By Rebecca Goldfine,Staff Writer

FRYEBURG – A report of a possible drowning at Lovewell Pond turned out to be apparently nothing more than a lone loon and a loose boat Monday night.

Game Warden Jason Luce said Tuesday that he and a group of rescuers searched the area for about two hours and found nothing.

“We haven’t had anyone reported missing,” Luce said.

The call to officials came in around 7 p.m. Monday after someone standing on the shore with a pair of binoculars glimpsed an empty boat drifting on the water and then reported seeing a black shape in the water, looking as if it were swimming.

What appeared to the onlookers as a head that slipped under water was likely a loon. Luce said he saw a bird on the pond during the search.

“I feel pretty comfortable saying it was a false alarm,” he added.

Luce tracked down the owner of the small, aluminum boat and was told that the owner’s son had tied it to the mooring earlier.

“It’s not uncommon for boats to break free from mooring,” Luce said. The boat drifted northwest and finally snagged on the shore of Loon Island.

Bridgton Fire Department sent its airboat along with a team of rescuers. They searched the pond and the island for a couple of hours.

Luce said it’s better to take the precautions that the rescuers did, even though the evidence of an actual drowning was scanty.

“We want people to call when they see something that doesn’t look right,” Luce said.

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