A man has died travelling from Lynn Lake to Pukatawagan by snowmobile. Local RCMP are investigating the man's death.
Lynn Lake RCMP were notified on the morning of Feb. 2 that two men - a 25-year-old man and a 37-year-old man - had left the area to travel to Pukatawagan by sled, but had not arrived. A search party was organized in Pukatawagan and headed north while Lynn Lake RCMP officers headed south, with plans to meet each other along the trail. As the crow flies, the two communities are about 125 kilometres apart. Weather conditions on Feb. 1-2 were considered mild, with no abnormal snowfall, cold weather or wind in the forecast.
When officers headed toward the trail, they found a man walking along the roady suffering from severe hypothermia symptoms. The man was one of the two who had headed out on the trail, the 25-year-old man. He was taken to hospital and officers discovered he had decided to turn back to Lynn Lake, while the other traveller decided to press on to Pukatawagan.
Officers headed back to the trail and met up with the Pukatawagan group, who told RCMP that they had found the second missing man not far away. When RCMP followed the group, they found the 37-year-old man dead near the snowmobile. RCMP have identified the man as a resident of Black Sturgeon Falls and Marcel Colomb First Nation.
RCMP do not suspect any criminality in the man's death, according to a Feb. 4 Manitoba RCMP press release, but are still investigating and an autopsy has been ordered. Lynn Lake RCMP are investigating the death, along the office of Manitoba's Chief Medical Examiner.
