Two hikers were rescued during a rainstorm in a Maine state park, only to take a wrong turn and drive their vehicle into the Atlantic Ocean, according to authorities and reported by NBC News.
The hikers, Amy Stiner of Machias, Massachusetts, who was five months pregnant and Melissa Moyer of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, were both found dead in the back of their van. The van was found approximately 175 feet from the shore in Pond Cove, Maine, near Roque Bluffs State Park.
Authorities found the vehicle last Tuesday night, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Department. Their dog was also found dead in the vehicle.
The women got lost while hiking in the park during heavy winds and rain around 9 p.m. A local search and rescue office found them, and state wildlife wardens drove them back to their van, according to the sheriff's report.
The Warden Service received a call about an hour later, stating that the women had driven their car into the water about a mile from where they had last been seen, the report stated.
The call came from the women, who were able to report that their van was filling with water before their cellphone went dead, according to the Portland Press-Herald. Search teams then found the van underwater off a boat ramp at Pond Cove.
"The end of the road becomes the boat landing, and they just weren't familiar with it," Sheriff Donnie Smith told the Press-Herald. "It was foggy and rainy, and they literally drove off the boat landing right into the water."
The van was likely so far out from shore because it floated before sinking, Smith said. The women were found in the back seat because the front of the van would have sunk first, causing the women to climb into the back.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
