WHITING, (AP) – Searchers from the Maine Warden Service and the Washington County Sheriff’s Department returned to their normal duties Thursday after failing to locate a missing man who is presumed dead.

The fifth full day of searching for Lewis Gardner ended a day earlier in frustration because no body was found.

“We went in with high expectations of getting this solved quickly, especially after finding the car. No one felt that we would need more than half a day to find him,” said Cpl. John Fuller of the sheriff’s office.

Gardner, 79, of Kittery, was last seen Sept. 19 before vanishing in the woods near his summer house. The body of his companion, 74-year-old Mona Cole, was discovered last Saturday in Gardner’s car, which apparently became stuck on a muddy logging road.

A diabetic, Cole died for a lack of food and water, and perhaps from hypothermia. Authorities believe Gardner went for help but never made it.

Gardner’s two grown children, Lynn Berg, 45, and Bud Gardner, 41, drove Down East to be part of the search last weekend. But they were returning to their homes in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, respectively.

The search was frustrating for the Maine Warden Service, which prides itself on locating those who get lost in the woods.

“We’ve got nothing. No hat, no shoe, no flashlight, no candy wrappers,” said Sgt. Patrick Dorian of the Maine Warden Service.

Wardens and sheriff’s deputies are going to publicize the search to hunters who will be walking the woods within weeks.

Lynn Berg asked that hunters be on the lookout, even though they will be challenged by the cover of fallen leaves.

“We want to bring Dad home,” Berg said. “He is home in the woods now … but us two kids need him at home, too.”

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