WATERVILLE -- Cherri Hight of Waterville said Friday she was close friends with Cheryl Murdoch, the woman who a judge this month said was murdered by 38-year-old Shannon Atwood in 2006 in rural Canaan.

Now, Hight, 43, says she wants to mount a private search for another woman she fears might have been slain by the same man around the same time.

Shirley Theresa Moon Atwood, the estranged wife of Shannon Atwood, was last seen weeks before Murdoch's bludgeoned body was found five miles from Atwood's home on the Hartland Road. She was 35.

A murder charge against Shannon Atwood in the death of his wife was dropped by prosecutors in 2007.

The penalty for a murder conviction is 25 years to life in prison. Prosecutors expect it may be two months before a sentence is handed down in the Murdoch case.

Hight said she wants to search an area known as Devil's Head, a vast, rugged mountain top that straddles parts of St. Albans and Harmony.

"I honestly believe that we're not going to find Shirley on top of anything; if anything she's going to be in a cave," Hight said. "As warped as it may sound, there could be a possibility that he actually killed her and buried her because she was his wife. They still loved each other, no matter what kind of fights they got into. I believe he had compassion enough that he would actually bury her."

Hight said the court affidavit in the case refers to Shannon Atwood being in the area of Devil's Head in the weeks leading up to the discovery of Murdoch's body.

Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said police prefer to do their own investigations.

"We welcome any citizens help in missing persons cases, but would prefer that organized searches for a homicide victim be coordinated with us and the Maine Warden Service," McCausland said. "We are likely to be conducting other searches for Shirley in the future, but have none planned at the moment."

McCausland said exhaustive searches were conducted in the wooded area of the Hartland Road in Canaan, but he was uncertain if Devil's Head was part of that search area.

Lt. Gary Wright, head of state police Criminal Investigation Division II, which handled the case, did not return a call Friday.

Hight is asking volunteers to meet by the town gazebo in Hartland at 9 a.m. July 26, 27 and 28 to fan out in search parties.

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534

dharlow@centralmaine.com