A snowmobiler ran into a large rock and was fatally thrown from his machine along a northern Minnesota river shoreline, authorities said Monday.

The body of Daniel J. Hollinday, 38, of Bigfork, Minn., was found late Saturday morning next to his snowmobile near the Bigfork River in Liberty Township, according to the Itasca County Sheriff's Office.

The collision with the rock threw Hollinday's body into smaller rocks along the shore, the Sheriff's Office said.

Hollinday went snowmobiling by himself Friday night, and his wife called the Sheriff's Office to report he had not returned. That prompted law enforcement to search for him.

PAUL WALSH