MUDDY CREEK TWP — The search for a missing Butler Township man entered its fifth day this morning at Moraine State Park.

But authorities acknowledge there is little hope of finding 62-year-old Nicholas Sopel Jr. alive.

“We are approaching this as a recovery, this being day 5, and due to the weather and other circumstances,” Jake Weiland, the park’s assistant manager, said this morning.

Park rangers, state police and volunteer firefighters have been looking for Sopel since Thursday when his family reported him missing from his home.

The family advised Butler Township police that Sopel takes an unspecified medicine and doesn’t have it. They also conveyed their concern that he might try to harm himself.

His pickup truck that afternoon was discovered parked on the side of the road just west of the bridge near Moraine State Park. In the truck, authorities found his wallet, keys and eyeglasses.

Rescuers since Thursday have conducted gridlike searches through park fields, trails and woods. Water rescue specialists and other emergency crews in boats also have scoured Lake Arthur.

“We’ve had a massive response and searched a vast area,” Weiland said.

Rangers and managers for Pymatuning State Park in Crawford County were to help in today’s search. Once again, the lake will be the primary focus of the operation.

Authorities believe Sopel could haven fallen or jumped off the bridge.

And because he suffered bad knees, he would not have been able to walk far from where his truck was discovered

Weiland said that is why much of the search has been in the area of the bridge.