The body of a missing snowmobilier has been recovered from Sand Lake near Westport.
Ontario Provincial Police say 33-year-old Scott McPherson was last seen around 7 p.m. Friday. He was snowmobiling in the Westporo area, north of Kingston, when he was last seen.
Police say his body was recovered Monday morning.
A number of resources had been called in for the search including the Underwater Search and Recovery Unit, the Snowmobile ATV Vessel Enforcement Team and the Emergency Response Team. McPherson is an avid outdoorsman, and known to snowmobile in the area on lakes including the north shore of Westport's Sand Lake where crews searched the water looking for McPherson and his snowmachine.
Friends say he was going out to skip on the water; a sport in which snowmobilers hydroplane their machines across lakes or rivers. The water family fear he likely drowned in.
Police say with thin, melting ice covering Sand Lake, nobody should be taking risks out on the water no matter how experienced they are.
"I hope people wouldn't do that, it's not worth the chance, it's not worth the risk. If it's not safe, don't do it. If you're going out 7 o'clock at night, it's dark. You have to know your area, you have to know the terrain. If you're heading out on to the ice, on to the water, you've got to know that as well as make sure it's safe." said Constable Sandra Barr of Leeds County OPP.
ues in Westport where snowmobiler Scott McPherson may have gone through the ice Friday night - 33 y/o father hasn’t been seen or heard from since @ctvottawa pic.twitter.com/AmEF1fNn9o
— Mike Arsalides (@MArsalidesCTV) November 25, 2018
Anyone with information is asked to call the OPP at 613-345-1790 or 1-888-310-1122.