TURNER – An unattended kayak floating upside-down in Bear Pond on Thursday prompted an hours-long search for a possible drowning victim.

By Friday, though, police and game wardens were beginning to suspect that the kayak had been blown from its moorings in Thursday’s high winds.

The drama began about 3:30 p.m. when a caller reported seeing the blue kayak overturned and floating in the pond. Wardens who responded fetched the craft and found a life vest inside.

“At that point, we weren’t sure if someone had drowned,” Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Detective William Gagne said. “It’s not the kind of thing we’re going to ignore.”

For more than three hours, game wardens searched the pond by boat while sheriff’s officials combed the shoreline. Nothing out of the ordinary was found in the search and it was called off by dark.

By the end of the day Friday, no one had been reported missing, and there were no reports of boating mishaps. The owner of the blue kayak remained a mystery.

Gagne said it appears likely that strong wind gusts Thursday may have snatched the boat away from its moorings, sending it to drift free along the pond.

“The water was really rough, and the wind was blowing,” Gagne said.

Now, investigators are waiting to hear from anyone who might have discovered that a kayak was no longer where it had been left.

Anyone with information may call Gagne at 784-7361, extension 214.