'The kindest soul': Hanson woman missing since March found dead near New York hiking trail

HANSON — A Hanson woman who went missing in March was found dead on a New York hiking trail near the Massachusetts border, according to the Williamstown Police Department.

The body of Fae Barbone, 40, who was last seen in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in March, was found just off the Taconic Crest Trail, which is not far from the Massachusetts border, in Berlin, New York, the Williamstown Police Department announced on Facebook on April 16.

Kelley Ferro, a longtime friend of Barbone, described her as the "kindest soul."

"She was the type of person who really listened to you and would remember the smallest detail, which always made you feel heard and cared about," she said. "And when she smiled, it was with her whole face, she would just beam at you. She was beautiful, kind, thoughtful, and talented. The world has lost an amazing human."

According to Ferro, Barbone had one daughter, who is currently 16 years old.

Barbone had been missing since March 7, when she was last seen in the area of Williamstown, according to her missing persons poster. Her black Ford Fiesta was reported to be parked on a street in Augusta, Maine, that same day.

Williamstown police also reported that Barbone had a confirmed interaction with law enforcement in Maine, but it is unclear what the nature of the interaction was.

On March 19 at 9 a.m., a suspicious vehicle, later identified as Barbone's Ford, was reported at the end of Berlin Road, an isolated hiking area near the New York State border, the Williamstown Police Department wrote on Facebook.

After the vehicle was identified as Barbone's, Williamstown police utilized its drone and K-9 Unit to immediately begin a search for Barbone, but she was not located, they wrote. New York State Police, Massachusetts State Police Massachusetts, Massachusetts Environmental Police and New York Environmental Conservation Police assisted in the search.

The Taconic Crest Trail, where Barbone's body was found, runs 35 miles along the New York, Vermont and Massachusetts border, with a maximum elevation of almost 3,000 feet, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Barbone's cause of death has not yet been announced.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Fae Barbone missing: Hanson woman found dead near Taconic Crest Trail