Police Search Vermont Lake for Man Who Fell Through Ice

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Credit WAMC

Ice Fishing

Vermont State Police have resumed their search for a man believed to have fallen through the ice on a lake while using a tractor to move an ice shanty.

Police say divers have searched Lake Memphremagog in Newport Center for 53-year-old James LeBlanc of Newport but are experiencing difficult conditions due to cold temperatures and murkiness at the lake bottom.

Police received a report about 7:30 Saturday evening of an ice shanty and tractor going through the ice. Police later determined it was likely that a man went into the lake, as well, and did not resurface.

The State Police Scuba Team, the Newport Center Fire Department and the U.S. Border Patrol have searched for LeBlanc. Police say the tractor is submerged in about 25 feet of water.

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