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SYRACUSE - The search for Greg Friericks, 45, of Syracuse, continues nearly a week after his disappearance.
Friericks was reported missing Friday, though Indiana Department of Natural Resources officials say he most likely left his residence Thursday evening.
His 12-foot fishing boat was found partially submerged in Lake Wawasee about 400 feet from a boat ramp Friday morning, though no signs of Friericks were found anywhere.
According to DNR Lt. John Sullivan, officials have used sonar and drag equipment to search the lake, in addition to foot and air patrols.
Sullivan said searchers were able to see to the bottom of about 25 percent of Lake Wawasee in an air search conducted with assistance from Indiana State Police.
Lake Wawasee is a 3,000-acre lake and averages a depth of about 7 feet, though some areas are as deep as 60 feet.
"We've done the best we could in narrowing down the area where he might be," Sullivan said.
DNR officials now are focusing on a 300-acre area, though Sullivan admits, "it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Friericks' disappearance does not appear suicide or violence related, officials said. "No factors point to anything but an accident," Sullivan said.
The boat could have capsized if lake waters were rough, as they were over the weekend, though at this time all theories are speculative, he said.
In cold-water drowning cases, it could take weeks before a body rises to the water's surface, Sullivan said, as the cooler water temperatures slow decomposition.
