Authorities Withhold Name of Deceased Falls' Motorcyclist while Family Seeks Relative

A Menomonee Falls family is mourning the death of a 55-year-old man, but they're also trying to track down a family member on vacation who doesn't know yet that the tragedy happened.

As a result, authorities aren’t releasing the name of the Menomonee Falls man who died when his Harley-Davidson motorcycle failed to negotiate a curve because a family member of the man is out of the country and can’t be reached.

Capt. Trace Frost, of the Sheriff’s Department in Dodge County, where the crash occurred, said the man’s name will be released on Thursday when the family member is scheduled to return to the United States.

“That may change if the family is able to contact him with social media,” he said. “We don’t want the family member to find out through other means.”

The man was riding alone and was found by a passing motorist at 5 a.m. Sunday. “It was not witnessed. We got a call in the morning. People could see the motorcycle in the ditch,” Frost said on Monday.

According to a news release from the Sheriff’s Department, the man was southbound on County Highway P in Dodge County when he “failed to negotiate a sweeping left-hand curve.” The motorcycle left the road and careened into a ditch. The man was ejected from the motorcycle when he tried to “correct the error,” the release said.  The man was driving a 1990 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Frost said Monday that authorities “don’t know the cause, other than he went off the road on a curve.” He said it’s not believed that speed was a factor.

He said that Highway P is a county road running north to south that “gets a lot of traffic.” The man crashed on Highway P at Adams Road in the Township of Ashippun. The exact time of the accident is not known.

Frost said that authorities don’t know why the man was in Dodge County and didn't release his occupation.