Multiple fish house retrievals in December

Contributed photo
Tri-State Diving anchored a 4-wheeler to a tree and used a winch to pull the fish house up onto the ice of Crystal Lake. One of the crew is standing on the bottom of the lake and lifting the hitch up.

Jerry Keith Buhr, 67, of Toad Lake (Osage) died after going through the ice on Big Toad Lake on an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), according to the Becker County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office received a report around 2 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 23, of a man who had not returned home from ice fishing near his residence on Big Toad Lake, 18 miles east of Detroit Lakes.

Buhr left his residence on West Toad Lake Drive the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 22, driving an ATV to his fish house on Big Toad Lake. 

After not returning home after several hours, along with unanswered phone calls and messages, the missing male’s wife contacted the male’s brother to assist in locating her husband. 

After the brother located a crack in the ice with open water, she contacted the Sheriff’s Office for assistance. 

Deputies and emergency personnel from the Wolf Lake Fire Department and Detroit Lakes Fire Department responded with personal flotation gear and the Sheriff’s airboat. 

At approximately 3:22 a.m., personnel on the airboat located the victim and ATV, which was upside down, in approximately 4 to 5 feet of water. The victim was taken to the ambulance where he was later pronounced deceased. 

Wolf Lake Rescue and Essentia-St. Mary’s EMS also assisted at the scene. 

Two children involved in UTV incident

The Becker County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a rollover crash, involving a side-by-side Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV), on Friday, Dec. 22, at approximately 10:59 a.m., near the address of 27998 County Hwy. 9, north of Lake Park. 

It was reported that a 4-year-old male had been injured in the crash and was being transported to the hospital by a private vehicle. 

The vehicle with the victim was intercepted in Lake Park by officers and emergency personnel. Due to heavy fog, an air ambulance was unable to fly. The victim was then transported to a Fargo hospital by ambulance with potential life-threatening injuries. 

The victim was a passenger on a UTV driven by his six-year-old brother. The UTV, a Kubota RTV900, was traveling on a gravel drive on private property when it left the road and rolled into a ditch. Neither occupant was wearing a helmet. 

The Lake Park Police Department, Lake Park Rescue, Callaway Police Department and St. Mary’s-Essentia EMS assisted the Becker County Sheriff’s Office. 

The incident remains under investigation. 

Ice issues on area lakes

Tri-State Diving out of Detroit Lakes reported multiple ATV and fish house retrievals due to unstable ice conditions in December.

The Dive team retrieved a Polaris 4-wheeler from 18-feet down on Crystal Lake in Otter Tail County on Dec. 23, along with a fish house recovery on Little Cormorant Lake in Becker County. A spearing house was recovered on Dec. 12 from Norway Lake near Underwood. 

According to Gary Thompson of Tri-State, crews have been out on two more recoveries with six more scheduled.