Father’s body found on Mount Katahdin as search for daughter continues

A 58-year-old hiker was found dead near a mountain summit in Maine while his 28-year-old daughter remains missing, authorities said Tuesday.

The body of Tim Keiderling was located around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday on the Tableland near the summit of Mount Katahdin, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said. 

Search efforts were ongoing for Keiderling’s daughter, Esther, officials said.

Tim and Esther Keiderling, both from Ulster Park, New York, were last seen leaving the Abol Campground around 10:15 a.m. on Sunday morning to hike toward the summit of Katahdin, which is in Baxter State Park and is notably the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

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Tim Keiderling, 58, and his daughter Esther, 28, were last seen Sunday as they left the Abol Campground to hike toward the summit of Katahdin. (Main Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife )

Park rangers began searching for the pair Monday morning after their vehicle was found parked at the trailhead.

After the body of Tim Keiderling was found, his brother Joe issued a statement to WMTW-TV, saying that his “heart is broken for [Tim’s] wife and children.”

“No one has had a brother like mine,” Joe Keiderling said in the statement. “Tim lived exuberantly. He loved life, loved people, loved God. He was a storyteller like no one I’ve known with a rich sense of humor.”

Joe Keiderling added that he and his family are praying for first responders as they continue the search for Esther.

In this file photo, hikers make their way across Mount Katahdin’s Tableland enroute to the peak. On Tuesday, wildlife officials in Maine said the body of Tim Keiderling was located on the Tableland near the summit of Mount Katahdin. (John Ewing/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images, File)

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More than 30 Maine Game Wardens, the Warden Service’s K-9 and Search and Rescue teams, Maine Forest Service helicopters and the Maine Army National Guard have taken part in the search for the father and daughter.

Mount Katahdin has an elevation of 5,267 feet, and is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images, File)

The Hunt and Abol Trails were closed on Tuesday due to the search effort.

The Baxter State Park website notes that Katahdin is a “very strenuous climb,” with an average round trip taking 8 to 12 hours.

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Katahdin is the tallest mountain in Maine, with an elevation of about 5,270 feet.