EDMONTON—Rimbey RCMP are investigating a fatal snowmobile crash that killed a 25-year-old Alberta woman on March 25.
The woman, whose name has not been released by police, was snowmobiling on one vehicle, while her husband and two friends were travelling on two other snowmobiles, at approximately 4:30 p.m. local time on Saturday afternoon on the Blindman River, near Township Road 441 and Range Road 15.
The area is northeast of Rimbey, which is approximately 140 kilometers from Edmonton. The female driver of the snowmobile, a resident of Bluffton, Alberta, struck a long, intertwined steel cable that extended across the river, which is more like a creek, according to police.
EMS and the Ponoko County Fire Department responded to the incident, and the woman was airlifted by STARS air ambulance to the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton. She did not survive her injuries.
RCMP Troy Savinkoff said the braided cable had “been there for some time.” He indicated the RCMP have no reason to believe the cable was placed deliberately to injure someone and was “not meant to be a trap.”
He said that while it was not deliberate, there could be criminal neglect involved, and Rimbey RCMP, the force’s traffic analyst, and major crimes unit are continuing to investigate the “tragic incident.”
RCMP would like to speak to any member of the public with information on “who could have installed that steel cable across the river.”
Savinkoff said the cable was one-quarter inch thick, placed “a few feet off the ground, at least at chest height,” and affixed to both sides of the river.
While the police are considering whether the cable had an agricultural or commercial purpose, Savinkoff said they did not want to speculate while their investigation was underway on why the cable was there.
He said that by all indications, the victim never saw the cable before she was injured and killed.
Police are asking anyone with information about the steel cable or the collision to call Rimbey RCMP at 403-843-2224. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.P3Tips.com.
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