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| Amy Stiner and Melissa Moyer |
Two hikers and their dog, died just hours after being rescued by driving their car into the ocean, according to police reports in Maine.
Maine Police said that a pregnant woman and her friend visiting from Pennsylvania got lost hiking. They were rescued by police, but died later that night, when the woman accidentally drove her car into the ocean on the foggy night.
Amy Stiner, 37, of Machias and Melissa Moyer, 38, of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, allegedly drowned when Stiner drove her car down a boat ramp at the end of a dead-end street at 9:00 pm Tuesday in a town of 300 people in eastern Maine, Washington county Sheriff Donnie Smith said. He called the death a tragic accident made worse because Stiner was five months pregnant.
"They called to say that they were in the water and the car was filling up. Then the phone went dead," Smith said. "An hour later, officers found the car," he said.
Earlier that afternoon, the women walked in the Roque Bluffs State Park, but got lost and asked for help. A landowner found them and gave them rides with his ATV back to his house, where an officer took them to their car, which was parked in the park.
Then, Stiner drove towards to boat ramp.
Authorities found the car submerged about 175 feet from the boat ramp, women and their dog inside, with the doors locked and windows closed.
The weather may have contributed to the accident, Smith said.
"It looks like they went in the wrong direction and drove off the ramp," he said. "If you do not know the area, between the fog and rain, it would not be a difficult thing to do," he said.