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Medical Examiner: Geraldine Largay Died from Lack of Food, Water

Maine Warden Service

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Office of Maine's Chief Medical Examiner has positively identified skeletal remains found off the Appalachian Trail in Redington Township earlier this month as Geraldine Largay.

Largay was a 66-year-old thru-hiker from Tennessee who went missing more than two years ago.

DNA analysis shows the cause of Largay's death was accidental, due to lack of food and water and environmental exposure.

Largay was last seen on July 22, 2013, as she set out to hike on a remote, rugged section of the Appalachian Trail. She was en route to meet her husband the next day, who had been following her journey.

After Largay didn't arrive at the appointed meeting place, search teams spent two years looking for her. It was ultimately a contractor conducting a forestry survey on U.S. Navy property who found her remains in mid-October.

Information from a cellphone found in Largay's possession concluded that at some point on July 22, she left the trail and became lost. The exact location where she departed the trail is unknown.

In a written statement, Largay's family says the findings are conclusive that no foul play was involved and thanked the Maine Warden Service for their dedication to the case.