Coroner IDs snowmobile crash victim as 32-year-old Harvard man

A Harvard man was killed after his snowmobile crashed into a tree Wednesday morning outside Harvard, Harvard Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Don Davidson said.

Harvard fire personnel and the McHenry County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call about 1:05 a.m. in the
4400 block of Pagles Road, according to a news release from the McHenry County Coroner's Office.

McHenry County Coroner Anne Majewski identified the victim as 32-year-old Brandon Shields of Harvard. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday to determine the cause of death.

Davidson said the report came in as a snowmobile crash with an unresponsive victim. It was snowing heavily during the time of the incident, he said.

Shields was wearing a helmet, Majewski said.

A second snowmobiler at the scene took a group of paramedics to the crash site, which was several hundred feet off the roadway, Davidson said.

According to the coroner’s release, the victim’s snowmobile had struck a tree.

An emergency response team was called and pronounced Shields dead at the scene at 2:19 a.m.

Illinois Conservation Officer Ed Cross said conservation police, which have jurisdiction in snowmobile incidents, arrived at the scene about 3:15 a.m. Wednesday. Some of the noticeable injuries Shields suffered included a shattered right leg and a chest injury, Cross said.

The crash remains under investigation by the Illinois Conservation Police.

A visitation and funeral service have been scheduled for Sunday, according to an obituary posted on the Saunders and McFarlin Funeral Home website. The visitation will begin at 1 p.m. and continue until the 4 p.m. funeral, according to the obituary.

Saunders and McFarlin Funeral Home is at 107 W. Summer St., Harvard.