Lost Hikers Who Were Rescued Die After Wrong Turn On Way Back Home
Two women who had just been rescued after getting lost while hiking through a state park were found dead inside a submerged vehicle that was accidentally driven into the water.
Amy Stiner, who had recently moved to Machias, Maine, was showing her friend Melissa Moyer of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, around the Roque Bluffs State Park, when the two got lost.
Working with a local landowner who is a Sunrise Search & Rescue crew member, the Maine Warden Service was able to locate the women and return them safely to their vehicle.
But around 9 PM, on their way out of the park, Stiner took a wrong turn, and accidentally drove her Dodge minivan down a boat landing and into Pond Cove — an ocean cove that empties into Englishman Bay.
"They called on the phone that they were in the water and the car was filling up. Then the phone went dead," Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith told the Associated Press.
He blamed the error on low visibility due to fog and rain.
Deputies found the vehicle using the cellphone's GPS coordinates. It was submerged in 20 feet of water some 175 feet off the coast.
Adding to the tragedy was the fact that Stiner was five months pregnant.
A dog was also found dead inside the vehicle.
