The Maine State Police said a woman found dead after she went paddleboarding in Union last week was murdered, with investigators searching for her killer.
MSP did not specify the manner of homicide or the victim’s exact cause of death. Sunshine Stewart, 48, was reported missing on the night of July 2 and was found near Crawford Pond early the next day, police said.
Kathy Lunt, the owner of a local campground, told Portland’s WGME-TV that Ms. Stewart was a seasonal resident at the site and that she called police after the paddleboarder’s roommate noticed the victim hadn’t returned.
Police didn’t mention any suspects in the case and asked anyone who saw Ms. Stewart paddleboarding near the pond’s 100 Acre Island between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. July 2 to call 207-624-6076.
Ms. Stewart grew up in Union, and those who knew her are shocked at what happened.
“When they said it was her, I couldn’t even believe it. She was just a great, great person all around. To know Sunny; I don’t think she had a bad bone in her body. … Nobody would want to hurt Sunny. So, it’s kind of scary for all of us who live local to think that somebody out there, if they can do that to her, then what could possibly happen next,” Meredith Smith, a friend of Ms. Stewart and a Union resident, told WGME.