One Dead, Two Hospitalized in Separate Snowmobile Crashes in Cass County

One person is dead and two others were hospitalized following two separate snowmobile crashes in Cass County over the weekend.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports 65-year-old Mark Plattner of Staples died in a crash near Leader on Saturday afternoon. Sheriff Bryan Welk says Plattner was returning to his home from a snowmobile trip when the track on his snowmobile became dislodged, causing the machine to crash and eject Plattner.

Plattner was wearing a helmet, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Also, on Saturday morning, two people were injured in a snowmobile crash near Nisswa. The Sheriff’s Office reports a 49-year old woman was driving a snowmobile on the Snoflea trail with a 15-year-old boy as a passenger on the machine. The snowmobile left the trail on a curve and struck a tree, causing both to be ejected from the machine.

The boy was airlifted to a St. Cloud hospital with serious injuries. The woman was transported to a Brainerd hospital. Their identities have not been released and their conditions are not known, but both were wearing helmets at the time of the crash.