NEW TOWN -A jet skier is missing and presumed drowned in the Missouri River near New Town, according to Mountrail County authorities.

The name of the missing man is being withheld at this time.

Sheriff Ken Halvorson said in a news release issued today that his office received a 911 call just after 10 a.m. Sunday morning reporting an unattended jet ski floating on the east side of the Missouri River, just south of the Four Bears Bridge west of New Town.

Officers were sent to the scene along with rescue crews from the New Town Fire Department, Three Affiliated Tribes Police and Game and Fish Department, along with the North Dakota Game and Fish. Officers located another jet skier who was riding with the missing man. The man said they were cruising the area and he lost sight of the other jet skier in the rough water.

The other jet skier said they put their Jet Ski’s in the water north of the Four Bears Bridge and the last place he saw the other man was south of the bridge on the east side of the river. The unoccupied Jet Ski was found near that area but heavy wind moved the unoccupied Jet Ski very fast. The missing man was not wearing a life jacket while riding the Jet Ski.

Rescue teams called off the search in the afternoon due to the unsafe water conditions. Crews were confident they had searched the surface water area completely and had not found the missing man.

Search efforts will continue to recovery the missing man. The search area is the whole width of the Missouri River from Four Bears Bridge south to Reunion Bay at this time.