to one of my sisters, who expressed concern that our brother had flown United,” said Beecher. “That made me think for a minute. I hadn’t realized he was going to leave that morning.”
She then immediately called her parents’ home to see if they knew the whereabouts of her brother, 35-year-old Linden McClure of Colorado.
“The line was continually busy, which alarmed me a little more,” said Beecher. “Because why would it have been busy that long unless something had happened?”
But she didn’t have much time to think about what might have happened to her brother.
Several events were being planned for the University. People were alarmed. Security was increased. There was concern for international students. She was busy to say the least.
“I had a job to do here, so I couldn’t take too much time to be making phone calls. So I continued to do my job.”
It was about three hours later that Beecher had another free minute to call family members for information about her brother.
“I still couldn’t get through to my parents or my sister, so now I’m getting really worried,” she said. “So now my fear was heightened considerably and once all the news was in, there was no doubt there were two United jets involved.
“I felt afraid. I felt sad. I felt powerless and hopeful that maybe those fears were for nothing.”
Tuesday night Beecher attended the vigil on the Gorham campus. It wasn’t until afterwards – at about 8 p.m. – that she found out what happened to her brother.
His flight was scheduled to depart later in the morning. By the time he arrived at Logan, all flights had been cancelled. He was safe at his parents’ Kingfield home.
“It was a great relief to find out he was OK,” said Beecher. “But all those people died at the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon, the rescue, fire and police personnel. All those feelings would have been there anyway, but it was a little more personal for me.”
Executive Editor Steve Peoples can be contacted at: [email protected]