Hikers found dead after fall from icy cliff at Acadia National Park, Maine rescuers say
Two hikers were found dead Saturday in Acadia National Park in Maine after rescuers say they fell from an icy cliff.
Rescuers began searching for the two — a 28-year-old man and 30-year-old woman from Rutland, Massachusetts — on Friday evening after family members said they didn’t check out of their hotel or return to their car when they were supposed to, according a news release from the National Park Service.
The couple had not been heard from since Thursday evening, when they told family members over the phone that they were interested in hiking Cadillac Mountain, the park service says.
“The search overnight involved a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from Cape Cod equipped with thermal imaging technology which searched for heat signatures on the north and east sides of Dorr and Cadillac Mountains without success,” the news release says.
Rescuers then launched a ground search Saturday morning involving 15 volunteers and park staff. Volunteers from Mount Desert Island Search and Rescue and a helicopter from the Maine Forest Service were also involved.
The hikers’ bodies were discovered late Saturday morning by “searchers on foot,” the release says. The park service believes the two fell about 100 feet “along ice covered cliff bands on Dorr Mountain.”
Rangers with the National Park Service, Maine State Police and Bar Harbor Police are investigating.
The names of the hikers have not been released and no other information was available as of Sunday afternoon.
Acadia is one of the most-visited national parks in the country and is home to the “highest rocky headlands along the Atlantic coastline of the United States,” the park service says.
Earlier this month, a 26-year-old hiker was rescued by a helicopter after slipping on “an icy vertical face of the Precipice Trail,” the NPS previously said.
“Hikers should be prepared for cold and icy conditions with extra layers of clothing and traction control devices,” the park service warned earlier this month.
This story was originally published March 21, 2021 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Hikers found dead after fall from icy cliff at Acadia National Park, Maine rescuers say."
