Press Releases

Contact: Edie Smith, Spokesperson
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
284 State Street
41 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333

Media representatives can receive press releases via e-mail.

Telephone: work (207) 592-4348

Fax: (207) 287-6395

March 14, 2009

Missing Snowmobiler Found; Two Injured in Separate Incidents

In Oquossoc:
Christopher McLain, 35, of Portland was reported missing at 2 a.m. today after he left the Four Seasons Restaurant in Oquossoc to look for a friend who had left moments earlier, according to Maine Warden Service Game Warden Kris MacCabe.

The friend had returned to the restaurant and met others there, and the group went looking for McLain on Cupsuptic Lake in Adamstown Township.

Concerned that McLain had fallen through the ice, the friends contacted the Maine Warden Service, and Wardens MacCabe and Joshua Smith responded and are investigating the incident. Additional wardens and boats were en route to the scene when McLain returned to a friend’s camp at approximately 4 a.m.

McLain was summonsed for operating under the influence, according to Warden MacCabe.

In Madrid:
A 19-year-old Waymouth, Mass., woman was injured around 2 p.m. today when the track of a snowmobile she was riding as a passenger got caught on a bridge, according to Maine Warden Service Game Warden Kris MacCabe.

Kathryn Lydon was a passenger on a two-person sled being driven by Stephen Rumrill on ITS 84 near Madrid toward Rangeley when they came onto a bridge that was washed out in the middle. Someone had put a tree across that part of the bridge to warn sledders, according to Warden MacCabe.

As Rumrill drove around the tree, the track got caught, and he was able to correct his sled and continue on the trail. Lydon was jolted on the sled, and a short distance from the bridge she began screaming about being hurt.

Phillips Fire and Rescue brought Lydon off the trail. She was transported by NorthStar Ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

Wardens MacCabe and Joshua Smith are investigating the incident.

In Eustis:
Phillip Spang IV, 25, of Cape Porpoise, was injured at approximately 11:15 a.m. today when the snowmobile he was driving hit a ridge of ice on Flagstaff Lake.

According to Maine Warden Service Game Warden Dan Christanson, when Flagstaff Lake is drained, ice settles and forms ridges and depressions.

Mr. Spang was driving towards the lake, hit a drop in the trail, tried to correct his sled but barrel-rolled it three times. He was thrown from the sled the first time it rolled, according to Game Warden Tony Gray.

Mr. Spang experienced a medical condition shortly after the accident, and was transported by LifeFlight to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where he is being evaluated and treated.

Wardens Christanson and Gray are investigating the incident.

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