Two Wisconsin wardens find body of Minnesota snowmobiler
Wardens find body in St. Croix River; missing for 2 months
April 22, 2013
By: Joanne M. Haas/Bureau of Law Enforcement
Two Wisconsin wardens discovered the body of a missing Minnesota snowmobiler Saturday afternoon while motoring along that state's shoreline of the St. Croix River.
WDIO-TV, of Duluth, Minn., reports today the Pine County Sheriff's Office of Minnesota says the body has been identified by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office as 43-year-old James Harlan Frentress. Frentress had been missing since February 16, the day the snowmobile he was on broke through the ice about four miles north of the Soderbeck River landing. Authorities found the snowmobile that night, but were unable to find Frentress due to then-dangerous river conditions.
Regional Warden Dave Zebro of the Wis. Department of Natural Resources' Northern Region said the National Park Service called upon the Wisconsin wardens to assist in the search for the missing man. Wardens Chris Spaight, based in Grantsburg, and Shaun Tyznik, based in Amery, responded to the call.
Zebro said the wardens first tried dragging the river area for the body. After that proved unsuccessful, the two wardens then took the boat and traveled slowly along the Minnesota shoreline. "The body was recovered at 3:47 p.m. and turned over to Pine County for their investigation," he said.
WDIO reports the Pine County Sheriff's Office had been planning a large search for Frentress' body later this week.