ONTARIO - SNOWMOBILE FOUND IN SEARCH

A search for missing snowmobiler John Szczepanik has found a sled in the St. Mary's River
The machine was found Wednesday night in 14 metres of water in the navigational channel just south of the American border, police say. Michigan State Police made the find at about 7:30 p.m., but couldn't confirm what its autonomous underwater vessel located due to darkness, said Const. Sonny Spina of Sault Ste. Marie Police Service. An Ontario Provincial Police underwater search and recovery unit confirmed the machine was found shortly before 10 a.m. on Thursday.
The sled still has to be proven to be Szczepanik's, but the machine was located near the area where he was last seen in early March, said Spina.
Divers searched for Szczepanik in the area where the sled was located.
The Sault Ste. Marie man was last seen riding his snowmobile by open water near Pine Shores Drive on March 5.
Weather conditions continued to favour searchers after a good Wednesday.
“It's fairly calm out there and well lit for the last couple of days so it's very helpful,” said Spina.
Michigan State Police, Ontario Provincial Police's Sault Ste. Marie detachment, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canadian Coast Guard are assisting with the search that's being headed by city police.
The probe continues Friday, said Spina, assuming participating agencies aren't called away by an urgent matter.
“You never know when an emergency might come up that might end what you're doing,” said Spina.
Michigan State Police's autonomous underwater vehicle is similar to a Humminbird sonar used by anglers when fishing, said Sgt. Randy Parros. He's the unit commander of the marine services team.
“It's doing the same thing, but it has a lot more definition,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “It has a lot more capabilities. It's a great tool for us to use for doing these body recoveries or areas of unknowns.” The AUV is being operated about two metres above the river bed. With the shipping traffic, Parros anticipated limiting the unit's assignments to 45 minutes “just so that we can grab it if we have to in a hurry.”
His unit came from Lansing to help in the search for Szczepanik.