One week after the brutal slaying of a Tenants Harbor woman on a pond in Union, what is taking hold in at least two impacted communities is a mixture of anxiety, despair and concern about the tranquil images of summer in Maine being shattered by an awful occurrence many cannot comprehend.
“If anyone lived up to their name, it was definitely her,” Tenants Harbor’s Schoolhouse Bakery proprietress Carol Sanidas told The Maine Wire of the victim, “she was an absolute ray of sunshine. She could fix anything and anyone.”
The one fact that shines through an array of troubling questions is that Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart, 47, was a deeply-loved and much admired woman. Those who knew her throughout Knox County and beyond find it difficult to reconcile how an individual so committed to improving the world around her could be subjected to such a violent and undeserved end.
Photo from Sunny Stewart’s Facebook
Sunny’s friends were legion, and she led an independent life in Midcoast Maine, where she single-handedly renovated her own house. Over the years, she worked various jobs whether in restaurants or on boats – she was an accomplished sailor, friends say – and while she worked hard at what she did, she was always willing to lend a hand to others.
[RELATED: Answers Elusive in Killing of Tenants Harbor Woman]
Late in the afternoon of Wednesday, July 2 – one week ago – Sunny set out stand-up paddle-boarding on Crawford Pond in Union, alongside which she staying in a camper. When she hadn’t returned by midnight, a call went out to the local search and rescue.
Union Fire Department Chief Jesse Thompson told The Maine Wire his team deployed their boat to the pond soon after that call, and they searched the surface with flashlights until 4 a.m. That week Union’s rescue team had been busy responding to incidents on the water, he said.
After hours of combing the area in the dark, the Maine Warden’s Service joined the search as the sun began to rise and Rockland’s police department was contacted for the use of their aerial drone.
When Stewart’s body was discovered on 100 Acre Island in the middle of the pond, the Maine State Police and their Major Crimes Division were called to the scene. With respect to the ongoing investigation, The Maine Wire is limiting the detail about what followed except to point out that her death struck searchers as suspicious from the outset. Later on July 3, following an autopsy, state authorities confirmed that it was a homicide.
Crawford Pond is surrounded entirely by private property and is not visible from the road. Most of that property consists of camps, and there is also a campground at Mic Mac Cove where Sunny was reported to have been staying for the season. 99 of the 100 Acres on the eponymous island now belong to the Georges River Land Trust, an official with that organization confirmed to The Maine Wire.
Map courtesy of Union Fire Department
While there have been reports of an empty cabin on the island, these remain unconfirmed. Some maps show a causeway linking the island to land owned by the out-of-state family, who donated the island to the trust, but a caretaker for the family told The Maine Wire that the causeway no longer exists and the island can only be accessed by boat – or swimming.
That area of closest proximity between the island and the shore is also the least populated by camps. Accessed by Union’s Miller Road, a number of the few camps in that relatively-isolated area are unoccupied mid-week. One resident of that road told The Maine Wire she was unaware that a homicide had occurred.
Union residents met questions from The Maine Wire with a range of reactions. Some, like Chief Thompson or the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, were open to discussion. Others were stand-offish or even angered at being questioned about the matter. One reader even warned The Maine Wire in a direct message to “be careful about how [you] write about Union.”
Tensions are understandably high, as are concerns about reputations. Top of mind to most, however, is finding the killer and allaying public safety worries.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the Maine State Police said it “recognizes the hear and discomfort that this incident has brought to the town of Union and the Crawford Pond community,” adding that “We remain steadfast in our efforts to investigate the death of Sunshine Stewart of Tenants Harbor (and have been) reviewing all of the leads pushed through our tip line and continue to follow every investigative and forensic avenue.”
“We have also been working with the owners of the nearby campground, who have been cooperative and willing to assist with the ongoing investigation,” the state police said. Importantly, they added: “We understand the community’s concerns and ask that resident remain vigilant, be aware of their surroundings, and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.”
On Monday, the state police issued a statement about their tip line:
“Anyone who may have seen Sunshine Stewart paddle-boarding on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, between 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM near 100 Acre Island on Crawford Pond is asked to contact the Maine State Police at 207.624.7076. This is an active and ongoing investigation,” the Maine State Police said in a statement on Monday.
There is a certain logic to standing back and letting the investigators do their work. At the same time, messaging from the investigating authorities urges heightened awareness and continued sharing of any information. Everyone has a role to play in getting answers to a crime that should never have happened.
“I’m locking my doors at night now,” one Rockland area woman told The Maine Wire. A Waldo County woman urged other women to be more aware of their surroundings than usual, especially about going out in nature alone. During a time of year when so many want to be outside as much as possible, such warnings seem almost counter-intuitive.
Another area woman told The Maine Wire she normally swims alone early every morning because she appreciates the calm of that time, but hasn’t done so since the news about Sunny broke last week.
Members of local and county emergency service teams told The Maine Wire just before the state police’s Wednesday statement that they are hoping for an update soon. At the time of publication, it has been one week since the murder. From those who knew and cared about the victim to broadening news audiences, Mainers are itching for answers.
One local reporter, the Midcoast Villager’s Steven Betts, appeared on the national television news program Good Morning America on Wednesday to share what is known about the senseless killing which- to date – is not much.
Back in Sunny’s hometown, friends and neighbors are shaken and hopeful they will soon get some answers about what happened to a shining light of their community, and when her perpetrator will be brought to justice.
