Snowmobiler found dead in shanty, man charged with stealing machine

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jim McGuire

The snowmobile accident that led to the death of a Broadalbin man occurred late Sunday night or early Monday morning near Vandenburg Point, Fulton County Sheriff Thomas J. Lorey said today.

And deputies have charged a Mayfield man with stealing the snowmobile after its rider wandered away from the accident.

Lorey said Shawn M. Simboli, 49, had departed a Broadalbin tavern earlier in the night and was apparently traveling at a high rate of speed when he hit an ice ridge in the lake. When his sled landed, Lorey said, the ice gave way and Simboli was fully submerged in the cold water.

His body was found late Monday afternoon nearly two miles away in an ice shanty in Sunset Bay. Lorey said Simboli was apparently disoriented and walked the distance, passing hundreds of inhabited houses along the shoreline.

The owner of the shanty discovered the body about 4:30 p.m., Lorey said, as he arrived for a brief fishing outing. About that same time, Lorey said, friends of Simboli, who found snowmobile debris at the accident scene, were following Simboli’s footprints and came upon the shanty.

While Simboli was wandering around the lake, Lorey said, Jacob E. Conyne, 23, of Second Avenue, Mayfield, discovered Simboli’s wrecked 2006 Yamaha snowmobile and used a pickup truck to haul the snowmobile from the lake and take it to Mayfield. Lorey said it was determined after Simboli’s body was discovered that Conyne had the snowmobile.

Conyne was charged this afternoon with felony third-degree grand larceny and is being held at the sheriff’s office while the investigation continues.

An autopsy will determine whether Simboli, a local carpenter, was disoriented from hypothermia or whether he was also injured in the accident, Lorey said.

Simboli had been riding with friends earlier on Sunday night, but he became separated and was apparently riding alone when the accident occurred, Lorey said. Simboli’s girlfriend reported him missing about noon Monday, Lorey said.