TOWNSHIP C — Alcohol, extremely hot weather and cold, rough water created dangerous conditions for two swimmers from Boston who vanished Friday afternoon in Lower Richardson Lake, a Maine Warden Service spokeswoman said Saturday.

By mid-afternoon — 23 hours after Hoang Vo, 26, and Phil Le, 30, went missing — wardens and Andover firefighters were still searching for the pair, Warden Service spokeswoman Edie Smith said on scene.

The young men’s families and friends who were part of a group of 20 to 25 people camping on Beaver Island in the lake have remained in the area, Smith said.

A nine-member Warden Service dive team concentrated the search about 4 miles north of the public boat launch off South Arm Road, in 30 to 40 feet of water, Smith said.

Friday’s search began at 3:40 p.m. when the pair were reported missing to the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, which called the Warden Service, Andover firefighters and Med-Care Ambulance to help.

Lake conditions on Friday afternoon were described as choppy, with swells and whitecaps, Smith said.

By nightfall Friday, the search was discontinued.

Saturday’s search began at 7 a.m. Searchers included wardens, Oxford County Sheriff’s deputies, Andover firefighters and Med-Care. The were led by Warden Lt. Kevin Adam.

Six additional wardens — two to a boat — in three boats scoured the surface while firefighters searched the shore.

“The weather this morning was overcast, but visibility has now improved and a warden plane is expected to arrive to aid in the search,” Smith said Saturday afternoon. “Water conditions are fairly clear.”

However, by mid-afternoon, winds had increased, churning up whitecaps and swells on the lake, where water temperatures averaged 63 degrees, Smith said.

Initial reports on Friday that the two men had been jumping off a pontoon boat to swim while two men remained on the boat were incorrect, she said.

At some point early Friday afternoon, the four men who had been drinking alcohol, rented a 14-foot Lund boat from South Arm Campground and headed onto the lake to do some swimming, Smith said.

“During the course of their investigation, the Warden Service has determined that all four gentlemen — the two that remained on the boat, and then the two that jumped in the water — were drinking,” Smith said.

“And so, with the combination of an extremely hot day, hitting cold water — and the water was very rough yesterday afternoon; they said there were whitecaps and swells — so all it really takes is just one mouthful of water — especially if you have some alcohol in you — and with that cold water temperature, you get in trouble pretty darn quick,” Smith said.

“The wardens have been saying that that’s just a very dangerous combination, so I think they’re looking at all those as factors.”

The two men in the boat began searching for Vo and Le, when they didn’t resurface, Smith said.

Smith said wardens planned to bring in sonar equipment to assist their efforts on Sunday. She said she didn’t know whether the search would continue Monday if the men weren’t found.

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