A 17-year-old Maine boy was arrested in connection to the death of a paddleboarder who was strangled and beaten to death earlier this month, according to authorities.
Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart, 48, was found dead under “unusual circumstances” on an island on Crawford Pond in Union, on July 3, after venturing out on a solo paddle boarding outing a day earlier, according to Maine State Police.
Her cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma, police revealed, citing the Pine Tree State’s medical examiner.
An unidentified 17-year-old boy was taken into custody without incident on Wednesday in connection to Stewart’s death, according to local WMTW.
The suspect is from Maine and vacations with his family in the Crawford Pond area each summer, an official familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
“I am floored with elation and grief,” Stewart’s friend, Rachael Blumenberg, told WMTW.
Stewart was found at a popular recreation spot near the Mic Mac Family Campground at Crawford Pond, where she was renting a campsite for the summer.
She was only on the campground for two or three nights before she was murdered, ABC News reported citing the owner of Mic Mac.
The juvenile suspect was transported to Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, WMTW reported.
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