Suit filed in Sorenson death
Hungry Horse News | UPDATED 6 months AGO
Cody Sorenson rides Outlaw in the backcountry in this photo provided by his family.
The mother of a young Coram man who died of carbon monoxide poisoning while tending his stock at a ranch has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the ranch owner.
The suit filed earlier this month by Bilynda Jassman in Flathead County District Court alleges that Lynn Ann Mackie of the Flying Eagle Ranch in Coram was negligent in the Jan. 14, 2024 death of Cody Hunter Sorenson.
Sorenson, who was trying to get an outfitting and guiding business going, was leasing a lot on the property and was pasturing about 15 head of horses in the winter of 2024 and was living in a recreational vehicle.
On Jan. 14, as a snowstorm pounded the area, Sorenson, 24, had to haul water from the spring at Berne Park up to the animals, as he didn’t have running water. He started a fire near the water tanks and then tended it to keep them from freezing, as temperatures dropped to 30 below zero and wind chills were 50 below zero Fahrenheit.
He went into a pickup truck and laid down on the seat with the engine running to get some rest and, according to an autopsy, died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.
His body was discovered three days later on Jan. 17.
In the suit, Jassman maintains that the lease allowed Sorenson use of water on the ranch, but it turned out to be inadequate to water the stock, so Sorenson had to go to the spring at Berne Park to get water, which was a breach of the lease, the suit maintains.
Berne Park is several miles from the ranch.
In addition, the lease prohibited electricity or generator use after 10 p.m. and “eliminated a safe method for Sorenson to heat his RV.”
In short, having to get water for the stock, tend to the fire to keep it from freezing and not having electricity after 10 p.m. exhausted Sorenson and contributed to the young man’s death, the suit maintains.
The suit also names the Flying Eagle Ranch, claiming Mackie had transferred her interest in the property to a trust to allegedly “hinder, delay or defraud” Sorenson’s estate.
The suit also claims that his family has never been able to retrieve all of his personal belongings from the property following his death.
Jassman is represented by attorney Gavin F. Voeller. Jassman is seeking a jury trial in the matter.
The Mackie family declined to comment for the record on the lawsuit.