On Friday, law enforcement identified the man killed when a commercial transport vehicle broke through the ice in the Northwest Angle near Flag Island on Lake of the Woods.
Wisconsin man, 78, drowns in Lake of the Woods accident
A Prairie du Sac man was identified as a passenger in the commercial tracked vehicle that broke through the ice Thursday.
December 30, 2023 at 12:07AM
John F. Frey, 78, of Prairie du Sac, Wis., drowned when a tracked vehicle, known commonly as a Bombardier or "bomber," carrying him, six other passengers, and a driver went through the ice about 8 a.m. Thursday.
The bomber was en route to a fishing location when it crashed through about 12 inches of ice and began to sink in about 10 feet of water. The Lake of the Woods County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Friday that the driver, along with a nearby party, began getting passengers out of the vehicle "until the cold water prohibited their continued efforts."
Seven of the eight people onboard were able to escape. A Cass County dive team recovered Frey's body from the vehicle Thursday afternoon.
Bombers are used to haul customers to and from fish houses away from shore.
An investigation of the accident is continuing, the Sheriff's Office said.
Frey's drowning is the second ice-related death this winter in Minnesota. An Osage man, 67, died after breaking through the ice with his ATV on Big Toad Lake, east of Detroit Lakes. Authorities found his body Dec. 23.
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