Fatal ORV Accident & Missing Person Search
Two stories out of Keweenaw County over the weekend — one with a happy ending, the other ending in tragedy.
On Sunday, 49-year-old William Laurn of Hancock told his wife he’d be right back and then went to check on his property in the Hebard area along the Gay–Mohawk Road.
After waiting at the car for two hours, his wife called 911 to report her husband missing.
Search and rescue teams scoured the area Laurn was last seen in, using a K–9 unit and DNR Air Support.
Laurn was found near Thayers Road around 8:30 pm.
He said he got turned around while looking for a deer blind and walked for several hours hoping to find his way out of the woods.
Other than being very tired, Laurn was in good condition and needed no medical attention.
On the other side of the peninsula, however, events turned out quite differently.
The Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Department responded to an emergency call just before 4 am on Sunday.
When they arrived, they found an ORV accident involving two teenagers.
19–year–old Jordon Roberts was traveling east on Lakeshore Road near Tamarack Waterworks when he lost control of the vehicle and ran off the road, striking some trees.
Roberts died at the scene.
A passenger on the ORV, 19–year–old Dillon Kupari, was treated at Portage Health and released.
Neither victim was wearing a helmet.
Speed and alcohol are believed to be factors in the accident, which remains under investigation.
Posted by: Mike Hoey