Posted 2/14/01 N. Branch student dies in snowmobile crash By Cliff Buchan News Editor, Forest Lake Times A snowmobile accident on the Hardwood Creek Trail in Forest Lake Sunday afternoon claimed the life of a North Branch High School sophomore and seriously injured a second youth. According to police reports, Matthew Paul Stoltz, 15, of 220 SW 4th Ave., Forest Lake, was killed when the snowmobile he was driving hit a bump, went out of control and crashed into a chain link fence near the TH-97 trail overpass. A passenger on the snowmobile, Laura Jean Johnson, 13, of Woodville, WI, is in serious condition at Regions Hospital, St. Paul. According to Washington County and Forest Lake law enforcement personnel, the accident happened shortly before 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The Stoltz youth was traveling south on the trail when he apparently lost control and hit the fence. The accident was on the north side of TH-97. Rick Peterson, a Forest Lake police officer, was the first authority on the scene after two snowmobile riders from White Bear Lake found the two youth along the west side of the trail. According to early reports, the two youth were trail riding at the time of the accident on a 1990 Arctic Cat EXT snowmobile. Both were wearing snowmobile helmets, reports said. Police reports said the Stoltz youth was dead at the scene and the Johnson youth was taken by ambulance to Fairview Lakes Regional Medical Center in Wyoming and air lifted to Regions Hospital with internal and head injuries. She was in serious condition on Monday, police reports said. Forest Lake and Washington County officers responded to the call along with a crew from North Ambulance. A half dozen snowmobile riders who came upon the accident provided assistance to officers who climbed the trail bank from Forest Road and used jackets to help keep the victims warm. Washington County continues to head up the investigation because the crash happened on the county trail system. Officers from the Minnesota State Patrol were called in to do a reconstruction of the accident on Monday. Stoltz had only recently moved to Forest Lake. ©Post Review