The search for a Polson doctor who disappeared while kayaking Saturday on Flathead Lake has continued the last two days with no developments.

Dr. Robert McDonald, 43, a staff physician at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson, left the Bear Harbor condominium complex on Polson Bay shortly after noon and he was reported missing at about 11:30 that night.

Initial search efforts involved helicopters and multiple watercraft. In recent days, it has become a recovery effort limited to boats fitted with side-scan sonar gear.

“It would be nice to give the family some closure,” said Karen Sargeant, a spokeswoman for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Sonar-equipped boats from Lake County and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office were on the bay Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Lake County boat was on the water until the afternoon, when it was called off because of expected high winds.

Sargeant said the search likely continue for days to come.

Asked if there are any theories about what happened to McDonald, Sargeant said, “It could be anything from him dropping his cellphone and trying to recover it or some type of medical issue. There’s just no way we’ll ever know.”

A more detailed account of how a vessel matching the description of McDonald’s was recovered sheds some light on conditions the day he went missing.

People in a small boat came across the unoccupied kayak Saturday afternoon.

“It was full of water,” Sargeant said of the kayak. “And the waves were high. It was very, very choppy.”

The group attempted to tow the kayak but it was so heavy that the people thought it might swamp their boat so they left it behind, not  knowing that anyone was missing at the time, she said.

Another group of people in a larger boat came across the kayak and they were able to empty it, lift it out of the water and put it on their boat. They took it to shore and reported it once they learned that a kayaker was missing on the lake.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.