Excessive speed causes another snowmobile fatality

ONOTA TOWNSHIP – One man is dead after he lost control of his snowmobile Thursday afternoon in Alger County.

The Alger County Sheriff’s Office was called to a snowmobile crash site at 5:15 p.m. on the north side of Trail 417, which sits 100 yards west of Deerton Road. 44-year-old Jeffrey Togstad from Weyauwega, Wisconsin was pronounced dead at the scene.

Togstad was traveling with a group of four snowmobiles on their way to Marquette, when he lost control of his 2015 Ski-Doo. Police found that Togstad lost control of his machine on a bridge crossing the Laughing Whitefish River. Togstad hit a depression in the snow, sending his snowmobile into the air. He was then separated from his snowmobile, sending him into a group of small trees.

Excessive speed is said to be a contributing factor in this accident, which remains under investigation at this time. The Onota Township Fire Department, Michigan DNR and Michigan State Police assisted at the scene.

This is the second fatal snowmobile accident in Alger County this week. Just after 9 p.m. Tuesday, 45–year–old Donald Stagner of New Lenox, Illinois, was traveling on Trail #7 in Au Train Township when he was unable to negotiate a corner. His machine left the trail and hit a tree. Stagner was also pronounced dead at the scene.