Maryland woman dies while hiking in Maine's western mountains

Aug. 7—A Maryland woman died Friday while hiking in Maine's western mountains.

Barbara Goldberg, 78, of Potomac, Maryland, was dropped off about 9 a.m. in Stow, where she intended to hike Blueberry Mountain, according to Mark Latti, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Her partner, Steven Plotkin, talked to Goldberg over walkie talkie about 11 a.m. when she was nearing the summit, and she told him she expected to return to the Stone House Road parking lot by noon. But when she failed to return by 2:30 p.m., Plotkin reported her missing, Latti said Saturday.

Searchers combed nearby trails and roads looking for Goldberg, but no sign of her was discovered until Friday night, when volunteer rescuers found her walkie talkie atop a ledge near the Blueberry Mountain summit.

Then at 3 a.m. Saturday searchers found Goldberg's body at the base of the Blueberry Mountain ledges after they called her iPhone and followed its faint sound over the rough terrain and boulders, Latti said.

Goldberg's body was taken to a Fryeburg funeral home for an examination by the state medical examiner's office. Her death isn't considered suspicious, according to Latti.

No additional information was immediately available.

Stow is northwest of Fryeburg within the White Mountain National Forest.