A 17-year-old teenager from Maine has been arrested in connection with the tragic death of a paddleboarder who was strangled and beaten to death. Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart, 48, was found under unusual circumstances on an island on Crawford Pond in Union on July 3. She had gone out on a solo paddleboarding trip the day before, as per Maine State Police.
The cause of death was determined to be strangulation and blunt force trauma by the state’s medical examiner.
An unidentified 17-year-old boy was arrested without incident in connection to Stewart’s death. The suspect, who is from Maine, vacations with his family in the Crawford Pond area every summer.
“I am overwhelmed with both joy and sorrow,” expressed Stewart’s friend, Rachael Blumenberg.
Stewart was discovered at a popular recreation spot near the Mic Mac Family Campground at Crawford Pond, where she had rented a campsite for the summer. She had only been at the campground for a few nights before the tragic incident occurred.
The juvenile suspect has been transferred to Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland as reported by WMTW.
