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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Snowmobiler dies in avalanche in SW Montana

Associated Press
BOZEMAN, Mont. — One snowmobiler died and two others suffered minor injuries in an avalanche in southwestern Montana, marking the fourth death in the region in a week. Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin says the three were snowmobiling in the Portal Creek area south of Bozeman late Wednesday afternoon when they were caught in the slide. Gootkin says a man in his 40s was buried. Searchers planned to return to the area Thursday to recover his body. His name hasn’t been released. Three other people have died in avalanches in Wyoming and Colorado over the past week. Skier Mike Kazanjy of Santa Ana, Calif., and snowmobiler Rex Anderson of Arco, Idaho, died in separate avalanches near Jackson, Wyo., on Dec. 26. Another person died Tuesday in a slide north of Granby, Colo.