Sad News...UPDATE

Ricky's friend's(Charlie) sister passed away this weekend. She was on a snowmobile with Charlie's 9 year old daughter, and crashed, and passed away instantly. Fortunately Charlie's daughter is okay with a broken ankle. The mother leaves behind an 11 year old and 14 year old.

Please say a prayer for their family.

TIA.


Update: Article in newspaper

Mom dies on snowmobile as husband, 2 sons watch
Monday, February 20, 2006
By JOHN ANNESE and MICHELLE MASKALY
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

A Tottenville hairdresser died during a vacation in Pennsylvania after the snowmobile she was driving veered out of control and crashed into a tree as her husband and two sons watched.

Lisa M. Schmidt, 44, and her 9-year-old niece, Gianna Muli, were riding a snowmobile on Saturday at the Woodloch Pines Resort in Hawley, Pa. (about 25 miles east of Scranton, Pa.), when she veered off the resort's course, flew over an embankment and hit the tree.

'She came careening in front of me,' said her husband, William Schmidt, sobbing as he spoke. 'I tried to give her mouth to mouth. I couldn't do anything for her.'


She was pronounced dead later in the day at Wayne Memorial Hospital, Honesdale, Pa.

Gianna was tossed clear of the snowmobile just before it went over the embankment, said Cpl. John Clader of the Pennsylvania State Police Bloomingrove Station.

'She was thrown like a rag doll,' Schmidt said. At first, the family thought the young girl might have broken a leg, but an X-ray revealed she ended up with deep bruises instead, he said.

Clader said he's still investigating how the crash happened.

Eight family members went on the weekend snowmobile trip, arriving at Woodloch on Friday night, while a ninth, Kerri Muli, Lisa's sister, was scheduled to arrive later on Saturday, Schmidt said.

On Saturday morning, the group -- William and Lisa Schmidt, their children, Billy, 14, and Christopher, 11., Lisa's mother, Rae Muli, her brother, Charles Muli, and Charles' two children, Gianna and Christian -- went out on four snowmobiles.

Each of the four children rode on the back of one of the adult's vehicles, Schmidt said.

'He's tortured with it -- my older son,' said Schmidt. Billy was riding on his dad's snowmobile when the accident happened.

Christopher, meanwhile, is old enough to understand what happened, but because he's surrounded by supportive family members, the 'magnitude' likely hasn't sunk in yet, Schmidt said.

Mrs. Schmidt, an outdoor enthusiast, had ridden on snowmobiles before, at her second home in Brant Lake, N.Y., and during several trips to Lake George, her husband said.

But because the weather was so warm, the snowmobile course was limited to a small, circular area, Mr. Schmidt said, and the area off the track was 'all ice,' he said.

Bob Kiesendahl, one of Woodloch's owners, said the resort is also looking into the crash.

Kiesendahl said he wasn't aware of any problems with the snowmobile -- which belonged to the resort -- or the course itself, he said.

He wouldn't comment further about the details of the crash 'out of respect for the family.'

'The entire Woodloch family and staff would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family of Mrs. Schmidt,' he said.

The family-owned resort had never seen a fatal snowmobile crash before Saturday, Keisiendahl said.

'Our hearts are ripped out as well,' he said. 'This is certainly the last thing anyone wants or expects to happen.'

Still, Schmidt wonders if the snowmobile malfunctioned.

'It just jetted and she couldn't stop it, and it went off the course,' he said. 'I'm going to wind up sitting down and thinking about what my options are.'