A 17-year-old male has been arrested in connection with the investigation into the murder of a Maine paddleboarder found dead earlier this month.
Maine State Police said in a press release Thursday that the teen was arrested without incident around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday in Union. He was taken to the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.
Police said the arrest is the result of “relentless investigative work” by state police detectives and investigators.
The teen’s name has not been released, and state police did not say what charges he faces.
The victim, 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart of Tenants Harbor, was located during a search of Crawford Pond in Union on July 3 after she failed to return from a solo paddleboarding trip the night before.
State police said the chief medical examiner’s office confirmed her cause of death as strangulation and blunt force trauma.
Stewart lived about a half hour from the pond, a popular summer destination about 15 miles from the scenic coastal areas of the state’s midcoast region. The pond is approximately 600 acres and does not have public access outside of Mic Mac Cove Campground, where Stewart had been staying.
Loved ones of Stewart, who was known as “Sunny” to friends, launched a GoFundMe page in her honor in the wake of her death. The page states that arrangements and memorial service dates were still being determined. The page had raised more than $33,000 as of Thursday morning.
Anyone with information related to this case is encouraged to contact the Maine State Police at 207-624-7076 or by texting “MESPTIP” to 847411. The investigation remains active and ongoing, and no additional information is being released at this time.