TRAVERSE CITY -- Three separate snowmobile accidents killed three people in northern Lower Michigan.
Weekend crashes in Cheboygan County and Wexford County resulted in the deaths of Norman Andrew Pavwoski of Cheboygan and Kellie Ann Whitmill, 36, of Ortonville. A snowmobiler also died in Leelanau County.
The Cheboygan driver died at the Cheboygan hospital from injuries suffered when the snowmobile he operated ran off Crump Road in Cheboygan County's Munro Township Friday, according to a report from the county sheriff department. The sled struck several trees, police said.
A crash around noon on Saturday in Wexford County's South Branch Township killed another snowmobile driver. The crash occurred on M-55 where a Department of Natural Resources trail crosses the road.
Whitmill failed to yield the right of way to a vehicle travelling on M-55 and was struck by the car, said a report from the Cadillac post of the Michigan State Police. She was taken to Mercy Hospital in Cadillac and later died from her injuries, police said.
The driver of the vehicle was not hurt, troopers said.
A 40-year-old Empire man died Sunday at the scene of a snowmobile accident at the Empire Township airport runway in Leelanau County. The sheriff's office did not release the man's name and continued to investigate the incident.
