Body in Rangeley Lake believed to be Bay State man

RANGELEY — Divers on Monday found a body in Rangeley Lake believed to be a Massachusetts man missing since a boat capsized over the weekend.

William Pitko, 32, of Arlington, Mass., was one of three men in the 12-foot aluminum boat that swamped Sunday night in wind and rain, said Paul Fournier, spokesman for the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

“Two of the men managed to cling to the boat and holler,” Fournier said. “Some people on shore heard them and went out and plucked them out of the water.”

Shawn Murphy and Frank Minniti, both in their early 30s and from Arlington, were treated for hypothermia by members of a local rescue unit and did not have to be taken to a hospital, the spokesman said.

Members of the Warden Service and the Rangeley Fire Department searched the lake for three hours Sunday night. The search team that returned to the lake Monday included four divers and a pilot. They found the body late Monday morning.