Wardens to continue search for snowmobiler

CASCO – Game wardens planned Monday to resume searching with planes, boats and divers for a Massachusetts man whose snowmobile plunged into Sebago Lake over the weekend.

Paul Blanco of Carlisle, Mass., and two other men were riding across the frozen lake when they encountered a stretch of open water Saturday night, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

“At that point, they realized that their only hope was to stay on top of the water – not stopping or slowing down,” Latti said.

The practice of gliding across open water on a snowmobile is called “skimming,” and two of the riders managed to make it across a large patch of open water. But Blanco’s snowmobile sank and there was no sign of him, Latti said.

The incident happened near Sebago State Park on the northern end of lake, Latti said.

Game wardens, alerted at about 8 p.m. Saturday, searched early into the morning. The search resumed with about 15 wardens at first light and Blanco’s snowmobile was found Sunday morning in 30 feet of water, Latti said.