Warning to Albertans to stay off the ice after bodies of family found in lake with their UTV

The man who found the site where an Alberta family died earlier this week is warning others to stay off the ice.

The bodies of Kelly Pelsma, 39, his wife Laura, 37, and their eight-year-old son Dylan were removed from the waters of Lac Ste. Anne on Tuesday.

The family's UTV side-by-side was also found in the lake.

An RCMP spokesperson says the bodies were found about 100 metres from the shoreline near the Alexis Bridge.

The family was expected at a function on Dec. 23, but never arrived.

"We believe that they were going out on a little ATV trip. They had told people that was their plan from a cottage in the Lac Ste. Anne area," RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said.

Martin Junior Lavoie says he started to search for the family on the evening of Christmas Day after a neighbour's camera captured video of them riding their UTV in the area.

"I'm a father of two kids, and a family case like that takes me right through my heart," Lavoie told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday.

"My son is the same age as the kid."

Lavoie says he was scanning the area for any sign of the family from his truck when he spotted a gas can in the water and called police.

"When the RCMP was called, they sent the helicopter, and when the helicopter came and put the light right over the hole, we can see the two tail lights and the plate on the bottom of the water from the side-by-side," he said.

On Tuesday, a dive team recovered all three bodies and they were transported to the medical examiner's officer in Edmonton.

With the unseasonably warm conditions, police are warning everyone to stay off the ice.

"The ice is very dangerous right now," Savinkoff said.

"By looking at the ice itself, you can see that it doesn't look very thick, so you need to take extra precautions whether on foot or on an ATV and just stay away from it."

A Calgary man also died over the weekend after he fell through the ice on the Bow River near Mînî Thnî, formerly known as Morley.

Police say you should only skate or walk on ice that is 15 centimetres thick, 20 centimetres thick for a group of people, and 25 centimetres plus for off-highway vehicles.

Clear blue or black ice is the strongest, and likely the deepest, according to RCMP.

White opaque ice should be avoided, and grey ice indicates the presence of water and is unsafe.

It's a sentiment shared by Lavoie.

"I have an eight-year-old son. I do ice fishing with him and I always teach him ice is dangerous," he said.

"We don't want to lose anybody. Never. But on Christmas time, that's the worst time ever."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha