Jul. 5—A Tenants Harbor woman has been identified as a homicide victim after authorities found her body Thursday at a pond in Union.
Sunshine Stewart, 48, was identified as the victim Saturday in a news release by Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety. An autopsy was performed on Thursday by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, and the manner of death was determined to be a homicide, according to Moss.
Moss said the cause of death is not being released at this time and authorities did not identify a suspect in the killing.
Officials found the body in Crawford Pond in the Knox County town of Union on Thursday while searching for a missing paddleboarder.
Union fire Chief Jesse Thompson previously said his department was dispatched to Crawford Pond about 12:30 a.m. Thursday to search for a woman who had not returned from a paddleboarding trip. Fire department staff launched a boat to conduct the search from Mic Mac Cove Family Campground on the north side of the pond and notified other agencies, including the Maine Warden Service and Maine State Police.
Maine game wardens joined the search just after 1 a.m.
Searchers located a body a few hours later, Thompson said, and authorities later said the circumstances were suspicious.
Moss said game wardens requested help from the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit “based on the circumstances surrounding the discovery.” State police then began an investigation, which Moss described as “active and ongoing,” into the killing.
Police asked that anyone who may have seen Stewart paddleboarding on Wednesday between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. near 100 Acre Island on Crawford Pond to contact Maine State Police at 207-624-7076.
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