Crawford Pond is seen on July 9, 2025, in Union. Police are investigating the homicide of a woman last seen paddleboarding on the pond. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / AP

A 17-year-old has been arrested in connection with this month’s death of a paddleboarder in Union.

The boy, whose identity hasn’t been released, has been taken to Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, according to Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The Maine medical examiner’s office ruled that 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart of Tenants Harbor died from strangulation and blunt force trauma, Moss said Thursday morning.

Moss referred questions about the charges against the 17-year-old to the Maine attorney general’s office. A spokesperson for the attorney general declined to comment on those charges Thursday.

That arrest is the culmination of the “relentless investigative work” by detectives and investigators since Stewart was found dead on Crawford Pond on July 3.

Stewart had gone out from Mic Mac Campground around 6 p.m. on July 2 for a solo paddleboard outing. But when she failed to return, authorities began searching for her early on the morning of July 3, when they found her body.

The lack of information made public around her death, which police ruled a homicide, put the small midcoast community on edge. Police said there was no threat to the public, but with so few disclosures, speculation ran rampant, including that Stewart was the victim of a serial killer. That prompted police to make a rare admonishment, calling such theories “irresponsible.”

The 17-year-old arrested in her death reportedly frequents the Crawford Pond area with his family during the summer, according to an ABC News report, citing an official close to the investigation. But beyond his age, police have made no further information public.

It’s unclear whether this arrest will tamp down on that speculation as the public waits for answers about what happened to Stewart on July 2.

Friends remembered Stewart as a “strong” and “self-made” woman. She rehabbed her home in Tenants Harbor, where the community was shocked to learn of her death. Stewart also worked as a bartender, waitress, carpenter and fisherman.

She had planned to spend the summer at Mic Mac Campground in a rented camper.

Her death remains under investigation, and Moss said no more information is being released.

Anyone with information about Stewart’s death can call the Maine State Police at 207-624-7076 or text MESPTIP to 847411.