DALLAS PLANTATION — A 61-year-old man is dead after a snowmobile accident Saturday evening. It marked the third snowmobiler death in Maine this weekend.

Odias Bachelder, 61, of Lang Township was killed at approximately 5:20 p.m. on Interconnecting Trail System 89 when his snowmobile went off the side of the trail and he was ejected, said Sgt. Scott Thrasher, with the Maine Warden Service, on Sunday.

Though he was wearing a helmet, Bachelder sustained fatal, blunt force trauma injuries when he landed in a ditch area. He had been heading toward Rangeley for the Snodeo snowmobile parade, Thrasher said, and was discovered by two snowmobiling companions who were following him.

It appears that Bachelder was traveling too fast for the conditions, Thrasher said.

“We believe he was thrown from the snowmobile, and then the snowmobile hit a small embankment causing it to continue down the trail,” he said. The machine sustained serious damage.

There were extra rescue personnel in the area because of the snowmobile event. Nine members of the warden service, plus Rangeley fire and rescue personnel, responded. The crash scene was about a mile from Route 16.

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The Office of the State Medical Examiner will determine an official cause of death.

“Until we get more snow, many snowmobile trails are rough in places, and riders need to keep their speed down and always stay in control,” Thrasher said.

Bachelder was one of three people killed Saturday in snowmobiling accidents in Maine, and the warden service is stressing the need for people to travel safely. There were also four reports of men being injured in snowmobiling accidents this weekend.

“As always, never drive beyond the capabilities of you or your machine, and never drink and drive. Always tell someone where you plan to ride and when you will return. Ice conditions across Maine remain inconsistent and dangerous and the lack of snow has made for poor trail conditions for the majority of the State,” Game Warden Major Greg Sanborn said in a release on Sunday.

The other two fatal crashes this weekend were in Hancock and Penobscot counties.

Matthew Divello, 49, of Mariaville, was recovered from Graham Lake in Mariaville on Saturday afternoon after he failed to return home from snowmobiling, according to a release from Cpl. John MacDonald, with the warden service.

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After pilot Charlie Later and Warden Dave Simmons spotted a snowmobile helmet in the ice near Eagle Island, the warden dive team was called out. They found Divello around 1:45 p.m., within minutes of entering the icy water.

Also on Saturday, Mark Roux, 56, of Lee, was killed while operating his snowmobile on Bill Green Pond in Lee around 11:45 p.m. He crashed into a heavily wooded section of the shoreline and was pronounced dead while en route to Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln.

Roux was wearing a helmet and had been riding with his son, Paul Roux, of Auburn, according to MacDonald.

There were also four snowmobile crashes resulting in injuries. They happened in T4 R8 and Medway, both in Penobscot County; Monson, in Piscataquis County; and Shapleigh, in York County.

Erin Rhoda — 612-2368

erhoda@centralmaine.com


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