BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 16, 2026
Leanne Tapley of Island Falls had traveled to Moosehead Lake with family for a weekend ice fishing trip. She and her husband have ice fished for years, but it was their first time on the lake. They planned to stay overnight on the ice to fish for cusk, a species more active at night. Around 1 a.m. Sunday, Tapley drove toward shore to use an outhouse near the boat landing. On the way back to the fishing shack, she shifted slightly left of her original path to avoid a slushy area. She heard a crack and the truck immediately dropped through the ice before stopping with the waterline just below the window. Her husband rushed from their nearby fishing shack. He carefully approached the truck and grabbed her hand to help her jump safely onto the ice. “Will I be driving a truck on the ice? No, absolutely not.”