(Harlan, IA) – Officials with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, late Tuesday night, said dive teams found several pieces of fishing gear, but no victim, after authorities received a report earlier in the day about abandoned fishing gear on  local lake, and over concerns someone may have fallen through the ice.

At around 4:50-p.m., Tuesday, the Shelby County communications center was notified about the potential of someone who may have disappeared on the lake at Prairie Rose State Park. Local emergency responders were sent to the scene to assist Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the search for a possible victim.

Authorities say responders searched the area for abandoned vehicles or any other sign of a fisherman. Harlan fire department Ice rescue team retrieved the gear and checked the area of the gear revealing an older hole in the ice. Rescue divers ( Midwest Regional Dive Team) were called in to search the area below the ice where they did locate several fishing items such as a heater and ice auger.

Officials said boot tracks were seen coming off the ice but all efforts of search and rescue were still performed with the unknown situation. As of the latest information, no one had been located in or near the water. If you have any information on the situation or may have partially fallen through and left your gear behind. Please contact the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office at 712-755-5026

Agencies assisting at the scene included the: Harlan, Denison, Walnut, Anita, Corning, and New Market Fire Departments; Iowa DNR; Iowa State Patrol; The Crawford, Shelby, and Audubon County Emergency Management Agencies; The Cass and Montgomery and Ringgold County Sheriff’s Departments; Shelby County EMS and countless other volunteer agencies.