Officials are currently searching Range Pond in Poland for a missing paddleboarder, according to Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson.<\/p>\n
Samson said they were called to the lake at around 1:30 p.m. for the initial report that while a father and daughter were paddleboarding, the father went into the water and never came back up.<\/p>\n
On site, the sheriff’s office began working with other neighboring agencies and the Maine Warden Service to locate the missing man, but has not yet been successful. Sheriff Samson said they are utilizing boats, drones and helicopters to help with the search.<\/p>\n
According to Samson, the Maine Warden Service is taking over the investigation.<\/p>\n
A NEWS CENTER Maine crew spoke with wardens on scene who had deployed a dive team equipped with an underwater drone.<\/p>\n
“The camera saves a lot of dive time because the drone can take images along the bottom of the pond,” Lt. Jason Luce explained. “They’ve been searching in a grid pattern in the area where he was last seen.”<\/p>\n
Wardens were observed in two boats surveying the water for more than five hours in hopes of finding the 51-year-old man.<\/p>\n
Luce said that the incident is a reminder of how important it is to have the proper safety equipment at all times on the water and to know your limits.<\/p>\n
“Know your own limitations, know it’s hot out and that you could be dehydrated and maybe cramp up,” Luce said. “Our lakes and ponds are filled with all kinds of hidden hazards like rocks and logs under the water.”<\/p>\n
Luce said that divers would continue their search into the night and will pick things back up Friday morning if the man was not located.<\/p>\n
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