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Man falls through ice, makes it to cabin, dies at hospital

UNION FALLS – A local man died Monday after falling through ice on Union Falls Pond.

Gregory Manchester, 59, lived in the Union Falls area of the town of Franklin and was pronounced dead Monday afternoon at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, according to Lt. William Williams of the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Williams said Manchester went out ice fishing in a UTV (utility task vehicle) Sunday on Union Falls Pond. Authorities don’t know what time he fell through the ice.

On Monday morning, when he hadn’t returned from that outing, an unidentified person alerted forest rangers, who requested the aid of a state police helicopter to search the pond because they believed ice conditions were unsafe.

The helicopter crew located a partially submerged UTV, and rangers found a set of footprints leading from the ice on the west side of the pond to a nearby seasonal cabin on Rock Street in the town of Franklin. Rangers looked into the cabin and saw Manchester lying on the floor, unconscious. He was wet, cold and unresponsive.

Rangers started life-saving measures, which were continued throughout the ambulance transport to the hospital, where Manchester was pronounced dead by Dr. Matthew Morgan. An autopsy was scheduled for this morning.

State environmental conservation officers and members of the Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad were also involved with the response.

It’s a warm winter, and with daily high temperatures in the 50s, lake ice is breaking up much earlier than usual.

“People need to have more respect for Mother Nature,” said Ron Keough, who has been a Franklin County coroner since 1960 and handled this case. “It seems to happen every year, and I’ve seen too much of it.”

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