Investigators say a 19-year-old snowboarder who died Monday at Dodge Ridge Ski Resort likely suffocated in fresh powder.
Aline Christina Martins was reported missing by her brother after the two separated. A Tuolumne County sheriff's spokesman told KCRA she likely suffocated but an autopsy is pending.
According to reports, Martins fell into a tree-well, a dangerous void of loose snow, after a weekend of storms dumped several feet at the resort. The Dodge Ridge ski patrol found Martins after about an hour of searching and attempted to resuscitate her.
Dodge Ridge is 30 miles east of Sonora in Tuolumne County inside the Stanislaus National Forest.
