After two days of searching the Missouri River for a possible drowning victim, cold weather and large amounts of ice brought the recovery effort to a standstill.

The search effort started the same as it did yesterday, only colder, grayer and with a few different people in the water. Two divers joined the search for a person who may have drowned in the river over the weekend.

Bob W: "We were able to spend a little bit of time under the water today,” explained Bob Wojciechowski of Cascade County Search and Rescue. “We didn't have any success locating the individual. After a period of time our divers had some weather related equipment issues and so we suspended the operation."

With the diver's oxygen regulators freezing up in the icy waters and without expensive gear designed for cold weather dives, those here say the operation won't resume until temperatures warm up and some the ice melts. However, when crews do finally get back in the water they'll continue their search in the same area.

"The current is generally pretty slack in this area of the river,” Wojciechowski noted. There's a little bit of surface current, but it's not as swift as it is in other parts of the river. We'll probably have to expand out search area quite a bit whenever we are able to get back down here, but we'll just have to see when that is."

When it comes to recovery efforts like this, the less time that passes the better. But in a situation like today, search crews say the rescuer's safety comes first.

"We did the best we could with what we had for as long as we could,” said Wojciechowski. “So that's where we're at now."

Search and Rescue officials say they did find personal items that may belong to the possible victim, including clothing and a wallet with ID.

They tell us the missing person case falls under Great Falls Police jurisdiction, therefore they must decide when or if a name is released.