A kayaker who went missing in New Hartford has been presumed dead by the state environmental police and the search has been suspended for now.
Authorities say that the 53-year-old woman took a yellow kayak out on West Hill Pond Thursday night. The kayak turned up early during the search, but the woman has yet to be found. Search crews also located a paddle glove. Her identity has not been released at this time, but police said she is local.
The woman went out on the water around 8 p.m. on Thursday and a friend reported her missing close to 6 a.m. on Friday, police said.
"The investigation revealed that sometime after that she went kayaking and that's the last time anyone has seen her," said Col. Kyle Overturf, of the Connecticut State Environmental Police.
The search moved from the rescue stage to recovery as hope dwindled that the kayaker will be found alive, according to fire officials. Crews wrapped up their search efforts as the sun went down Friday night.
Crews worked to crack 200 yards of ice so rescue boats could reach open water and a state police side scan sonar could be used to search beneath the surface of the water. Crews returned the the pond on Saturday morning, but suspended the search because there is too much ice for them to go back out.
"It's just too risky to get the vessels out there and the equipment out there. It's not condusive for the recovery effort," Keith Williams, an environmental conservation police officer, said.
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Police have not released the name of the missing woman. They believe she did have kayaking experience, but said she did not appear to be wearing a life vest or wet suit.
Police will resume the search if the conditions improve.
