NEWPORT, Vt. -
Standing in the middle of Lake Memphremagog, a number of Vermont state police scuba members braved the cold waters and dove in Monday.
For hours about a dozen of them searched for 53-year-old Jacques Leblanc who police say fell through the ice Saturday night.
But it wasn't easy.
"Visibility is very restricted, very poor," said Vermont State Police Lt. Kirk Cooper.
But after hours of searching, police say they found Leblanc's body around three-30 Monday afternoon.
It was a task that required them to drive ATV's hundreds of feet to the center of the lake.
At the search site you could see LeBlanc's shanty stuck in the water.
His family and friends also watched nearby as divers went in.
We were there as rescuers returned and asked us not to shoot video of LeBlanc's body or family.
It's a tough situation, but one police wanted to see.
"We would like to bring closure to the family," said Cooper.
The sad ending comes after police say LeBlanc was driving a tractor on the ice while removing a shanty, which they say wasn't something new for the Newport resident.
"Mr. LeBlanc was a very experienced ice fisherman and knew the area very well," said Cooper.
