ANSON – Leigh Paine’s vigil came to end Monday morning when wardens recovered the body of his father, Ray Paine, 49, of Cornville, from the gates of the Madison dam on the Kennebec River, just after 9 a.m.

Several hours later, as Leigh Paine sat and watched from a canvas chair on a shelf of ice over the river, wardens also recovered his father’s snowmobile, just 15 feet from the ice in open water and four miles upstream from the Madison dam.

Paine was reported missing Saturday morning when he failed to return to Embden, where he had been staying, after riding the trails Friday night. Paine and a friend split up just after 9:30 p.m., with Paine heading toward Embden and his friend riding home toward Anson.

Maine Warden Service Lt. Pat Dorian said that since the sled was found such a short distance from safe ice, Paine was likely “on his brakes,” when he submerged. He said that if Paine were braking, the sled would have sunk quickly, since the 2007 Yamaha weighed at least 700 pounds.

“I drove out here myself Friday night,” Dorian said, “and it is almost an illusion that the ice goes all the way across.” But in brilliant daylight Monday it was clear that several hundred feet of open water sliced the trail in half, and apparently caught Paine by surprise.

“He knew these trails well and was an experienced snowmobiler,” Sgt. Kevin Adam said Monday morning. “He’s used this crossing before. He obviously made some kind of error that unfortunately cost him his life.”

Adam said the river crossing was ice-covered just two weeks ago and that on Monday, the only safe crossing on the Kennebec was at the Solon Dam, not over any ice.

Paine’s body was discovered by Madison Paper Industries’ workers who were performing routine cleaning of the dam gates from debris buildup. Adams said MPI workers had found Paine’s helmet about an hour and a half earlier, also at the dam.

Paine was the 10th snowmobile-related death this season, Adam said. “I hate to talk loosely of 10 being a good number but considering how much snow we’ve had and considering we have 66,000 registered snowmobiles, it is a number on par with other years.”

Adam cautioned snowmobilers to be particularly vigilant this time of year. “We have at least two more weeks of snowmobiling in this part of the state,” he said. “Riders need to be very careful, especially around water and especially at night. I wouldn’t be crossing any rivers right now. They are all starting to break up.”

Adam said Paine’s body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta for autopsy. He said alcohol did not play a factor in the accident.

Six members of the Maine Warden Service dive team located Paine’s sled in about 15 feet of dark, swift water on Sunday, but did not attempt its recovery until Monday morning.

The trail Paine was riding runs through the sawmill property of Timber Resource Group. Olin Brooks, who works at one of the buildings, said the trail is very popular. “Dozens of trucks park here and unload and get on the trails,” he said. “This is certainly such a shame.”

Adam said the divers found the water temperature to be about 34 degrees. Underwater visibility was just six to seven feet. He said the dive was additionally dangerous because debris is floating downstream with the runoff. “The current flow was much faster than the divers anticipated,” he said.

Leigh Paine, 22, of Skowhegan, kept a vigil throughout the day on the ice shelf where his father fell in, while other family members and friends gathered at the North Anson fire station, including the victim’s daughter, Roxie Paine, 26, from Massachusetts.

“We were very fortunate to have found Mr. Paine so quickly,” Adam said. “It is good for the family, to end this uncertainty. I’ve been on searches like this when it took four, five or six months for people to be found.”

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