Coppermine (Oct 18/04) - The bodies of a Kugluktuk Anglican minister and his wife were discovered frozen in the ice of a lake, nine kilometres outside Kugluktuk on Oct. 14.

A search began about 1 p.m. the same day when Sam Kikpak and his wife Lena went out snowmobiling and did not return as planned.

"They went across the lake on some thin ice and went through the ice and weren't able to get out of the water," said Kugluktuk RCMP acting Cpl. Chad Zummack.

Snowmobile tracks lead search and rescue workers to the bodies at about 8:30 a.m. They were recovered from the ice later that afternoon, RCMP said. The investigation into the circumstances of their deaths is continuing.

About 20 people from the community including RCMP, search and rescue workers and wildlife officers, banded together for the search. With recent warm weather, the ice has been thinner than usual, Zummack said.

RCMP are asking that people let somebody in the community know when they are going out on the land, where they are headed and when they plan to return.

Another search and rescue operation was conducted for a man who left town the afternoon of Oct. 14. He was found unharmed at 3:10 a.m. the next day, Zummack said.