Skylar Meserve and her father, Nick, react as she tosses a bean bag during the annual Kids Cornhole Tournament at Saint Dominic Academy in Auburn in September 2018. (Sun Journal file photo by Russ Dillingham)

LEWISTON – Police are awaiting the results of the autopsy of Lewiston Police Officer Nick Meserve by the State Medical Examiner’s Office, according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Skylar Meserve and her father, Nick, react as she tosses a bean bag during the annual Kids Cornhole Tournament at Saint Dominic Academy in Auburn in September 2018. (Sun Journal file photo by Russ Dillingham)

Meserve, who had been employed with the Lewiston Police Department since 2009, was found dead in his Webster Street home Friday evening.

Police Lt. David St. Pierre wrote in a news release Saturday that there was no sign of violence and a cause of death was not yet known.

McCausland said the autopsy has performed, but additional testing was ordered to “assist in determining the cause of death.”

Community members have continued to rally around Meserve’s family.

On Sunday, Aundrea Olson, the sister of Meserve’s ex-wife Ashley, created a GoFundMe page to raise $3,000 for Skylar, Meserve’s daughter, to go to New York City on her birthday at the beginning of April, with all extra money going into an account for Skylar and her future needs.

Within 24 hours, the fundraising page had surpassed its goal by more than $500.

Lewiston police officer Nicholas Meserve conducts a field interview on Walnut Street in Lewiston in 2017. (Sun Journal file photo by Russ Dillingham)

“(Skylar) had often talked about how her daddy was going to take her to New York City,” Olson wrote on the GoFundMe page. “When she found out that he had died, it was one of the very first things that she brought up. Her mom and I immediately decided that we would take her to New York City for her birthday.”

The Sapphire Nightclub and Event Center in Auburn announced it would donate its venue, staff and food Friday, Feb. 22, for a fundraiser to help with “any unexpected costs associated with (Meserve’s) passing.” The nightclub wrote on its Facebook page that there would be a spaghetti dinner buffet with donations at the door, silent auction and a 50/50 raffle, among other activities.

Meserve’s daughter, Skylar, and Jada Olson, his ex-sister-in-law, will make and sell black-and-blue keychains to go toward a fund dedicated to Skylar’s future.

Breanna Myrick, Meserve’s sister, reminisced about how Nick always stepped up for others, including his brother, Brandon, the way the community is stepping up for their family now.

“My brother was a loving, family guy,” Myrick said. “When he and our handicapped brother Brandon were little, and people would pick on Brandon, Nick was always the first person there defending him. He was such a caring guy when it came to athletes in the Special Olympics. He always had such a big heart for them.”

Lewiston police officer Nicholas Meserve keeps an eye out for a suspect at Knox and Birch streets in Lewiston as fellow officer Craig Johnson, background, talks to an LA Cab Service driver at Park and Pine streets in 2014.  They were looking for a woman in her mid to late 20’s who brandished a handgun and made off with $35 from a City Cab driver in the downtown area. (Sun Journal file photo by Russ Dillingham)

“My mom had given Nick a St. Michael’s pendant to protect him, and Nick gave it to an athlete who was battling breast cancer because he was always caring,” Myrick added.

Myrick said thier mother passed away, “it really took a toll on him, but he stepped up for his family and was here for us, always taking care of us.”

Meserve’s brother-in-law Casey Myrick agreed, calling Meserve “one of the smartest people I ever got the opportunity to meet.”

“He told me (at my wedding) how proud he was for taking on this role with his little sister and his brother,” Casey Myrick said. “I can only hope to keep him as proud from this day forward and protect his family the same as he would.”

Visitation services for Meserve have been scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday with his funeral scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 15, at East Auburn Baptist Church in Auburn.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

Lewiston police officer Nicholas Meserve speaks with a woman on Walnut Street in Lewiston in 2017. (Sun Journal file photo by Russ Dillingham)