SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) _ Authorities are searching for a missing radioactive container in Illinois and Indiana.

A southern Illinois logging company reported Friday that it wasn't able to locate a “radioactive well logging source holder,'' which was last known to be in a company vehicle.

The device owned by Wayne County Well Surveys Inc. of Fairfield is silver, measures about 12 inches tall and 14 inches in diameter, and weighs about 75 pounds. It's part of a larger tool used to assess geological formations in oil, gas, groundwater, mineral, and geothermal exploration. 

Illinois Emergency Management Agency radiological response teams and Wayne County Well Surveys workers are searching the company's job sites and transportation routes.

The search has spanned 16 counties in Illinois and two counties in Indiana.