Lost hikers rescued, then die in tragic accident

Michael Winter | USA TODAY

Two women who were rescued Tuesday evening on the Maine coast after getting lost while hiking died a short time later when they accidentally drove into an ocean cove amid fog and rain.

Amy Stiner, 37, of Machias, Maine, who was five months pregnant, and her friend Melissa Moyer, 38, of Sunbury, Pa., were found inside Stiner's Dodge minivan about 10 p.m., Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith told the Associated Press. A dog inside died.

Smith said Stiner drove down a boat ramp at the end of a dead-end road about an hour earlier and into Pond Cove, which empties into Englishman Bay. It was foggy and raining heavily at the time.

"They called on the phone that they were in the water and the car was filling up. Then the phone went dead," Smith said.

Using the phone's GPS coordinates, deputies found the submerged minivan in 20 feet of water about 175 feet off the boat ramp. The doors and windows were closed. WCSH-TV has photos.

The tragedy happened not long after the women were rescued after they became lost while hiking in Roque Bluffs State Park, which features cliffs, stone beaches and a view of the historic Libby Island Lighthouse.

The Maine Warden Service enlisted the help of a nearby landowner, who is also a firefighter and a search and rescue volunteer, WCSH reported. He found the women and their dog along the shoreline and took them back to his home. A warden picked them up and drove them to their vehicle, which they had left at the park.

But Stiner then made a wrong turn leaving the park, turning right instead of left, which would have taken them back to her home in Machias.

Stiner, originally from Pennsylvania, had lived there for about a year and may have been unfamiliar with the area, Smith said.

"It's just so easy to do," he told the Portland Press Herald. "When I got the call last night, I knew what had happened."