The body of a snowmobiler missing since Dec. 6 has been recovered from Groundhog Reservoir.
Ronald Wallace Jr., 37, was found Feb. 7 after an extensive search by a specialized dive team that lasted seven days.
On Dec. 11, Dolores County and Lewis-Arriola emergency crews discovered his snowmobile under the lake ice. But the search for Wallace, an Air Force veteran, was suspended because of severe weather and ice conditions.
In February, British Columbia-based Cold Water Divers arrived on scene with a pair of Deep Trekker remotely operated vehicles to conduct an extensive search mission, said company spokeswoman Amanda Coulas.
The search lasted for seven days as crews worked up to 14 hours a day in temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Wallace’s father, Ronald Sr., and his family were determined to not give up the hope of finding Ronnie,” Coulas stated in a press release. “They wanted closure and to bring Ronnie home to have a proper burial.”
Amid a blizzard, the dive team set up small heated tents over holes drilled in the foot-thick lake ice. The Deep Trekker vehicles were then deployed to search the lake bottom for 14 hours a day.
Coulas said that Wallace’s body was found on the seventh day of the search, in the last section of the three square-mile search area.
Wallace, was last heard from Dec. 6 when he phoned a friend during a break from a snowmobile ride.
