Police divers have found the body of a 43-year-old snowmobiler who disappeared in open water on Redstone Lake in Haliburton County, Ontario Friday night.

The dive team recovered the man's body just before noon Saturday, said OPP Const. Peter Leon.

The OPP is asking snowmobile operators to stay off lakes in the province, because the ice is unsafe after recent mild weather.

Police said the victim owned a cottage in the area, near Minden.

He was with a group of snowmobilers, police said. But he headed out on his own before the others were ready, just after 7 p.m. ET.

When he didn't come back, others in the group followed his tracks, and found him in a patch of open water, police said in a news release.

They tried to save him, but the ice was too thin, and they called 911.

The OPP, firefighters and paramedics searched Friday night and Saturday morning before finding the body. They did not release his name.

"This is certainly one of those tragedies that certainly could have been avoided if individuals stayed off of area lakes until they're safe to venture onto," Leon said.

Within two hours of finding the body, police got a call about four other snowmobiles going through the ice in a lake in the Peterborough area.

The four were travelling together in a group when their machines went into the water at Chandos Lake.

All four got out of the water, and no injuries were reported. However, their snow machines are still in the lake.

"Thankfully there were no lives lost in that incident," said Leon.

He said there have been a number of incidents involving snowmobiles going through the ice in the past few days.

"In light of this most recent and tragic incident, the OPP are asking the public to refrain from going onto any ice until conditions improve," he said.

With files from The Canadian Press