Cause unknown in snowmobile crash that killed S. Elgin man

Wisconsin authorities are piecing together the cause of a snowmobile crash over the weekend that killed a 39-year-old South Elgin man and a Racine couple.

Scott J. Sumoski of South Elgin was pronounced dead at the scene Saturday in Arbor Vitae, along with Jennifer and Nathan Kender, both 26, and from Racine.

"I don't know if we're ever going to know exactly how it occurred," said Tim Ebert, a conservation warden with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which is investigating the crash at occurred at about 10 a.m. "There were no witnesses to the accident that we're aware of."

The crash took place on Vandercook Road, about four miles north of Buckhorn Road.

Tom Wrasse, a WDNR conservation warden supervisor, said Sumoski was wearing a helmet even though it is not required by state law. He was unsure on how the snowmobiles collided, but noted it was not a broadside collision.

"Visibility was fine. It wasn't like a white-out or anything. (It was) good, daylight conditions," Wrasse said.

Ebert said one of Sumoski's friends was riding behind him on a separate snowmobile but was not close enough to see the crash.

The Vilas County Coroner's office performed an autopsy on Sumoski Monday afternoon. Results were not immediately available and messages with the office were not returned. Whether drugs are alcohol were involved in the crash will not be known until blood samples are returned.

Sumoski was staying with friends at a cabin in Wisconsin, authorities said. His death came as a shock to friends and family members.

"I love him and miss him," said Sumoski's father, Alex, of Genoa, when contacted by telephone. "That's all I can say right now."

Funeral arrangements are pending.