The bodies of two hikers were recovered Saturday in Maine's Acadia National Park by a volunteer search party after the pair were reported missing by relatives, authorities said.
The man, 28, and the woman, 30, both from Rutland, Massachusetts, appeared to have fallen about 100 feet along an ice-covered cliff on Dorr Mountain, the National Park Service said in a statement Saturday. Their names have not been released.
The couple arrived in Bar Harbor, Maine, on Tuesday and were last heard from Thursday around noon, when the woman called family members on her cellphone and said the pair were interested in hiking Cadillac Mountain, which is near Dorr Mountain.
Relatives became concerned Friday afternoon when the two didn't check out of their hotel or return their vehicle. Using thermal imaging technology, a Coast Guard helicopter from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, searched the north and east sides of Dorr and Cadillac mountains overnight but was unsuccessful.
On Saturday morning, a ground search party of 15 volunteers from Mount Desert Island Search and Rescue, park staff members and a helicopter from the Maine Forest Service were dispatched, authorities said. Searchers on foot found the bodies late Saturday morning.
The incident is under investigation by National Park Service rangers and Maine State Police, with help from the Bar Harbor Police Department.
