MEXICO – Firefighters and police from three neighboring towns searched the Androscoggin and Swift rivers late Friday afternoon after an overturned kayak was seen floating down the Androscoggin.

Following more than two hours of searching, however, Mexico officer Mike Richard believes they located the boater, who safely left the river several miles downstream at the Dixfield boat launch.

Mexico, Rumford and Dixfield firefighters and police began looking after a MeadWestvaco employee reported seeing the kayak go by at 5:23 p.m.

Police also began searching for a car parked along either river at boat launches in the three towns.

Richard found one car with Massachusetts plates parked by Larsen’s Electric Service on Bridge Street. The car had reportedly been parked there since Friday morning.

A second vehicle with Massachusetts plates and a group of boaters exiting the river were located by Dixfield firefighters at the Dixfield boat launch site shortly before 7 p.m.

Firefighters were concerned about a possible drowning because both the Swift and Androscoggin rivers were running higher than normal after Thursday night’s downpours.

The Swift River, which runs into the Androscoggin, is notoriously flashy when an inch or more of rain falls in its Rangeley region watershed. Mexico Fire Chief Gary Wentzell said he saw a couple of trees floating by in the Androscoggin while he was out searching river banks.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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