The good news is that five men listed as lost on their snow machines somewhere between Greenville, Maine and Bingham, Maine were located back at the hotel in Bingham where they had been staying. The bad news is much of that search was completely unnecessary.
Lee Mazzola, 51, of Marlborough, N.Y., James Mannese, 50, of Milton, N.Y., Joseph Mannese, James’ son, 28, of Milton, N.Y., Robert Lattimore, 43, of Newburgh, N.Y. and Timothy Roberts, 49, of Marlborough, N.Y., left their hotel in Bingham announcing they were going riding and told nobody where they were going – mistake number one.
The ended up at a bar in Greenville, some 30 miles away as the crow flies, much further by snowmobile trail. The Maine Warden Service reported that one of the men called a family member from the bar in Greenville, using a cell phone, and told them they were drinking – mistake number two. (drinking and riding)
Later that night, one of the lost riders called two acquaintances that were staying at the same hotel in Bingham and told them they were lost and low on fuel.
According to the latest information released by the Maine Warden Service, here’s what they believe happened.
According to Sgt. Simmons, the men left the Moosehead Lake area and headed south on an ITS trail. They missed a turn that leads to Forks and Bingham, but made it to where the trail crosses Route 154 near Harmony around 3 a.m. The men’s snowmobiles were out of gas, and they waited along the road hoping to flag down someone for help. A motorist stopped, but the men noticed a lodge down the road and decided to walk down to it. There were two rooms left, and the men checked in for the night.
Earlier today, the men fueled up their snowmobiles and headed back towards the Bingham hotel. They arrived around 2:30 p.m. Sgt. Simmons was at the hotel and spoke with the men about snowmobile safety.
It simply blows my mind that five grown men between the ages of 28 and 51, after having called people to tell them they were lost, could not make one more phone call to report their location once they made it either to route 154 or at least at the lodge where they found refuge.
From 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Friday, searchers in a snow storm spent valuable time and resources searching for five men who, during much of that time, was hunkered down at a Harmony lodge cutting some ZZZZZs, with nary a consideration to place one more phone call to report they were all right.
I hope Sgt. Simmons did more than “speak” with the men about snowmobile safety and issues them a nice hefty bill to pay for the cost of search and rescue.
Tom Remington
