MORAINE STATE PARK Search to resume today for vehicle in frozen lake

Tire tracks indicate the driver had been spinning the car on the ice.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
PORTERSVILLE, Pa. -- Divers were to resume searching today for a vehicle believed to have fallen through a frozen lake where trappers found a large hole in the ice with tire tracks leading to it.
Tire tracks also indicated the driver had been spinning the vehicle in circles on other areas of Moraine State Park's Lake Arthur, said Jeff Anna, assistant regional manager for the western region of the Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks.
Some trappers reported seeing a large hole in the ice about 100 yards from shore Monday about 7:30 a.m.
The tire tracks indicated the vehicle drove onto the lake, which is in Butler County and about 12 miles east of New Castle, from a snowmobile trail and may have tried to exit it from a boat launch ramp near Pa. Route 528, which crosses the lake. The hole in the ice is 100-150 yards from that launch area, Anna said.
Anna said it wasn't clear how many people might have been in the car.
Stayed down briefly
Moraine State Park manager Obie Derr said that divers stayed down briefly to determine if anything was under the water, but quickly resurfaced.
"They lost some equipment and there were also some concerns about how much more ice might break while they were down there," Derr said Monday night. "They're going to get some more divers and try again [Tuesday]."
State police in Butler and the Prospect fire company also responded to the call.
The temperature was about 11 degrees when searchers entered the water.
The dive team consisted of fire-company volunteers, Anna said.