ME-Missing paddle boarder Sunshine Stewart Found Dead by Homicide, Union 02 July 2025

[AngTxGal]

I suppose it is possible that one of the home owners around the pond shot at Sunshine Stewart and killed her. The reason being that they had pent up resentment and anger building up that non-residents had access to their pond and found it an intrusion. And seeing 'more of the same', Sunshine being a random target. Of course, not knowing any details this is just a thought, and the noise of a gun would be risky. I don't really think it happened that way, but I sure think it could in other cases.

Hmm- why do you speculate this??
The Mic Mac Campground where she was staying bordered the northwest corner of the small lake- Crawford Pond. She wasn’t on someone’s property, she was using one of the amenities of the campground where she was staying in her camper.

Mic Mac Campground on Crawford Pond

Body was found on the southeast beach of the 100 acre island, which is also a campground.

Cause of death has been given as blunt force trauma and strangulation.
She was physically attacked, not shot.

IMO

 

[AngTxGal]

Yes. I've been casually looking at pond or lake properties in Maine, as a place to just get away and possibly spend more time as I look to retire in a few years. This struck some fear into my heart.

I hear you about finding a place to retire in nature.
At this point I’m hoping the moon will be open for colonizing as planet Earth seems to be filled with random violent humans who want to attack some woman minding her own damn business.

IMO

 

[jesse]

Hmm, I can picture the situation but haven’t a clue about bob house. What is that?

A floating home?
Ice fishing house?

It would seem a private location where ‘the public’ couldn’t easily access would be safer than a city or state park. Problem is- this guy was likely camping with his family- so he was supposed to be there. Someone wasn’t supervising him- he wasn’t with friends, no siblings, no parents.

IMO

A "bob house" is a type of portable shelter used for ice fishing, also known as an ice shanty or ice house. These structures are typically placed on frozen lakes or ponds to provide shelter from the elements while ice fishing. The term "bob house" is a regional name, particularly in New England and parts of Canada.

 

[bajaflash]

Im thinking they had zero interaction prior to his attack. Just my guess.

 

[Chimera]

Im thinking they had zero interaction prior to his attack. Just my guess.

I tend to agree, at least no conversations of any sort.
He may have seen her paddleboard out to that small island in the photo .
Wrong place wrong time-- crime of opportunity.
Evil and predatory.

Again I believe this teen was trouble -- long before deciding to murder someone.
Imo.

 

[bajaflash]

When the articles list out all those different jobs she's had...I'm sure it could be stressful, but I bet it came with alot of fun as well. I hope she had joy and excitement throughout it all.

 

[Andreee]

Hmm- why do you speculate this??
The Mic Mac Campground where she was staying bordered the northwest corner of the small lake- Crawford Pond. She wasn’t on someone’s property, she was using one of the amenities of the campground where she was staying in her camper.

Mic Mac Campground on Crawford Pond

Body was found on the southeast beach of the 100 acre island, which is also a campground.

Cause of death has been given as blunt force trauma and strangulation.
She was physically attacked, not shot.

IMO

I realize that now! Besides, i was only speculating as to a possible reason someone would attack another person under those circumstances. Like I said, a shooting was not likely.

 

[airportwoman]

I tend to agree, at least no conversations of any sort.
He may have seen her paddleboard out to that small island in the photo .
Wrong place wrong time-- crime of opportunity.
Evil and predatory.

Again I believe this teen was trouble -- long before deciding to murder someone.
Imo.

One wonders if his parents took him camping because they thought it would be good for him to get away from his hometown.

The only good is that he'll be locked away for a long time, if he's found guilty of course.

 

[Inthedetails]

I've been following this case through the news, but wanted to discuss with WSers now too. Forgive me for jumping in late into the conversation.

When LE asked local males for DNA samples, I immediately thought of the case in Washington state many years ago when a little girl was murdered. It was a different scenario, but also an "isolated" community in that it was a trailer park with one entrance, and this lake in Maine didn't have public access so had a similar "isolated" community. In the Washington case, it was a teen and my hunch, when they asked for DNA for Sunshine's case, that the was also a teen with local ties who had access to the lake and no DNA on police file.

In the Washington case, the teen resisted giving DNA. I wonder if this teen did too, at first?

FWIW, Trip Advisor has an interesting review from 2018 about the resort.

jmopinion

 

[RedHaus]

I've been following this case through the news, but wanted to discuss with WSers now too. Forgive me for jumping in late into the conversation.

When LE asked local males for DNA samples, I immediately thought of the case in Washington state many years ago when a little girl was murdered. It was a different scenario, but also an "isolated" community in that it was a trailer park with one entrance, and this lake in Maine didn't have public access so had a similar "isolated" community. In the Washington case, it was a teen and my hunch, when they asked for DNA for Sunshine's case, that the was also a teen with local ties who had access to the lake and no DNA on police file.

In the Washington case, the teen resisted giving DNA. I wonder if this teen did too, at first?

FWIW, Trip Advisor has an interesting review from 2018 about the resort.

jmopinion

Indeed.

In 2018 DY was 10. Me wonders if that TA review pertains to a younger DY - a big, destructive, bully. But we don't know from MSM or LE the Young family's history of being at Mic Mac.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Court documents identified the teen as Deven Young, of Frankfort, Maine. He made a brief initial court appearance on Friday in which he entered a denial to the charge. A medical examiner determined Stewart’s cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma.

The pond, in the 2,400-resident town of Union, is about 600 acres (243 hectares) and does not have public access. It is available for a variety of uses, including boating and fishing. The 100 Acre Island preserve in the center of the pond is a wooded island reachable by canoe, kayak or paddleboard from a nearby campground.

The pond has numerous nooks and narrow areas, so it’s possible there were other boaters on the water at the time of the killing who were unaware someone was in danger.

Police said the defendant was taken to Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland. Young is due back in court on Aug. 22, according to court documents. His hometown of Frankfort is about 41 miles (66 km) from Union.

Stewart — known as “Sunny by her friends — would have turned 49 next month

Teen charged with murder in killing of paddleboarder in small Maine town

Court documents contain little detail other than stating that Young is a juvenile and “did intentionally or knowingly cause the death of another human being, namely Sunshine Stewart.”

nypost.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Crawford Pond is seen Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Union, Maine

The state has filed a motion to have the juvenile, who turns 18 in September, tried in an adult court. If he is convicted of murder as an adult in Maine, he would face a minimum of 25 years and up to life in prison.

The Midcoast Villager reports that Judge Eric Walker ordered police affidavits, with details about the case, to be kept sealed until a status conference on Aug. 22

17-year-old makes first court appearance, faces murder charge in death of paddleboarder in Union

A 17-year-old male from Frankfort has been charged with one count of murder in the case of Sunshine Stewart, whose body was found during a search of Crawford Pond in Union on July 3.

www.mainepublic.org

 

[Warwick7]

Crawford Pond is seen Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Union, Maine

The state has filed a motion to have the juvenile, who turns 18 in September, tried in an adult court. If he is convicted of murder as an adult in Maine, he would face a minimum of 25 years and up to life in prison.

The Midcoast Villager reports that Judge Eric Walker ordered police affidavits, with details about the case, to be kept sealed until a status conference on Aug. 22

17-year-old makes first court appearance, faces murder charge in death of paddleboarder in Union

A 17-year-old male from Frankfort has been charged with one count of murder in the case of Sunshine Stewart, whose body was found during a search of Crawford Pond in Union on July 3.

www.mainepublic.org

That pond is larger than I thought.

 

[Cedars]

That pond is larger than I thought.

Yes.- quite irrelevant but it took me a long time to understand the Eastern US term 'pond' is very different from how it was used in my upbringing eg duck pond or goldfish pond. I had a quite distorted picture of Thoreau's Walden.

I think it was the movie On Golden Pond that enlightened me.

 

[jesse]

One of the most frequently asked questions posed of biologists in the Lake Assessment Section of Maine DEP, is what makes an inland body of freshwater a lake or a pond?
[cut]
For example, Bryant Pond is also known as Lake Christopher and Dexter Pond sports the name Wassookeag Lake! It is often these dual names that make folks wonder exactly where do we draw the line in Maine?

One classic distinction is that sunlight penetrates to the bottom of all areas of a pond in contrast to lakes, which have deep waters that receive no sunlight at all. Another is that ponds generally have small surface areas and lakes have large surfaces. So a combination of surface area and depth are considered from a technical perspective.

Some of our waters are definitely lakes – they are both large and deep – indisputably lakes. Others are ponds – small and shallow.

[Cut]

So to answer the question above: no definitive line exists between lakes and ponds. The one distinction that has any legal application is the designation of a water as a Great Pond. Maine state statues define lakes and ponds greater than ten acres in size as Great Ponds. If an impounded water is greater than thirty acres in size it is also legally considered a Great Pond; impounded waters less than thirty acres that were greater than ten acres before dammed are also Great Ponds.

Thus there is no exact technical distinction between lakes and ponds. All lakes and ponds provide critical habitat for other living creatures – aquatic macroinvertebrates, plankton, fish, wildlife and vegetation – and all need protection, so that clean fresh water continues to be one of Maine’s premier natural resources.

 

[Inthedetails]

Indeed.

In 2018 DY was 10. Me wonders if that TA review pertains to a younger DY - a big, destructive, bully. But we don't know from MSM or LE the Young family's history of being at Mic Mac.

No, we don't know yet if DY spent time at that particular resort, but we're getting close to it:

"An official familiar with the investigation told ABC News that Young spends vacation time in the Crawford Pond area each summer with his family."

What we know about Deven Young, the teen charged in Union murder

The 17-year-old from Frankfort reportedly spends vacation time in the area of Crawford Pond, which is where authorities say he killed Sunshine "Sunny" Stewart.

www.wmtw.com

 

[Cedars]

No, we don't know yet if DY spent time at that particular resort, but we're getting close to it:

"An official familiar with the investigation told ABC News that Young spends vacation time in the Crawford Pond area each summer with his family."

What we know about Deven Young, the teen charged in Union murder

The 17-year-old from Frankfort reportedly spends vacation time in the area of Crawford Pond, which is where authorities say he killed Sunshine "Sunny" Stewart.

www.wmtw.com

Makes sense to me - a killer often prefers a very familiar locaton...

 

[Inthedetails]

Makes sense to me - a killer often prefers a very familiar locaton...

Thinking aloud, pure speculation, not based on anything but brainstorming:

I wonder if he hit her with a boat while she was paddleboarding and he panicked? Either an accidental hit or perhaps taunting her with the boat while she paddleboarded?

I can't picture this perp going to the island and encountering her there, but I can envision him riding around in the boat and not being careful. Again, that's just a hunch, not fact.

Just trying to make sense of this, until we learn more.

jmo

 

[nao]

Moo. Being . Big? At 10 and then bigger as teen. I see he has been taught to hunt and knows how to handle a gun. But social skills..but..ya know the most important thing in life...moo

 

[swanniee11]

all IMO, I don't think this was an accident, he accidently ran into her in a boat. She was strangled to death. I think the person who did this has previous issues. I think more people will or have come out to LE and told them. I'm glad he's being tried as an adult, I think he has a history of issues. All IMO