Pregnant woman and her friend are rescued from mountain - then minutes later drive down boat ramp into ocean and DROWN

Melissa Moyer, 38, was visiting friend Amy Stiner, 37, who was five months pregnant , in Machias, Maine when they drowned at around 9 p.m. Tuesday



The pair got lost while hiking at Roque Bluff State Park but were found by an off-duty firefighter and dropped to the parking lot to collect their vehicle

Authorities believe Stiner accidentally took a wrong turn in the heavy fog and followed the road, which turns into a boat ramp

If she had turned left, the road would have led the women to town

The friends made a last tragic 911 call as the car was filling up with water, but the car had sunk by the time sheriff's deputies got to the scene

A pregnant woman and her female friend drowned on Tuesday night when they accidentally drove down a boat ramp into the ocean just minutes after they got lost hiking but were rescued by an off-duty firefighter.

Mother-of-one Melissa Moyer, 38, a teacher from Sunbury, Pennsylvania, was visiting long-time friend Amy Stiner, 37, who was five months pregnant, in Machias, Maine when the two women went hiking at Roque Bluff State Park but got lost in the midst of a heavy downpour.

Moyer called for help as it was getting dark and the friends were no doubt relieved when nearby landowner and member of Sunrise Search & Rescue, Wayne Hansom , found them and dropped them at Stiner's 2001 blue Dodge minivan.

But as they left the parking area at around 9 p.m., Stiner took a right turn instead of the left turn that would have taken them back to town, and accidentally drove through the heavy fog down a boat ramp and into the ocean. The pair and their dog drowned in the submerged vehicle.

Tragedy: Mother-of-one Melissa Moyer, 38, right, was visiting pregnant friend Amy Stiner, 37, left in Machias, Maine when the tragedy happened

Vehicle discovered: Rescue diver Travis Preston, a Jonesboro, Maine firefighter, hooks up the women's minivan in the water on the boat ramp on Wednesday at the scene of a double fatal accident the night before 'The end of the road becomes the boat landing and they just weren't familiar with it,' Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith said . 'It was foggy and rainy and they literally drove off the boat landing right into the water.' He added: 'It's just so easy to do. When I got the call last night, I knew what had happened.' RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next Tragedy of promising 18-year-old student bound for college... Police haven't given up on 'Baby Hope' cold case, now... Share this article Share Schoppee Point Road ends in the remote boat landing. There are no homes or businesses in the area and none of the fishing boats were occupied because of the late hour and wild weather, Smith told the Kennebec Journal . Stiner, an organic farmer, was able to call 911 on a cellphone as the car was becoming submerged. They reached Main State Police barracks in Orono. 'They called on the phone that they were in the water and the car was filling up. Then the phone went dead,' Smith said. 'An hour later, the deputies found the car.' Sheriff's deputies used the GPS on the cellphone used to locate the van, which by 10 p.m. was about 175 feet from shore. Scene: Two men walk on the boat ramp on Wednesday where Amy Stiner and Melissa Moyer accidentally drove through fog into the ocean and drowned on Tuesday night Easy mistake: The Washington County Sheriff said the women accidentally turned right and followed the road which leads into a boat ramp, pictured

Map: The women drove down the ramp which lies at the end of Schoppee Point Road near Roque Bluffs State Park, pictured

Smith said the women were found in the back seat, probably because the front of the vehicle would have sunk first, providing them a few more gasps of air.



The doors were closed and the windows were up.

Local fire departments, the Machias Police Department, Maine Marine Patrol and U.S. Coast Guard also helped search for the women after they called 911 from the vehicle.

Stiner was also from Pennsylvania and had lived in Machias, a town of 300 people in eastern Maine, for around two years.

Smith called the deaths a tragic accident made worse because Stiner was five months pregnant.

'This lady lived on Kennebec Road. She wasn't far from home,' Smith said of Stiner. 'I suspect they were cold and wet and just made a mistake.'

Stiner's husband, Gregg, told media outside the couple's white farmhouse on Wednesday that he and Stiner were organic farmers.

New to the area: Amy Stiner, pictured left and right, had only lived in the small Maine town for around a year. She was five months pregnant



Sad death: Stiner, pictured here with her husband Gregg and teh dog that was drowned with her, moved to Maine to start an organic farm and a family

He declined to talk any further about his wife or the harrowing accident.

Friends and work colleagues of the couple, Aaron Bell and Carly DelSignore, described how Stiner and her husband moved to Maine to get into organic farming and start a family, which is what they were doing when she tragically died.

'Amy was fully dedicated to the local foods movement,' Bell told the Bangor Daily News . 'They've been working with us for two years.'

The Stiners, Bell said, were raising 34 young dairy heifers and about 1,000 chickens on leased land off Kennebec Road, and sold their produce at local farmers markets each week.

'They were excited to get experience any way they could,' Bell said. 'This is just a tragedy. Everyone's in shock right now.'

Sheriff Smith said Moyer's family, including Moyer's 12-year-old son, Alex, were headed to Maine on Wednesday. Since her death, the boy has changed his Facebook profile and cover photograph to pictures of his mother, whom he appeared close to.

Pregnant: Melissa Moyer, 38, had a 12-year-old son when she took the trip from Sunbury, Pennsylvania to Maine this week



Heartbreak: Melissa Moyer, 38, leaves behind her 12-year-old son Alex, pictured