SURRY – The Maine Warden Service today hopes to recover the body of a man believed to have drowned Monday morning when the snowmobile he was riding broke through the ice on Lower Patten Pond.

Warden Calvin Hale said Monday that he couldn’t release the man’s name or hometown because the man’s family had not been notified and the body had not been recovered.

The man, who Hale said was about 60, left his home just after 9 a.m. for a snowmobile ride and didn’t return. Hale said there were no witnesses to the incident.

Wardens, police and rescue workers were called to a small, private road just off the North Bend Road to assist with the rescue.

Hale said a plane spotted what authorities believe was the missing snowmobile lying at the bottom of the pond near a hole in the ice.

Hale said a snowmobile track led to the hole. Officials were unable to get an airboat and hovercraft to the scene until late Monday.

Hale said wardens would begin the recovery effort at dawn today, using divers and airboats to safely reach the snowmobile’s location.

The warden service warned that ice conditions remain poor and four people broke through ice on Saturday, although all managed to get out safely.