that is sad - I’ve seen several reports of ice breaking, I think one was in Maine.
I just checked the newspaper and now the count is 3 missing young men. These cases are non-related, other than they all have to do with young men, alcohol, ice, and late night wandering.
In our local case, I can see how this might happen. The man has a few in a local bar, bids his friends good night, and takes off up the creek (instead of on the road) for his parents’ home. He probably did that dozens of time when he was in high school. But he doesn’t live here any more, and probably didn’t realize that the creek was barely frozen.
His parents started looking for him within 8 hours — dogs, helicopters, search and rescue and NOTHING. There has been a region-wide alert for people along the river/creek to check their outbuildings, etc. NOTHING.
Last year we had an elderly man missing, and he wasn’t found until May. He’d visited his wife in a nursing home, stopped for groceries, and somehow drove his car into a swamp. But, it’s usually young men. Although I noticed that a local girl is missing from a “group” home. How did they describe her? — “not always capable of making good choices.”