March 2, 2023 at 9:06 a.m.
Three die in area snowmobile-related incidents
By By River News/Lakeland Times staff-
The first occurred Friday night when a Beloit man died after the head-on crash of two snowmobiles in the town of Little Rice.
According to a press release from the Oneida County Sheriff's Office, deputies and emergency personnel responded to the call of a head-on snowmobile collision just before 7 p.m. on Kelly Dam Road just north of Old 8 Road in Little Rice.
David Haseman, 55, was pronounced dead upon arrival of emergency personnel. The other snowmobile operator was transported to Aspirus Hospital in Tomahawk with what appear to be non-life threatening injuries.
The second snowmobile-related death occurred early Sunday morning in Vilas County.
In a press release from the Vilas County Sheriff's Office, it was stated the 911 center received a call at around 1:30 a.m. of a snowmobiler who had struck a tree in the town of Plum Lake.
The initial investigation showed the machine had deviated off the marked trail on Plum Lake and struck a tree on the shoreline. Lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful and the operator, a 55-year-old man from Illinois, was pronounced dead. His name hasn't been released pending notification of the of the family.
The crash remains under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The third incident was the result of a snowmobile falling into open water on Somo Lake in the Town of Wilson near Tomahawk.
A Lincoln County Sheriff's office press release stated that the body 71-year-old Kevin P. Peterson of Tripoli was found in the lake on Monday. Authorities received a report Monday morning concerned about Peterson's whereabouts, as he had not been seen or heard from since the evening hours of Friday, Feb. 24. That led investigators to an open section on water on Somo Lake, where they discovered snowmobile tracks leading into the open area. Rescuers from the Tomahawk Fire Department recovered Peterson's body at approximately 4:20 p.m. Monday.
That incident remains under investigation by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office with assistance from the Wisconsin DNR.
According to the DNR's website, as of Tuesday, Feb. 28, there have been 16 deaths related to snowmobile crashes and accidents reported in the state of Wisconsin during the 2022-23 season. Ten of those fatalities have occurred in Oneida, Vilas and Lincoln counties.
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