MATTAWAMKEAG, Maine — Divers on Saturday found the body of a missing 9-year-old girl who had disappeared while swimming in the Mattawamkeag River near the town’s wilderness park the night before, officials said.
Fire Chief Michael Coombs said the body was recovered by state police or Maine Warden Service divers at 9:30 a.m., as firefighters and volunteers were just beginning the search’s second day. He referred questions on the girl’s name and other details to Maine Warden Service, which oversaw the search.
Maine Warden Service officials did not immediately respond to telephone messages on Saturday.
The search began around 6:30 p.m. Friday. The girl, her parents and a younger sibling had gone swimming in Sleugundy Heater Gorge, which is located about 1.5 miles south of the town-owned Mattawamkeag Wilderness Campground and Park, when she disappeared, Park Manager Carlton Norris has said.
The search included a Maine Warden Service search plane, Mattawamkeag and Lincoln firefighters, plus individual volunteers and members of the Down East Emergency Medicine Institute, an Orono-based volunteer search-and-rescue group, Coombs said.