MOUNT VERNON — Authorities were preparing to search Parker Pond on Wednesday for the bodies of four people who are presumed to have fallen through the ice over the weekend.

The four apparently were riding in a jeep that crashed through the ice Saturday night, said Sgt. Bill Allen of the Maine Wardens Service. He declined to release their identities.

The four lived in two camps on the pond. He said authorities went to both camps Tuesday and found that the lights were on and that food had been left cooking in the kitchen.

Allen said authorities had been asked to check one of the cabins Tuesday when a Massachusetts man failed to return home from the weekend.