The body of a Fowler man who fell through ice while fishing on Pymatuning Lake Friday afternoon was retrieved around 9 a.m. Saturday by rescue workers.

Pymatuning State Park Manager Pete Houghton said the body of William J. Meeker, 59, of 5221 Cadwallader-Sonk Road, was recovered about 600 feet offshore between the Jamestown Beach and the Century Club.

Meeker and his son-in-law William Wilbanks, 26, of Niles, had gone ice fishing around 2:30 p.m. Friday. Rescue workers speculated that Meeker was cold and was walking around to warm up when he fell through the ice.

Wilbanks also fell through the ice but was able to get out, according to James Brown, spokesman for the Jamestown Fire Department. As he neared the shore, he fell through again, but got out and eventually came to a nearby residence and called for help, Brown said. Wilbanks was treated at UPMC Horizon, Greenville.

The emergency call came through around 3:53 p.m., according to Brown and Houghton.

Scuba teams from Crawford County, Sheakleyville, Ohio, Andover, Ashtabula and Jamestown all participated in the search Friday until about 6 p.m. when it was called off due to darkness and treacherous conditions on the lake where ice was anywhere from 0 to 8 inches thick, Houghton said.

The search resumed Saturday at 7 a.m. A Stat Medevac helicopter from UPMC Horizon, Greenville, spotted Meeker's blaze orange hat and then his body under the ice. A rescue crew retrieved the body with a sled that was slipped underneath his body in the water and pulled onto the ice.

According to Crawford County Deputy Coroner, Eric Coston, Meeker's death was ruled accidental due to hypothermia.

It is the beginning of the ice fishing season and Houghton said there are spots on the lake that are dangerously thin. Houghton said water birds congregate in unfrozen spots on the lake which they keep clear of ice until a deep freeze hits. When it gets that cold, the birds leave and ice over those spots is often much thinner than the ice around them.

The lake water is around 32 degrees with varied ice cover, so anyone ice fishing needs to be very cautious, Houghton added.