A 17-year-old boy from Maine has been apprehended in relation to the murder of a 48-year-old paddleboarder, Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart. Stewart’s body was discovered under mysterious circumstances on an island in Crawford Pond, Union, on July 3. She had embarked on a solo paddleboarding trip the previous day, according to the Maine State Police.
The cause of Stewart’s death was determined to be strangulation and blunt force trauma, as per the findings of the state’s medical examiner. The teenager, whose identity has not been disclosed due to his age, was arrested without any incident on Wednesday, as reported by local news outlet WMTW.
The young suspect is a Maine resident who spends his summer vacations with his family in the Crawford Pond area, according to an official involved in the investigation. The arrest has elicited mixed feelings of relief and sorrow among Stewart’s friends and acquaintances.
Rachael Blumenberg, a friend of Stewart, expressed her feelings to WMTW, saying, “I am floored with elation and grief.” Stewart was a frequent visitor to a popular recreational spot near the Mic Mac Family Campground at Crawford Pond, where she had rented a campsite for the summer.
According to the owner of Mic Mac, as reported by ABC News, Stewart had only been at the campground for two or three nights before her tragic demise. Following his arrest, the juvenile suspect was transferred to the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, as reported by WMTW.