A woman and her two young grandchildren were found dead in a submerged car near a Maine boat ramp after they left a family gathering, authorities said.
Now, Maine State Police is investigating the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
The woman, Sharon Bukulmez, was last seen with her granddaughter, 5-year-old Kinsley Grubb and 3-year-old grandson, Sawyer Grubb, the evening of Saturday, September 19, when they left a family function in Jonesboro, according to Maine State Police.
Bukulmez, 61, and the children were supposed to arrive in Machias, a nearby town, but they never did, state police said in a Sunday, September 20, news release. Machias is located about a 10-mile drive away from Jonesboro.
The bodies of Bukulmez and the children were ultimately found submerged in a vehicle in Pond Cove in Roque Bluffs State Park on Sunday morning, police said.
Bukulmez was a Mount Desert resident. Her two grandchildren were from Bar Harbor.
After Bukulmez and the two children seemed to disappear Saturday evening, police said “concerns were raised about their whereabouts.”
During the search, investigators pulled location data from Bukulmez’s phone, which appeared to show her device was in the water near a boat ramp in Roque Bluffs State Park, according to police.
This information led state troopers to respond to the area, along with divers and Maine Marine Patrol. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Coast Guard also assisted at the scene with the search and recovery efforts.
The bodies of Bukulmez, Kinsley and Sawyer have been taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta for autopsies to determine the causes and manners of their deaths, according to state police.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation,” police said. “No additional information is being released at this time.”
Roque Bluffs State Park is a 274-acre coastal park featuring a crescent shaped pebble beach, a 60-acre freshwater pond, hiking trails, a picnic area and more along Englishman Bay.
There’s a boat launch at the end of Schoppee Point Road that leads into the waters of Pond Cove, where authorities said Bukulmez’s cellphone had been traced to.
Maine State Police didn’t indicate whether the deaths of Bukulmez and her grandchildren are considered suspicious.
The incident comes more than 10 years after two female hikers were discovered dead in a submerged vehicle in Pond Cove, about 175 feet away from the boat launch, WMTW-TV reported. The women were identified as Amy Stiner, 37, who had been 5 months pregnant, and Melissa Moyer, 38, of Pennsylvania.
Their deaths were described as accidental, per the TV station.
Roque Bluffs is located about a 65-mile drive northeast from Acadia National Park.
