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The teenage suspect accused in the brutal slaying of a Maine paddleboarder reportedly led police on a “wild goose chase” through the vacation destination as locals feared the possibility of a killer lurking within the remote campsite.
The body of 48-year-old Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart was discovered on a remote island in Union’s Crawford Pond earlier this month after departing for a solo paddleboarding trip, according to the Office of the Maine Attorney General. An autopsy determined Stewart’s cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma, Maine State Police said.
Nearly two weeks later, authorities announced a 17-year-old male had been arrested and charged in connection with Stewart’s murder.
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Both Stewart and the teenager were reportedly staying at Mic Mac Campground when the alleged killing occurred, ABC News reported.
“It’s not a place where these things happen,” Katharine Lunt, the owner of Mic Mac, told ABC News. “It’s not a place where we’re suspect of each other.”
As authorities raced to find Stewart’s killer, Lunt reportedly combed through surveillance footage from across the campground in search of anything suspicious.
“I was looking for a stranger,” Lunt said. “Somebody out of the ordinary. Absolutely nobody was looking for a child. We were looking for an adult.”
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The search continued, with Maine State Police reportedly zeroing in on a remote area where Stewart’s paddleboard was found.
“I was obsessed with finding out who did this,” Lunt said. “Because it was terrifying for everybody.”
Meanwhile, the teenager, who was visiting the campground with his parents, was reportedly eager to aid in the hunt for Stewart’s killer. He would often offer to help fellow campers with their pets or yard work, and enjoyed doling out wooden crafts and taking his little boat out on the water, according to Lunt.
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“He volunteered,” Lunt said. “He said he had some information, and he took them in the opposite direction of where Sunny was found. He had said he had something to show them, and took them out on the lake on pretty much a wild goose chase.”
As the two-week-long search continued, the teenager was “acting totally normal,” Lunt told ABC News. “He acted like nothing ever happened.”
“It’s haunting,” she added. “He was not on anybody’s radar.”
Police reportedly spoke with the teenager for several hours before leaving the campsite. Later that evening, authorities returned to arrest him.
“Just thinking, ‘no way, this cannot be happening,’” Lunt said. “Then I went back to [the] surveillance cameras to see where he was at the time [of the killing], and those surveillance videos indicated he was on the lake at the time.”
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The footage reportedly showed the suspect returning to land before sunset on the evening of Stewart’s alleged murder.
“We have a lot of kids, and they do a lot of things,” Lunt told ABC News. “But not anything that would make you think that any child was going to murder somebody here. I have nothing nice to say. It’s disgusting.”
In a brief court appearance on Friday, the teenager entered a denial to the charge and is currently being held at a youth detention facility in the Portland area ahead of his status conference on Aug. 22. The suspect’s attorney declined Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The state attorney general’s office is asking the court to try the teenager as an adult, a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital. If convicted as an adult, the teenager would face a maximum prison sentence of 25 years to life.
The state attorney general’s office and Lunt did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
As the investigation into a possible motive surrounding the alleged slaying of Stewart remains ongoing, her loved ones are still clinging to their memories of the avid fisher, carpenter and captain.
“She was just a wonderful friend,” Bethany Leach Parmley, a lifelong friend of Stewart’s, said. “A really loyal, wonderful friend. She was just so fun and funny, and you couldn’t help but have a good time around her.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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