ROCKWOOD, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A visitor from North Carolina who didn't return home as expected was found dead on a snowmobile trail.
Willard Hartsock from Old Fort, N.C. was 55 years old. He had been staying at a rental property on Lake Street in Rockwood.
When Hartsock was a no show at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, his family called police. The game warden and sheriff's deputy who responded to the call noticed a newly purchased Ski-Doo was missing from its trailer and launched a search of area snowmobile trails.
The search ended at 1 a.m. on Wednesday with the discovery of Hartsock's body on a trail in Taunton and Raynham Academy Grant. Investigators said their observations indicated the snowmobile rolled onto Hartsock when he tried to back it away from a wet spot.
Conditions did not rate highly with game wardens who said light snow cover in the region has kept most riders off the trails so far this season.
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