Find AP Fact Checks here:

Heather Donahue walks on a rural road, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Freedom, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)“For me, reading fairy tales, I always wanted to live in the forest,” said Donahue, 51, who moved on from acting long ago and now lives in rural Maine. “It is absolutely as magical as it seemed in those storybooks.”

But the last several months of Donahue’s time in the Maine woods have been anything but magical, or peaceful.In a twist of fate harkening back to her movie career, Donahue has been embroiled in a spat with locals in her tiny, 700-resident town of Freedom that hinges on her marking trees with the kind of orange blazes that help people find their way in the dense forests.Heather Donahue, the star of the The Blair Witch Project, pauses on a walk to watch a songbird,Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Freedom, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Heather Donahue, the star of the The Blair Witch Project, pauses on a walk to watch a songbird,Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Freedom, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)Donahue had been a member of the town’s governing body, its Select Board, but lost a recall election recently after a controversy about whether a rural road that cuts through the woods is public or private. The matter remains unresolved, with the town and abutting landowners fighting it out in court.

The road in question is Beaver Ridge Road, a narrow, partially hilly stretch flanked by wild plants and songbirds that goes from paved to gravel to dirt as it stretches deeper into the forest. Several abutters of the road say the unimproved section is private and to use it for activities such as all-terrain vehicle riding constitutes trespassing. Donahue, and the town itself, hold that the entire road is public.

A blaze painted on a tree with temporary surveyor’s paint is seen on a tree during Heather Donahue’s walk on a rural road, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Freedom, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)Milgrim’s boss at the embassy, Sawsan Hasson, recounted how Milgrim championed women’s and LGBTQ rights and always stuck to her mission of peace and bringing people together — especially those opposed to one another on religion, politics and ideology.

“This morning, you and Yaron were meant to be in Israel, celebrating with his family,” Hasson said. “Instead, through an unthinkable tragedy, you have brought Israel here to Kansas to meet your own loving family in your hometown. Somehow, even in your passing, you have created connection and unity.”Milgrim earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Kansas in 2021. She was remembered as a warm, uplifting presence at Shabbat dinners and holiday gatherings at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life on campus.

After graduating, Milgrim worked at at a Tel Aviv-based organization centered on technology training and conflict dialogue for young Palestinians and Israelis, according to her LinkedIn profile. She had been trained in religious engagement and peacebuilding by the United States Institute of Peace, an organization that promotes conflict resolution and was created by the U.S. Congress.After earning a master’s degree in international affairs from American University in 2023, she went to work at the Israeli Embassy, where her job involved organizing events and missions to Israel.