Father, daughter found dead after days-long search in Maine national park
The pair were the subject of intense searches over multiple days this week, after disappearing on Sunday as they hiked up to the summit of Katahdin. Esther Keiderling, 28, was found dead around 1 p.m. on Wednesday in a wooded area, Baxter State Park officials wrote in a social media post. Her father, Tim, 58, was found dead a day prior, around 2:45 p.m., near the summit.
Both Keiderlings, of Ulster Park, New York, left Abol Campground on Sunday to hike to the summit. They were last seen at around 10:15 a.m.
A search for the pair began Monday morning after finding their vehicle still in the day-use parking lot. Park rangers searched several trails, including the Katahdin Tablelands, and found no sign of the father and daughter.
The search expanded Tuesday with more than 30 game wardens looking for the pair. The Maine Forest Service and Army National Guard used helicopters to aid in the search. Tim Keiderling was found dead on Tuesday by a game warden and his K-9.
Game wardens, park rangers and K-9 teams resumed the search for Esther Keiderling Wednesday.
'We understand that many of our social media followers share in our profound sadness for the family and friends of Tim and Esther Keiderling,' officials wrote in the Facebook post. 'We appreciate your support for their loved ones and the members of the search teams during this incredibly difficult time. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Tim and Esther Keiderling's family and friends.'
Massachusetts House votes to overhaul Cannabis Control Commission
'I did the humane thing': Worcester city councilor stands by actions at ICE arrest
Defendant's family asked teen 'to not speak out' in Boston sex trafficking case, lawyer said
Man who killed Milford police officer granted 'compassionate release'
Teen runs a mile to escape attacker who dragged him into Springfield park
Read the original article on MassLive.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
Austin Target Shooting Suspect Ethan Nieneker Shared Right-Wing Memes
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The man accused of fatally shooting three people outside a Target store in Austin, Texas, shared right-wing memes and posts on Facebook. Ethan Nieneker, 32, is charged with two counts of capital murder and one count of murder over Monday's shooting. Newsweek has contacted Republican Governor Greg Abbott's office for comment via email. The Context Police said the gunman killed an employee collecting shopping carts outside the store, then a man and his 4-year-old granddaughter in a sport utility vehicle. The suspect then fled in that vehicle, causing multiple crashes and stealing other cars before being subdued with a Taser and taken into custody. The victims were identified Tuesday by police as Hector Leopoldo Martinez Machuca, 24, Adam Chow, 65, and Chow's 4-year-old granddaughter, local news station KVUE reported. What To Know Nieneker has shared several posts attacking liberal politics and Democratic figures on Facebook over the years, according to a Newsweek review of his page. His social media history was first reported by MeidasTouch News. In June 2019, he shared a photo of a person wearing a makeshift hat with the words "2020 President Trump will be reelected," writing alongside it: "America AF." Ethan Nieneker, 32, is charged with two counts of capital murder and one count of murder over Monday's shooting in Austin. Ethan Nieneker, 32, is charged with two counts of capital murder and one count of murder over Monday's shooting in Austin. Austin Police Department In August that year, he shared a meme that depicted former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost the presidential election to Trump in 2016, shooting Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who authorities said died by suicide while in prison. Two posts that Nieneker shared in June 2019 criticized prominent progressives—Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. One post criticized Sanders for flying in first class on a domestic flight, while the other mocked Ocasio-Cortez for crying near "an empty parking lot" at the U.S.-Mexico border. The photos of Ocasio-Cortez were taken in 2018 outside a facility housing migrant children during a protest against the first Trump admin's family separation policy. In June 2018, Nieneker shared a USA Today article on his page, about a billboard in Texas that urged "liberals" to continue driving until they had left the state. A month prior, he shared a meme showing a man holding two automatic rifles, one in each hand, that was captioned: "This is how I feel about gun control. Please unfriend me if you disagree." Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference that Nieneker had a history of mental health issues. Court documents reviewed by Newsweek show he has a lengthy criminal history, including at least 24 charges for offenses including assault causing bodily injury, criminal mischief and driving while intoxicated. He was convicted of a charge of assault causing bodily injury family violence in 2016 and briefly sentenced to jail. What People Are Saying Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a press conference on Tuesday: "What happened yesterday was an unprovoked and deliberate attack, a deliberate act of violence. Innocent lives were taken in broad daylight in a place where people should feel safe to run their everyday errands and to live their everyday lives. "The actions of the suspect showed a complete disregard for human life and the pain caused will be felt by our community for years to come." Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "Make no mistake—yesterday's [August 11] attack was a sickening act of gun violence that took the innocent lives of a 4-year-old child, her grandfather, and a Target employee. "I know that all Austinites join me in deep sympathy for the Martinez Machuca and Chow families. We grieve with them and lift them up in this time of need. Austin is heartbroken." Target said in a statement to Newsweek: "We are devastated by the violence that occurred today at our store in Austin, Texas. Our hearts are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, our team in Austin and all those impacted by this tragedy." What's Next The investigation is ongoing. The Austin Police Department is urging anyone with information to contact them at 512-974-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting or calling (512) 472-8477.
Los Angeles Times
8 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
U.S. grand jury indicts one of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders and one of his friends
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal grand jury has indicted one of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders and a U.S. citizen accused of conspiring with him to violate U.S. sanctions and fund gang activities in the troubled Caribbean country, the U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday. Jimmy Chérizier, best known as 'Barbecue,' is a leader of a gang federation called Viv Ansanm that the U.S. designated as a foreign terrorist organization in May. Chérizier lives in Haiti, and the U.S. is offering up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction. Chris Landberg, a senior U.S. State Department official, said Chérizier's 'reign of terror and mass violence against Haiti must end.' But Jake Johnston, author of 'Aid State' and international research director at the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, questioned the government's reason for offering a bounty. 'This is a guy who is giving international media interviews regularly. I don't think the issue is being able to find him,' Johnston said, adding that the indictment doesn't represent a threat to Chérizier because he lives in Haiti. 'It's hard to see how it'll have much of an effect.' Chérizier is a former elite police officer who was fired in December 2018 and was later accused of organizing large-scale massacres in the slums of Grand Ravine in 2017, in La Saline in 2018 and in Bel-Air in 2019. More than 100 people were killed in the massacres, which Chérizier has denied organizing. 'Haiti is a hotspot right now … there is incredible violence going on there,' U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro said Tuesday, calling La Saline killings 'notorious because [Chérizier] both planned and participated' in the slaughter. In June 2020, Chérizier created the 'G9 Family and Allies,' an alliance that grew from nine gangs in lower Delmas and the Cite Soleil and La Saline slums to include more than a dozen gangs, according to a United Nations Security Council report. The alliance was blamed for the killings of about 145 people in Cite Soleil and the rapes of multiple women. In December 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department issued civil sanctions against Chérizier and others accused of being involved in the massacres. The G-9 alliance later became part of the Viv Ansanm gang federation created in September 2023 that saw the merging of Haiti's two biggest gangs that were once bitter enemies: G-9 and G-Pèp. Since then, the federation has taken control of 90% of Port-au-Prince, the capital. It launched multiple attacks on key government infrastructure in February 2024 and raided Haiti's two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. It also forced Haiti's main international airport to close for nearly three months. The surge in violence led to the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was locked out of his country while on an official visit to Kenya. The gang federation continues to attack once peaceful communities in Port-au-Prince, and it is accused of helping gangs in Haiti's central region. Also indicted is Bazile Richardson, who officials say is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Haiti who grew up with Chérizier and lives in Fayetteville, N.C. Both are accused of leading a 'wide-ranging conspiracy' by directly soliciting money transfers from members of the Haitian diaspora to raise funds for Chérizier's gang activities in Haiti, according to the indictment. It stated that the money was used to pay the salaries of gang members and buy weapons from illegal dealers in Haiti. Most of the firearms are smuggled in from the U.S. since Haiti does not produce weapons. According to the indictment, there are two other unnamed co-conspirators from Haiti who live in New York and Massachusetts, and five others who live in Haiti. Chérizier could not be immediately reached for comment. It was not immediately clear whether Richardson had an attorney. The indictment noted that Chérizier and Richardson have acknowledged the sanctions against Chérizier, adding that the alleged conspiracy began around December 2020 and continued through January of this year. One voice memo that an unidentified co-conspirator in Haiti allegedly sent to Richardson stated: 'If I have backup, we will take the power, and you will be able to come back to your country. You will need to serve in the new government.' Richardson forwarded the alleged memo to Chérizier in June 2022, nearly a year after then-President Jovenel Moise was killed at his private residence. Another person identified only as a Haitian co-conspirator allegedly sent a voice memo to Richardson saying, 'We want to start a revolution in Haiti and are trying to collect funds.' Part of the plan was to have 1,000 individuals give $20 each or 1 million Haitians abroad give $1 each, as well as collect money from 1,000 people for each of Haiti's 10 regions, according to the indictment. 'With this money, they can buy pickup trucks, weapons, ammunition, clothing to include T-shirts, boots and hats. We want to change everything in Haiti,' according to one alleged voice memo. In June 2021, Chérizier held a news conference announcing the start of a revolution. The indictment comes as gang violence continues to surge in Haiti's capital and beyond, with gunmen kidnapping an Irish missionary and seven other people, including a 3-year-old, from an orphanage this month. The office of Haiti's prime minister did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the indictment. Johnston said the broader strategy in the fight against gangs remains unclear. 'It does seem like there's sort of an escalatory framework happening both in Haiti and the U.S.,' he said. 'Where does that actually go?' Darren Cox, acting assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said the bureau's Miami office is leading the effort to apprehend Chérizier. 'The FBI is focused more than ever on crushing violent crime,' Cox said. 'There is no safe haven for them, or the people like them.' Coto and Khalil write for the Associated Press. Khalil reported from Washington.
USA Today
9 hours ago
- USA Today
27-year-old U.S. hiker found dead in Spain nearly month after going missing: Authorities
Authorities have reportedly found the body of an American hiker who'd been missing in the mountains along the Spain-France border since July 14. Guilford Cole Henderson, 27, appeared to have fallen about 650 feet down a mountain in Spain's remote Ordesa y Monte Pardido National Park in the Pyrenees mountains, according to both digital newspaper El Español and the newspaper El Diario De Huesca. Authorities are transporting the recovered body to a forensic medicine institute to "confirm his identity," El Español reported. The search for the Rhodes College alumnus has drawn international media attention since his friends posted pleas for help on social media in finding him. Several of his friends had hiked with him in Spain's remote Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park. According to friends on Facebook, Henderson decided to hike alone after putting his cell phone on airplane mode to save battery power. The friends said they became concerned when Henderson didn't show for a June 14 flight from Spain to Amsterdam, where Henderson was living. Parents informed about body discovery Spanish authorities have told Henderson's parents, Trevania and John Henderson, that they believe they've recovered their son's body, according to loved ones in Nashville who spoke to The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Henderson's parents, who now live in New England, traveled to Spain for at least a week to help with daily search efforts. His mother, who grew up in Nashville, still has connections to the area and visits Tennessee often, loved ones said. The US Embassy in Spain and the Spanish Civil Guard both declined to comment in an email to The Tennessean, requesting further information. Who was Cole Henderson? Henderson was a 27-year-old who attended high school in Delaware and graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis in 2020 with honors with a degree in computer science. He is the grandson of the late Guilford Dudley Jr., who founded Nashville's annual white-tie gala, known as the Swan Ball, and the former US Ambassador to Denmark under the Nixon administration, according to The Tennessean. His former employers include software companies in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and San Francisco, as shown on his social media profiles. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was living in Amsterdam while working as an engineer for the software company Dexter Energy. A self-described avid packer, social media posts show that he has traveled across the world, from skiing in Breckenridge, Colorado, to hiking in South Dakota's Badlands National Park, and from volunteering in Costa Rica to trekking along the famed Tour du Mont Blanc through Switzerland, Italy and France. "Cole is an experienced traveler, a kind and curious soul, and someone who means the world to me," friend Eric Simon said in a July 15 Facebook post asking for help finding Henderson. Where was Cole Henderson hiking? Henderson was set to hike through the Ordesa Valley in the Pyrenees Mountains to a mountain hut known as Refugio de Pineta. He parked his car in the Spanish village of Torla and his friends believed he was going to catch a ride back to his vehicle. Friends also said he planned on camping while in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, located in the mountains on the border between northern Spain and France. Officials do not know how long Henderson planned on hiking or whether he would attempt any of the peaks along the way. On July 10, hikers reported rain and severe thunder, the day after Henderson began his hike. They also mentioned that there was limited to no cell service on the route Henderson was possibly using. Contributing: Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY
