Tyler Beckham, 12-29-07

Teen killed in fall from snowmachine

By BETH BRAGG, December 30th, 2007

A Wasilla teenager who troopers say was highmarking at Turnagain Pass was killed Saturday afternoon when he was thrown off his snowmachine and fell 50 feet into a ravine. Tyler Beckham, 16, was dead by the time Alaska State Troopers arrived, trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

Beckham was with friends, Peters said, but none of them saw what happened.

"His friends noticed he was missing and they went to look for him," she said. "When they found him, he didn't have a pulse."

Troopers believe Beckham hit the ravine, was tossed over the windshield of his Polaris and then was struck by the machine.

Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4309.