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Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Final tragic moments of dad and daughter found dead on mountain hike
Three days after Tim Keiderling, 58, and Esther Keiderling, 28, were last seen alive their bodies were recovered from Mount Katahdin after they set out to reach the summit A family has been torn apart after a dad and his daughter never returned from a hike last weekend. On Sunday June 1 Tim Keiderling, 58, and Esther Keiderling, 28, were last seen at around 10.15am local time. They had set out from the Abol Campground to hike Mount Katahdin and were last seen heading towards the summit. The Baxter State Park website describes the Katahdin trail the pair took as a 'very strenuous climb" adding that it can take an average of eight to 12 hours to hike round-trip. When Baxter State Park Rangers noticed that the Keiderlings vehicle was still in the day-use car park hours later a search was launched to locate them. Baxter Park Rangers actively searched the Abol Trail the Hunt Trail, including the Katahdin Tablelands, and found no sign of the father and daughter, both of Ulster Park, N.Y. Baxter State Park Rangers expanded their search on Katahdin on June 3, assisted by over 30 game wardens including the Maine Warden Service Search and Rescue team and the Maine Warden Service K9 team. From the skies helicopters from the Maine Forest Service, the Maine Army National Guard and a Lakota Helicopter outfitted with an infrared thermal imaging device also assisted wth the search. Days later, on Tuesday, June 3, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife updated a statement, writing that a Maine Warden Service K9 search team found Tim's body near the summit of the mountain, but his daughter remained missing. The organization updated the statement again the following day on Wednesday, June 4, announcing that searchers had found Esther's body. In a statement shared via the family's New York-based church, Tim's brother-in-law, Heinrich Arnold, has spoken out about the tragedy. He thanked community members for their 'outpouring of prayers and support" after the "heartbreaking tragedy." Explaining that Tim, a father of six, and Esther's deaths have been "difficult to fully grasp," he continued, "Both were taken from us far too soon, and we are all left asking: 'Why?'" reports PEOPLE. He added: "One comfort to the family is knowing that Tim and Esther were doing something they both were passionate about: being near to God, surrounded by expansive views and visions, immersed in nature, in the raw and wild beauty of creation. The last few days have been filled with endless hours of heartache and prayer as we prayed for God's protection and his comfort in this loss." Joe Keiderling, Tim's brother, told NBC News that his sibling was "utterly unique." The pair both worked for the medical supply company Rifton Equipment. Joe added: "Many young men and women remember him as an elementary school teacher who could hold them spellbound with wildly imaginative stories and escapades in the woods and fields of the Hudson Valley he called home." Of Esther, Joe said his niece was quiet but "deeply sensitive," telling NBC News, "She loved reading and writing, with a particular fondness for the poets Gerard Manley Hopkins and Edna St. Vincent Millay."
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Yahoo
Missing Daughter Found Dead on Hike a Day After Dad's Body Was Located Near Mountain Summit: Authorities
The bodies of a father and daughter who went hiking in Maine days ago have now been recovered Esther Keiderling, 28, and her father Tim, 58, were last seen on Sunday, June 1 Tim was found dead on Tuesday, June 3 — and his daughter's body was found the next dayThe body of a daughter who went missing along with her father after they set off on an Appalachian trail hike together has been located. Esther Keiderling, 28, and her father Tim, 58 were declared missing on Tuesday, June 3. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said the pair were last seen around 10:15 a.m. local time on Sunday, June 1, when they set out from Abol Campground to hike Mount Katahdin. A few hours later on June 3, authorities announced in a statement that a Maine Warden Service K9 search team found Tim's body near the summit of the mountain, but that his daughter remained missing. The next day, they updated the statement with a grim announcement that searchers had found Esther's body. 'It is with deep regret that we share the news that today, at approximately 1:00 p.m. (June 4), search teams discovered the body of Esther Keiderling off the Tablelands, in a wooded area between two known trails,' authorities wrote, sharing that additional details would be provided later, after searchers returned to the base of the mountain. The father and daughter were both from Ulster Park, N.Y., according to authorities. Baxter State Park Rangers launched a search for the Keiderlings after their car was found still parked at the trailhead on the morning of Monday, June 2. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The Baxter State Park website describes the Katahdin trail as a 'very strenuous climb, no matter which trailhead you choose,' noting that it can take an average of eight to 12 hours to hike round-trip. In addition to the rangers, the search expanded to include other rescue personnel like game wardens, K9 teams, helicopters from the Maine Forest Service, and the Maine Association of Search and Rescue Volunteers. 'The Maine Army National Guard and their helicopters also assisted with the transportation of searchers, and searching trails, streams and the Tablelands from the air,' officials said. Read the original article on People
