Boy, 17, suspected of killing paddleboarder is pictured after murder that’s filled sleepy town with terror

A teenager arrested in connection with the death of a paddleboarder found fatally strangled and beaten at a Maine nature reserve has been identified by officials after pleading not guilty to her murder.

Deven Young, 17, was taken into custody on Wednesday night and later charged with the murder of Sunshine Stewart, 48, who was found dead in Union, Maine, on July 3, hours after setting off on a solo paddleboarding excursion on Crawford Pond.

Young appeared in a Knox County courtroom on Friday morning via Zoom, where he denied responsibility for Stewart’s death. 

He spoke only to acknowledge that he understood the charges against him and that he’d conferred with his court-appointed attorney.

Judge Eric Walker ordered Young to remain in custody on a charge that he caused Stewart’s death either intentionally, knowingly, or with depraved indifference, the Midcoast Villager reported.

Police affidavits and additional information regarding the evidence against Young will remain under seal until a status conference is held on August 22, Walker ruled.

Deven Young, 17, was taken into custody on Wednesday night and later charged with the murder of Sunshine Stewart

Sunshine Stewart, 48, was found dead in the early hours of July 3 after she set off for a solo paddleboarding excursion in Crawford Pond, in Union, Maine 

The state has requested Young’s case be moved to adult court, but the motion has not yet been ruled on. 

For now, Young remains in custody at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.

Young is from Frankfort, Maine, but regularly spends summer vacations with his family on Crawford Pond, a source previously told the Daily Mail.

His Facebook page states that he had attended Hampden Academy but left in 2023. 

Young’s profile picture on Facebook shows him posing with a shotgun in a chair, staring slack-jawed at the camera, with a cartoon American flag superimposed at his feet.

His last post on the platform, dated July 12, included an image of a boat moored in a lake at sunset. It’s not clear where the image was taken.

Asked by a friend in a comment beneath the post how he was, Young responded: ‘I’m doing good how are you doing.’

At the time the message was posted, state police were frantically scouring Union to find Stewart’s killer.  

Any connections the teen had with Stewart are not yet known.

The state has requested Young’s case be moved to adult court, but the motion has not yet been ruled on

Young’s last post on the platform, dated July 12, included an image of a boat moored in a lake at sunset. It’s not clear where the image was taken

Stewart had been staying at the Mic Mac Campground in Union, Maine, where she planned to spend the summer living out of her camper

Stewart had arrived at the nearby Mic Mac Campground only days before her death, where she had planned to spend the remainder of the summer living out of a camper.

News of her murder left residents of the small, tight-knit community of Union terrified.

Among them was Meredith Smith, a childhood friend of Stewart’s, who the Daily Mail she was stunned by the news of Young’s arrest.

‘Part of me is relieved that someone has been arrested, but the other part says this is far from over because I feel like there’s still so much more to this story that we don’t know,’ said Smith.

‘Sunshine was strong and feisty; she would’ve put up a fight…she would’ve given this person Hell.’

The Maine Attorney General’s office confirmed to the Daily Mail that Young is the only suspect in Stewart’s death. 

Stewart was last seen leaving her camper to go paddleboarding on Crawford Pond at around 6pm on July 2.

When she had still not returned by the early hours of July 3, someone raised the alarm.

Before dawn broke, a search and rescue drone spotted Stewart’s paddleboard drifting alone.

Her body was later discovered along the southeast shore of 100 Acre Island, a nature preserve in the middle of the pond.

Police have not confirmed any details of how Stewart’s body was found, or in what condition, sharing only that the circumstances were ‘unusual.’

Meredith Smith, who had known Stewart for four decades, told the Daily Mail she can’t understand why anyone would hurt her

An autopsy determined that Stewart’s death was a homicide, but law enforcement shared few updates over the following two weeks.

Smith told the Daily Mail on Monday that she was struggling to understand why anyone would harm her dear friend.

‘Everyone who knew her loved her,’ she said. ‘Who would do something like this to her? She didn’t have any enemies… there’s nothing she could’ve done to make anybody mad enough to harm her.

‘We’re all on edge, it’s just so scary… if it can happen to her, it can happen to anyone.’

Local police urged residents of Union to remain calm but be ‘aware of their surroundings’.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that Maine State Police were collecting DNA samples from men who were near Crawford Pond on the night Stewart vanished, as first reported by the Midcoast Villager.

It’s unclear whether the arrest of the teen came as a result of DNA.

Smith told the Daily Mail that the news of the DNA collection has made her fear what it may indicate about Stewart’s final moments of life.

‘I feel like it’s insinuating something that they’re only taking DNA from men and not women,’ she said.

‘You wonder, could this have been done by someone that was obsessed with her? Or maybe it was completely random and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

‘I just know she would’ve fought like hell. She was a strong person and would have given them a tough fight because she was feisty.’

Stewart – a marine biologist, lobsterman, bartender, and boat captain – died by strangulation and blunt force trauma 

With police offering little in the way of updates until Thursday, the radio silence caused rumors, conspiracies, and fear to prosper in the small town of Union.

News of Stewart’s death renewed fears that a serial killer could be preying on victims across New England undetected, following a string of unexplained deaths.

At least 13 bodies have been discovered throughout Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine since March 2025, with the majority of them found in wooded or secluded areas and some submerged in water.

Most of the deaths are unexplained, with many of the victims showing no visible signs of trauma.

Law enforcement in multiple states has repeatedly denied any confirmed link between the cases and urged the public to refrain from jumping to conclusions and peddling baseless speculation.

Various experts have also claimed there are no consistent patterns between the crimes, with victim profiles, locations of the deaths, and suspected causes too varying to be the work of one person.

Still, some residents in Union feared the worst.

‘People are definitely having that conversation, but for me it feels a little farfetched,’ Smith said on Monday.

‘When you look at where Sunny was killed, it’s secluded and unless you’re really familiar with the area, you’re unlikely to know how to get to Crawford Pond.’

Stewart has been remembered as a woman who loved nature and radiated positivity 

Stewart’s remains were found along the southeast shore of 100 Acre Island, a nature preserve in the middle of the pond

At least 13 bodies have been discovered throughout Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine since March 2025

Union is a sleepy hamlet where most residents know each other – the kind of place where people rarely lock their doors.

But since Stewart’s murder, Smith said she keeps her door firmly bolted and also often catches herself glancing over her shoulder or eyeing unfamiliar faces with suspicion.

In the meantime, Smith continues to grieve the loss of her friend, who was a carpenter, marine biologist, lobsterman, bartender, and boat captain.

Smith said: ‘She was a force of nature who was strong-willed, independent, outgoing, and adventurous. She had a smile and a laugh that was so contagious.

‘Sunny was a free-bird spirit who loved what she did and was just living day-to-day enjoying her life… It’s devastating.’

Investigators are asking anyone who saw Stewart paddling on the evening of July 2 to reach out to the Maine State Police at 207-624-7076.