Emergency services respond to two fatalities over weekend

It was a difficult weekend for Cook County emergency responders, starting with a search for an overdue skier in Grand Marais and ending with a response to a snowmobile accident in Schroeder. Unfortunately, both incidents were fatal.

On Saturday, March 7 at approximately 4:55 pm, Cook County Sheriff’s Office 911 dispatchers received a report of an overdue skier, David McCarthy, age 60, from Onalaska, Wisconsin. The reporting party said he was skiing in the Pincushion Ski Area in Grand Marais.
 
Cook County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Search & Rescue, North Shore Health ambulance, Grand Marais First Responders, and US Forest Service law enforcement responded, establishing a staging area at Pincushion and initiated a search.
 
During the course of the search, the party was found deceased.
 
An autopsy will be completed at the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death. There were no signs of trauma or suspicious activity.
 
No further information is available at this time.
 
On Sunday, March 8 at approximately 9:51 am, sheriff’s office dispatchers received a report of a snowmobile accident on the North Shore State Trail in the area south of the Temperance River Road in Schroeder.
 
Cook County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Search & Rescue, North Shore Health ambulance, Tofte First Responders, and US Forest Service law enforcement responded.
 
Initial reports were that the victim, a 63-year-old Lisa Schmitz from Mankato, Minnesota, was having trouble breathing. CPR was started and continued by emergency responders until they were advised by a doctor from North Shore Health to stop at approximately 10:46 a.m.
 
The woman was wearing a helmet.
 
The accident will be investigated by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and an autopsy will be completed at the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death.
 
No further information is available at this time.