Snowmobile Accident Kills Whitley County Man
A Columbia City man was killed early this morning in a snowmobile accident in Whitley County.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers and emergency personnel were called at approximately 1:45 a.m. to the 2000 block of West CR 200 North.
Whitley County Sheriff’s Department deputies said two men, including the victim, Justin Hinen, 21, of Columbia City, were riding snowmobiles along the road when Hinen veered off into a field and hit a wire fence. The fence struck him in the neck. Whitley County Coroner Randy Dellinger pronounced Hinen dead at the scene.
Dellinger said he believes the official cause of death will show Hinen died as a result of blunt force trauma.
The accident remains under investigation by the IDNR and the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department.