CANTON – A Jay snowmobiler was found by a Dixfield trail groomer near Sweat Corner in Canton Wednesday night more than four hours after he missed a turn on ITS 89 and ended up with his sled stuck, a warden said.

Shane Caron, who is in his early 20s, had visited a friend at Canton Point and was on his way back when he ran into trouble, Sgt. Rick Mills of the Maine Warden Service said.

Caron called his friend on his cell phone and asked him to get help, Mills said.

Caron had become ill and was feeling faint and vomiting, which Mills said he believes was because he may have over exerted himself while he was trying to get his sled out.

Caron was alone, it was cold, visibility was poor and the snow was about 2 feet deep, Mills said.

Caron had gotten off the main trail and was on a side tote trail on a different trail system.

Then Caron’s cell phone went dead and rescuers lost contact with him.

Snowmobile club members from Canton, Dixfield and Jay were called in to help search ITS 89 from Ludden Road in Canton to the North Jay Fire Station, Mills said. The trail runs through Maine to Canada.

Firefighters from Rumford, Jay, Canton and Mexico also were out looking, he added, and NorthStar Emergency Medical Services from the Farmington area and Med-Care from Mexico were also involved, he said.

Mills worked with fellow wardens Dave Chabot and Rick Stone.

Searchers rode their snowmobiles slowly along the trail to see if they could spot Caron.

“We were just running out the trail system,” Mills said. “We were pretty confident he was still on (Canton) mountain.”

When they didn’t find Caron, searchers gathered at the North Jay Fire Station to plan a second sweep when Dave Berry of Dixfield called in and said he picked Caron up on the groomer.

Caron “in my opinion, certainly wasn’t dressed appropriately for the conditions,” Mills said. “I think being young worked in his favor. I think he was lucky we found him when we did. I think it would have a been a long night. He wasn’t prepared.”

Initially, Maine State Police were able to get coordinates from where Caron placed the call but because of poor satellite reception, they were not accurate.

“Unfortunately we put stock in GPS cell phones,” he said. “It was a long way off. We had to spend time to eliminate that clue.”

The coordinates came back showing Caron being near the meadows on Seven Mile Stream off Route 4 in North Jay, but he ended up being 10 to 15 minutes away from that. Caron lives on Old Jay Hill Road, which is near that area, Jay Fire Rescue Chief Scott Shink said.

Firefighters and other snowmobilers did an extensive search from Davenport Hill Road to the North Jay Fire Station and couldn’t find Caron.

Mills said that after Caron was found, he was checked out by Med-Care medics and was fine. He left his snowmobile where it was stuck and took the ride out with Berry, Mills said.

Caron was unavailable for comment Thursday.