CASCO (AP) – Maine game wardens were back at Sebago Lake on Tuesday as they continued to search for a snowmobiler from Massachusetts who was missing and presumed drowned after encountering open water on the lake.

After divers searched for two consecutive days, game wardens switched tactics and began using a sonar, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Divers remained on hand.

Paul Blanco, 45, of Carlisle, Mass., was one of three snowmobilers who were riding across the frozen lake when they encountered open water Saturday night.

The other two riders made it to safety, with one of them scooting across up to three miles of open water, wardens said. Afterward, the survivors couldn’t find Blanco, and his snowmobile was located on the lake bottom the following day.

Although the snowmobile was found in 30 feet of water, there’s a ledge nearby where the lake drops to 108 feet, then 160 feet. Divers are limited to 90 feet, Latti said.

None of the men was familiar with snowmobiling on that portion of Sebago Lake, and Blanco was not an experienced snowmobiler, authorities said.

They rode onto the lake from a camp trail. It was dark, but they surmised that because the fishing derby on Jordan Pond featured truck races, the lake’s ice must be safe, wardens said. But the lake’s ice varies by location. Near Sebago Lake State Park, where the men were riding their snowmobiles, there is a band of ice near the beach but that quickly gives way to open water.

Copy the Story Link