2nd missing hiker found dead on Katahdin

By Marie Weidmayer, Bangor Daily News Staff

The body of the second hiker missing on Katahdin was found Wednesday afternoon, Baxter State Park officials said.

Esther Keiderling, 28, was found around 1 p.m. Wednesday by search teams off the Tablelands, in a wooded area between two known trails, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spokesperson Mark Latti said.

Her father, Tim Keiderling, 58, was found dead Tuesday afternoon by a Maine Warden Service K9 search team on the Tablelands region near the summit of Katahdin.

The father-daughter pair, of Ulster Park, New York, were last seen about 10:15 a.m. Sunday heading toward the summit.

A search started Monday morning when their vehicle was found still parked in the day-use lot. The duo had experience hiking other mountains in the Adirondacks and Alps, said Joe Keiderling, the brother of Tim Keiderling.

The family started getting worried about the pair when they didn’t hear from them Sunday night, Joe Keiderling said. Family members tried calling the pair all Sunday evening but cellphone service was too spotty to get through, Joe Keiderling said. Tim Keiderling’s wife called the park service first thing Monday morning.