UPDATE: Investigators turn to lodge video in search for kayaker

TWO HARBORS - More possessions believed to be those of missing Wisconsin kayaker Doug Winter have surfaced.  Monday, the Lake County Sheriff told FOX 21 the department now presumes the worst for Winter.

Nonetheless, they are continuing their investigation and turning to surveillance video to figure out what Winter might have been doing the night he disappeared.

As waves crash ashore along Lake Superior, it appears the lake may be harboring a chilly secret: the fate of Doug Winter.  The avid kayaker hasn't been seen since Sunday, October 18th, when he checked into room 118 at the Cove Point Lodge in Beaver Bay.  Monday, Lake County Sheriff Carey Johnson confirmed his suspicion of the worst, telling FOX 21 he presumed Winter had drowned.  It comes after phone calls Monday morning that a paddle washed ashore along the lake.  Then a second call around 11 a.m. about another item.

"Someone in the Twin Cities...said that they had found a GPS unit while they were up here this weekend," Johnson said.  He said it traced back to Winter, just as a kayak, car and life vest did last week.  The GPS unit is the newest clue after searching by the Coast Guard and Lake County Sheriff Department's Search and Rescue Team over the weekend turned up nothing.  Johnson said his investigators are still trying to confirm whether Winter got into the kayak in the first place. For that, they're turning now to surveillance video from the lodge.

"There was possibly a camera that was pointed in the direction of where a lot of people put in their kayaks in the water," said Johnson.  The lodge has several surveillance cameras.  A worker there said the video is poor quality, but does show Winter pulling into the parking lot late Sunday night, October 18th. The worker said Winter's well–being has many concerned and guessing what may have happened to him.  Most are baffled that Winter, who was no stranger to Lake Superior, would have been on the water at that time.  That's because, for the last 11 days, the wind on the lake has blown in from the northeast.  That's commonly known as the most dangerous kind of wind on Lake Superior.  Investigators say Winter made a call to a friend Monday night, telling her he was on the water, the waves were getting large and he couldn't see land.  It was perhaps the last time he spoke to anyone.

FOX 21 contacted Winter's brother, who declined any comment, saying he was waiting on word from the Sheriff's Department.  If anyone has any information, the sheriff asks it be called into 218–834–8385.