Wheeling man in snowmobile accident identified

A 53-year-old Wheeling man died Sunday night after his snowmobile plunged into open water on partially frozen Lake Geneva in Wisconsin.

The Walworth County medical examiner on Monday identified the victim as Mark G. Reninger.

Another snowmobiler, a 49-year-old Long Grove man, managed to jump off his own snowmobile before it, too, went into the water.

The survivor - whom authorities have not yet identified - was hospitalized only briefly as a precaution against hypothermia, said Conservation Warden Juan Gomez of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Reninger was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

According to Gomez, the survivor said the two men had ridden from Fontana to Lake Geneva on their snowmobiles and mistakenly believed they were following the same frozen track on their return.

In fact, their return route was several hundred yards from the path they'd followed on their outward journey, Gomez said.

The survivor told authorities he was able to avoid going into the lake by accelerating over the patch of open water and jumping off his snowmobile onto an ice sheet, Gomez said.

Both vehicles would have plunged 110 to 130 feet at the depth of the lake at that point, Gomez said.

First responders received the call from the surviving man at 9:02 p.m. Sunday. He was picked up on the lake in-between Williams Bay and the Lake Geneva Yacht Club.

Reninger lived in the Arlington Club condominium complex for about the past 10 years, according to his neighbor Stacey Thompson.

Reninger had a small terrier named Bandit and was often seen walking the dog in the neighborhood. In warmer weather, Reninger spent time hanging out in his garage, kind of like a "man cave," Thompson said. At one time, Reninger had a motorcycle.

Thompson said Reninger often went up to Lake Geneva in both the winter and summer.

"He was a pleasant neighbor," Thompson said. "It's shocking. It's like life turns on a dime."

Agencies that assisted in the recovery of the body included the volunteer fire departments of the Town of Linn, Williams Bay and Delavan, which provided a hovercraft. An airboat was sent from the Fox Lake (Illinois) Fire Department. The Walworth County sheriff's office in Wisconsin also assisted.

This was the sixth snowmobile fatality of the season in the area, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Gomez urged all snowmobile riders to check conditions before embarking on an outing.

"It is recommended to make contact with those in the community to check current ice conditions before venturing out on the lake," he said.