UPDATED VSP briefs: Skier fatality, death investigation, wrong-way driver, accidental shooting

March 29, 2026 | By Waterbury Roundabout 

Vermont State Police say they don’t believe the death of a male skier at Sugarbush Resort on Saturday is suspicious. 

Police were called just before 3:30 to the Lincoln Peak section of the Mad River Valley ski area in Warren for a skier found unresponsive. A report from Detective Trooper Robert Lemnah explains that the skier apparently died after a fall on Stein’s Run, where he landed off the trail in a wooded area. Ski patrol members found the man who was unresponsive and brought him to the base of the mountain, where they were met by a Mad River Valley Ambulance crew. 

The skier was pronounced deceased due to his injuries, police said. An autopsy will be done at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington to determine the cause and manner of death. Police said they were withholding the victim’s name pending notification of next of kin.

This post will be updated when more information becomes available.

Public’s help sought in Middlesex death investigation 

Vermont State Police are seeking the public’s help with investigating the death of a man found deceased in a vehicle at the park and ride lot near Interstate 89 Exit 9 in Middlesex on Wednesday. 

The man has been identified as 42-year-old Ryan Lamery from Williamstown, according to police. 

Troopers were called around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, to the public parking lot where Lamery was found unresponsive. The man was in a black Honda del Sol with the Vermont license plate “MOUSEY.” 

Police say that the death does not appear to be suspicious. The cause and manner of death will be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, police said. 

Investigators are asking for the public’s help for any information about this case, such as any individuals seen with Lamery or the vehicle between Monday and Wednesday, March 23-25.

Contact the state police at the Berlin barracks at 802-229-9191 or submit a tip online at vermont.gov/prevention/tipsubmit. 

Driver travels wrong way more than 4 miles on I-89

Not long after midnight Saturday morning, a wrong-way driver was stopped on Interstate 89 after traveling about four miles between Berlin and Middlesex, according to Vermont State Police. 

Troopers responded after getting called at 12:37 a.m. about a wrong-way driver northbound in the southbound lanes of I-89 near mile marker 51.8 in Berlin. 

The vehicle was safely stopped near mile marker 56 in Middlesex, according to Trooper Katie Finn from the Berlin barracks. 

The driver was identified as Nolan Valkyrie, age 21 of Starksboro, who was taken into custody and cited to appear in Washington Superior Court Criminal Division on June 25 to answer to the charges of gross negligent operation and driving under the influence. 

Police said Anytime Towing assisted with towing Valkyre’s vehicle. 

Police say Moretown shooting injury an accident  

State police and Waterbury Ambulance responded on Friday evening to what was determined to be an accidental shooting at a home in Moretown.

According to a report by Detective Sgt. Dan Trottier, troopers and EMS responded to a 911 call at approximately 7:30 p.m. for an individual with a gunshot wound. 

They responded to a home on U.S. Rt. 2 and determined that Luc Provencher, 22, of Moretown, experienced an accidental discharge from a handgun, resulting in a gunshot wound to his leg. 

One other individual was present at the scene, Trottier said. Provencher was transported to UVM Medical Center for treatment of the non-life-threatening injury. No charges are expected to be filed as a result of this incident.