RANGELEY, Maine — Maine game wardens on Monday recovered the body of a 45-year-old Yarmouth woman who went through the ice Sunday night on a snowmobile she was riding on Rangeley Lake.
Maine Warden Service Cpl. John MacDonald said in a press release that wardens are also investigating the disappearance of three Maine snowmobilers in the Carrabassett Valley area who were last seen in Eustis early Sunday night.
Dawn Newell, 45, of Yarmouth and her 16-year-old son from Durham were riding on separate snowmobiles Sunday when her snowmobile broke through the ice and into open water around 7 p.m., MacDonald said. Her son’s snowmobile also began to break through the ice, but he was able to jump to a more solid piece of ice and get to shore to call 911.
Newell never resurfaced after she and her snowmobile went under water.
MacDonald said wardens recovered Newell’s body at approximately 11:30 a.m. Monday, thanks to the combined efforts of the Maine Warden Service dive team, aircraft crews and fire and rescue personnel from the town of Rangeley.
Meanwhile, wardens continued to search Monday for three male snowmobilers who left Carrabassett Valley around 6 p.m. Sunday and were last seen in Eustis.
The three missing men are Kenneth Henderson, 40, of China; Glenn Henderson, 43, of Sabattus; and John Spencer, 41, of Litchfield.
Wardens received a call at 2:30 a.m. Monday that none of the three had returned. A search was begun in the area and “several pieces of evidence were recovered” indicating all three may have gone into Rangeley Lake as well, MacDonald said.
Two helmets were recovered among the evidence found in an area less than a mile from the spot where the Yarmouth woman went through the ice, said Doug Rafferty, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
The search was suspended Monday evening, but wardens will resume search efforts Tuesday morning with airboats, side-scanning sonar and aircraft, MacDonald said.
Rafferty said conditions on Sunday were “bad enough with the high winds, but with all the snow, there were near whiteout conditions at times.”
A press conference will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Rangeley Lake public boat launch off Route 4 in downtown Rangeley.
With the first day of ice fishing season beginning Tuesday, the Maine Warden Service said everyone should “use extreme caution when accessing lakes and ponds either by foot or recreational vehicle. Ice conditions remain very hazardous.”
Very sad! I feel sorry for this poor kid to have witnessed his mother go under the ice. I hope she is recovered soon, so the family can have some closure. I also hope the other 3 missing snowmobilers are found safe.
How Sad……God Bless the Family :(
Same story, year after year, different name is all.
What AILS these people?
It couldn’t POSSIBLY happen to _them_
Just my opinion but, there are absolutley no reason to be on the ice! There are plenty of trails to ride on that do not cross large bodies of water. This is a sad story year after year.
Cue the bleeding hearts who will chastise you for not following the “its so sad,prayers for them, dont say bad things just pretend to be sad” routine.
PS I completely agree with you.
They used bad judgment, but I can still feel empathy.
I would hope if someone had a child on the back of a machine like this they would be charge with manslaughter is the child died way more risky than drunk driving.
And at 7 PM, long after dark. The Portland paper said visibility was poor in blowing snow and she rode into open water.
I so agree that Maine has 14,000 plus miles of snowmobile trails the best in the world. I realize that each and every person has the right to ride where they choose but we could avoid unnecessary accidents with a little more thought. Although our mind set is always it will not happen to us we must start thinking about life in a different way. Car accidents, ATV accidents, snowmobile accidents, etc., are just that but some could be avoided with a little forethought like slow down, check conditions and most importantly pay attention at all times. We live in Maine where the animals out number the humans, the trees outnumber the automobiles, the lakes outnumber the farm acreage and so on and so forth. This makes for a beautiful playground of nature to be enjoyed by any and all.It is my wish this New Years that– Everyone has a safe and fun time but please think a few seconds about the consequences and maybe go around and get home to those who love you and would be heartbroken if something like this happened to you.
So true. It’s never worth the risk going on the ice.
I would have thought since we have snow the ice would be solid
If I were you, I wouldn’t use a snowmobile.
sort of like my mom used to say, Push don’t run with your sword out of it’s sheath..
The snow insulates the ice/waterway, if it was not fully frozen prior to the large amount of snow fall the snow can insulate it causing it to not completely freeze yet. Scary
This is a ridiculous post. Some places don’t freeze all winter.
Just because it is sunny today, are you going to dig your lawn chair out and sun yourself?
I would have to guess that redbutton’s post is dripping with sarcasm. I would hope it is anyway.
My comments sub post did a better job then an instructional booklet. I hope the comments save others in the future. and yes.
My thought also.
For those freaking out: pushtheredbutton is trolling you
what is trolling?
commenting to get a response.. and yes I was.
Ah but how do you know Bustd didn’t just troll YOU?
true
I would never assume anything when it comes to walking on water ….. May look solid on top but what do you think it looks like underneath when it is constantly moving downstream? I think ice on a lake is as safe a hole in rowboat and that is why I stay of the ice in the winter and use my kayak in the summer. I guess if I ever take up ice fishing you will know it is me because I will be sitting in my kayak over the hole in the ice prepared for the ice giving way under me. Then I have a great chance of getting home to a bowl of homemade beef stew.
I’m going to assume this is sarcasm.
yesterdays BDN_ JoMary Riders Snowmobile Club
The association’s website got 15,559 hits Thursday on its trail conditions page— a good sign that snowmobilers in state and out are eager to start their engines, Meyers said.
Riders are encouraged to check trail condition websites and to stay off all lakes and rivers. Meyers said lake ice is still far too thin, if not nonexistent, to support snowmobiles.
“Nothing is safe,” he said of the state’s waterways.
Snow-covered water is especially hazardous. The snow often acts as an insulator against the deep cold that creates ice thick enough to stand a snowmobile’s weight, Meyers said
I’ve heard tell that in 1935 or so, after every snowstorm young men in St. George would see who could be the first to drive their cars to Thomaston on unplowed roads. They went across fields and around the drifts any way they could,
Now it’s as if people stand in line, seeing if they can’t be one of the many to go through the ice on their snowmobiles.
Because we all read this same headline over and over year after year, is there any reader out there who can explain this self-destructive behavior to the rest of us?
The humble Farmer
Humble: It’s very simple. Common Sense has been bred out of the human species.
You are so right Aldin! I used to snowmobile on the Penobscot river in the mid 70’s when I was 12 years old with a bunch of my friends. We NEVER went on the ice without getting approval from the “old timers” as they always had the instinct and common sense to give good advice. If there was open water, I would never have risked it. What has happened to common sense and good judgement? I feel sorry for the victims and families but really, this was a truly avoidable tragedy.
Unfortunate accident, but even in northern Maine the ice is not thick enough to support snow mobiles. However, with the temps plunging this week it may be safe to go out on the ice next week.
Hard to call it an accident .
well what would you call it? a homicide!?
If you jump off the Penobscot Narrows bridge is it just a dive? If you drive drunk and kill someone it is not just an accident. Not saying she wanted to have this happen. Just saying you would not catch me on the ice .
It’s an “on purpose”. Accidents happen when you have no control over the outcome. They deliberately chose to ride on the ice.
It’s called death by misadventure. That is a scary way to go. I don’t dare to ride on unfamiliar lakes unless I have studies the thoroufares and weather beforehand. That lake in the picture does not look safe to ride on at all; especially at night.
Incomprehensible, simply incomprehensible. Shouldn’t it be likely that anyone even visiting the Rangeley area have some awareness of just how tender the ice is in December and early January? If that picture is a current one, there is ice on the cove in front of the village, but the main body of the lake is wide open, and likely will be for some time, given the strong westerly that set in after the last nor’easter.
There was open water on Rangeley lake the day after Christmas (last time I saw it). There might still be. Its a big lake.
I would dare say snowmobiles kill more people in man per mile than driving than cars without a seat belt . So why are they legal? also they make more pollution than a car without a cat converter . Hmmmmmm laws only apply to some things.
Snowmobiles don’t kill people, people ride snowmobiles and have accidents, some preventable others are not.
Yes, because if it could possibly be dangerous, we must ban it. Let’s all live in bubbles so no one gets hurt.
Canoes and kayaks are much deadlier.
The snowmobile didn’t kill anyone in this situation, poor judgement did. As far as pollution, you are painting very broad strokes. The emissions regulations are stricter than lawn mowers and I imagine more people run a mower in the summer than a sled in the winter.
Still not as strict as a car. that is like saying seat belts to not take lives driving does . So again why does the law make us use them?
What do seat belts and snowmobiles have to do with each other? Nothing. Make a coherent argument please.
Make one law to protect people why not make more silly ones . As per mile driven snowmobiles kill more people than cars .
That is a poor measurement first of all, second of all there are a lot more factors than safety when it comes to seatbelt laws. Most of which is money to the state and insurance companies. Banning snowmobiles because you think they are scary and dangerous is ridiculous.
Save your life — get off the ice!
This is so horrible! I wished people would stay off the ice. There really isn’t a safe time to be on it….even in January/February….the dead of winter.
Thankful for her family that her body was recovered. Prayers for her family while they grieve.
So eerie…she lost a leg snowmobiling and was considered lucky to live, and then lost her life all these years later anyway.
I was brought up in a snowshoe world of outdoors in the winter. The first snowmobiles were the ski-doo, with a rotex engine, they were slow, safe, and got you to a good ice fishing spot and back. People still had the sense of people on snowshoes. The snowmobiles of today, I do not think are safe, they are far too powerful, too fast, too hard to handle, just an accident waiting to happen. I tried one about 8 years ago, just because I had not been on a snowmobile for 20 years. I went for a short ride, turned around got it back, shut it off, and that was it. Never again, they are not safe.
thankfully you are around to tell others what is safe and acceptable!!
I started out on a Rupp 260cc sled and that was plenty powerful enough to haul me around . Trail speed is about 45mph or should be, so why build a sled that can do over twice that. I don’t ride anymore because I fear the fools who can’t seem to ride prudently. I think this sport is too widely abused so by default , my right to enjoy it has been compromised.