The Maine Warden Service was continuing its investigations Sunday into two fatal snowmobile accidents that occurred within hours of each other Saturday.

Lt. Dan Menard of the Warden Service said Gracie Herrick Onofrio, 52, of Norway was driving a snowmobile on a plowed road near Pennesseewassee Lake in Norway at about 3:35 p.m. Saturday when she hit a snowbank and went airborne.

Onofrio was thrown from her snowmobile and a second snowmobile from the same party struck her.

She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Menard.

The Norway Police and Fire departments and PACE Ambulance assisted the Maine Warden Service at the scene.

Several hours later, Troy Marden, 17, of Amesbury, Massachusetts, and a friend were riding their snowmobiles on a plowed section of Thompson Lake in Poland when Marden failed to negotiate a corner in the road and struck a snowbank.

Menard said Marden was ejected from the snowmobile. The driver of the second snowmobile attempted to provide aid before getting help.

Marden was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Warden Service was assisted at the scene by the Mechanic Falls Police Department, the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and the Poland Fire Department.

Both accidents remained under investigation Sunday night.

Menard said the accidents were the fourth and fifth snowmobile-related fatalities of the snowmobile season.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

« Previous

Farmington dog sled race preserves long-standing Maine tradition

Next »

Maine’s whooping cough cases more than doubled in January