ATVer Found Dead

[Safari Guy]

Cops seek help in mysterious death Man found frozen, naked last month
By RENATO GANDIA, SUN MEDIA

Lorne Allan McKenzie, 39, was last seen on the night of Nov. 15, travelling on an ATV, pictured below, away from the Lakeshore Inn at Buck Lake, 151 km southwest of Edmonton. (Supplied)
The mystery has deepened in the death of a man whose frozen and naked body was found last month in a field near Winfield.
Investigators are now saying that Lorne Allan McKenzie, 39, was last seen on the night of Nov. 15, travelling on an ATV away from the Lakeshore Inn at Buck Lake, 151 km southwest of Edmonton.

Mackenzie’s blue 2003 Yamaha 600 Grizzly quad with licence plate YT177 remains missing.

He was seen leaving the inn with another man, each on separate quads.

Police have spoken to the other man but he is not a suspect, said Cpl. Wayne Oakes.

McKenzie was at the Lakeshore Inn briefly, said manager Pauline Graham.

Graham said her staff told her McKenzie came in, had two drinks and then left.

“He wasn’t a regular at all. He just moved into the area shortly before this happened,” Graham added.

Two men were out on quads on Dec. 20, tracking cougars when they made the grisly find near Highway 13 and Range Road 53.

Jesse Torkelson told Sun Media last month that the corpse appeared to have been there for quite a while.

“We were out in the middle of nowhere pretty much,” said Torkelson.

He and his buddy saw a couple of crows or ravens and they decided to check out the spot.

“We went to see what they were after and there’s a human body lying there.”

Torkelson said there were no signs pointing to how the man ended up there.

“There were no tracks in the snow and nothing around,” he said.

Wildlife had gotten to the body, which was covered in snow and “frozen stiff,” he added. “It was a little disturbing,” said Torkelson, who called police immediately.

An autopsy was conducted Dec. 27 but investigators are still waiting for the results of forensic tests.

Meanwhile, cops are asking for the public’s assistance in locating the missing quad.

Anyone who saw McKenzie on the night leading up to his death or anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing four wheeler is asked to contact Breton RCMP at (780) 696-3520 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

renato.gandia@sunmedia.ca