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Elderly man dies on lake ice in Iron County

IRON RIVER, MI--   An Iron River man has died in an ice fishing accident on Chicagon Lake. 

The family of Albert Melchiori, 87, contacted the Iron County Sheriff Tuesday night, saying he hadn’t returned after going out fishing Monday evening.  Deputies found Melchiori’s truck at a camp along the shoreline where he accessed his ice shanty by ORV.  The county Search and Rescue Unit scoured the shore line in the dark, but had to call off the search until Wednesday morning. 

A Coast Guard helicopter was called in, and after a short flight it spotted Melchiori’s ORV under the ice about a quarter-mile from his truck.  Melchiori was found deceased on the ice about 150 yards from the ORV.  Police believe he’d become disoriented by heavy fog and driven his ORV on unsafe ice. 

Nicole was born near Detroit but has lived in the U.P. most of her life. She graduated from Marquette Senior High School and attended Michigan State and Northern Michigan Universities, graduating from NMU in 1993 with a degree in English.