The identity of a snowmobiler found lying on Highway 371 Sunday, Feb. 24, was released by the Minnesota State Patrol Monday.
Suffering life-threatening injuries in the incident was Vicki Lynn Gleason, 69, of Waterville. According to a state patrol spokesman, Gleason was riding a 2012 Yamaha snowmobile on a snowmobile trail running alongside Highway 371, near the intersection with County Highway 29 and County Road 107, or Wilderness Road, north of Nisswa.
When approaching a snowmobile bridge spanning a wetland area, Gleason saw another snowmobile on the bridge and was unable to cross, the state patrol reported. Gleason veered to the left into Highway 371 and ended up in the left northbound lane. Then, the snowmobile moved back to the right shoulder, where Gleason attempted to rejoin the snowmobile trail. At that point, Gleason's snowmobile struck a hard-packed snowbank, the state patrol reported, and caused her to flip over.
An off-duty state trooper found Gleason lying on the highway at 4:46 p.m. Gleason, who wore a helmet, suffered a serious head injury and was airlifted to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. The condition of the victim was unavailable Monday night.
The left lane of southbound Highway 371 was closed for a time to allow emergency vehicles to access the site. Assisting at the scene were the Pequot Lakes and Nisswa police departments, the Nisswa Fire Department and North Memorial Ambulance.
