A 61-year-old Hartland man died over the weekend after he drove his snowmobile into open water where Great Moose Lake flows into the Sebasticook River in Somerset County.
Elsewhere, weekend snowsled accidents in Madrid Township, Wilton and Rangeley left four riders injured.
In Hartland, Warden Service divers recovered the body of Andre Lebel on Monday morning, said the service’s spokesman, Mark Latti.
Lebel was last seen at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Latti said.
On Sunday afternoon, snowmobile riders taking an outing on Great Moose Lake noticed sled tracks heading toward the lake’s outlet. Following the tracks, they realized the tracks ran right into the open water. They could also see debris, including a helmet, that could have been associated with a snowmobile having gone into the water, Latti said.
Those riders called wardens to report the accident Sunday afternoon. When wardens checked the area, they decided to arrange for the service’s dive team to check the water Monday morning.
Separately, Lebel’s wife, who had been out of town over the weekend, returned home Sunday evening. When she couldn’t find her husband, she called the service to report him missing, Latti said.
The accident, the state’s fifth fatality for the 2004-05 season, was one of several snowmobile mishaps over the weekend.
In Madrid, Terry Emerson, 52, of Friendship, suffered an injury to his back when his crashed his Ski-Doo into trees along International Trail System 89 about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, said Warden Tom Jacobs Monday evening.
“He can’t remember what happened,” Jacobs said, other than “he hit a couple of trees.”
Emerson was riding with others at the time, according to the warden. He was taken by ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington for medical treatment.
In Wilton, a head-on crash on ITS 82 resulted in two people being sent to the same hospital.
Jeffrey Taylor, 49, of Lisbon Falls suffered a broken shoulder and Joshua Deraspe, 14, of Farmington suffered a sprained shoulder in the collision, Jacobs said.
Jacobs said the snowmobiles met on a sharp corner. Deraspe “thought he saw an opening,” Jacobs said, and tried to maneuver his Polaris through it. Taylor had been riding a Ski-Doo.
Both men were evacuated and then taken to Franklin Memorial by ambulance for treatment, the warden said. That crash happened at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
At 3 p.m. Saturday, Mark Glassman, 49, of West Haven, Conn., found himself going airborne after hitting a pressure ridge on Rangeley Lake.
“He didn’t know it was there,” Jacobs said.
When Glassman hit it, his Arctic Cat flew up and he flew off, injuring his back when he landed on the lake’s ice.
He also was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital by ambulance for medical care, Jacobs said.
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