BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 5, 2021
Don Latona, 53; his wife, 52-year-old Meena Latona; and their three children, 18-year-old Connor Latona, 20-year-old Meaghan Latona and 22-year-old Ashley Latona, all of Freehold, New Jersey, climbed to the top of Tumbledown Mountain on Saturday, but ice and snow obscured the trailhead back down the mountain, according to Mark Latti, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. With the sun setting and temperatures falling into the low 30s, the family called for help about 6:46 p.m. Rescuers hiked to the top of the mountain, where they found the Latonas without adequate clothing and not enough food, water and lighting to make it off the mountain. Rescuers started a fire to warm the family before making the trek down and eventually off Tumbledown about midnight.