PLAINS — A 17-year-old foreign exchange student at Plains High School died late Sunday evening in a snowmobile accident near a home on Buffalo Bill Road.

Elisabeth Lenes of Harstad, Norway, was spending the year with host family Matt and Dana Diehl of Plains.

Status updates and wall postings on Facebook indicated Lenes’ death was part of a “freak snowmobile accident.” Many fellow students expressed their sorrow for Lenes via Facebook.

Lenes had studied media and communication at her school in Norway prior to coming to the United States.

Her initial American experiences in Sanders County included eating her first American hamburger at The Circle, sightseeing in Thompson Falls and dealing with speaking English while attending school at Plains. She had many local friends who mourn her loss.

Plains High School Superintendent Thom Chisholm issued the following statement regarding Lenes’ death:

“The students, staff, and administration offer their condolences to the student’s family and host family. It is a heart-breaking scenario that everyone finds very difficult to comprehend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and those affected by the painful hurt caused by the passing of our student.”