A Maine teenager who offered to help police investigate the murder of a female paddle boarder has now been accused of committing the crime himself, authorities say.
17-year-old Deven Young was arrested on Wednesday and charged with the murder of 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart. Stewart's body was recovered in Union, Maine, on July 3, having been severely beaten and strangled to death.
Young is currently being held in a Youth detention center in South Portland awaiting trial.
Stewart, who had been staying at the Mic Mac Campground, left on the evening of July 2 to paddleboard at Crawford Pond.
Katherine Lunt, campground owner, then reported Stewart missing after she did not return to her campsite. A search for Stewart turned up her body in what authorities have referred to as "unusual circumstances".
Authorities then began searching for the suspect as news of the death shocked the close-knit community in Union. During this time, Young continued posting on Facebook regularly, uploading images of himself and of his surroundings and responding to comments lightheartedly.
His Facebook page has since been deleted.
Lunt stated that Young spent a good amount of time around her campsite and that his behavior was never untoward.
"He would offer to assist other campers with their loose pets, yard work, and make wood crafts, which he gave to other campers. We as a campground community, are devastated that he continued camp life amongst us as normal and we suspected nothing," said Lunt.
"It is heart-wrenching and terrifying that we had no idea the murderer was amongst us as we were looking for a stranger," she continued.
What evidence law enforcement have against Young is still unknown, but hours before his arrest officers went door to door and collected DNA samples from men in the area. Furthermore, Young told authorities that he had information pertaining to Stewart's death on July 16.
Originally published on Latin Times
