CBS 2 Chicago’s prominent and young anchor Randy Salerno, 45, has died in a tragic and sudden snowmobiling accident. The news station reported the tragic news this past Friday morning.
The accident happened this past Thursday night near Eagle River, Wisconsin, in the northern part of the state. Salerno was reportedly riding on the back of a friend’s snowmobile when suddenly the two passengers slid off the marked trail and struck a tree at a high speed. Randy Salerno’s friend was thrown from the snowmobile on the first moment of impact, while Salerno himself completely struck the tree.
Both Salerno and his friend were seriously injured. Although his friend was flown to a nearby hospital in Marshfield, Wisconsin, Randy Salerno was pronounced dead at the scene after police arrived at 11:30 PM and failed to revive him.
The crash itself is still under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the police department, the coroner’s office, and the county DA.
Randy Salerno’s life was completely dedicated to delivering the highest quality news to millions of viewers across the Chicagoland area. He worked for CBS 2 Chicago and WGN Channel 9 before that. Also won a local Emmy for a broadcast on the Chicago Marathon.
He is survived by his wife, Irene Salerno, and their three young children.
As a Chicagoan myself, I fondly remember meeting Salerno at the Chicago Marathon back in 2002. He had a bright personality and was someone many people looked up to. He never hesitated to say hello to fans of the station and always delivered vibrant new stories to the City of Chicago. There was no doubt in my mind that the man that shook my hand would go places in his career. The entire City’s prayers are with Salerno’s family.
Several other news anchors have died recently. One of them is Canadian Broadcasting Centre’s Don Wittman, who passed away January 19, 2008 from cancer. Although Wittman passed away at a late age, he is certainly remembered for some of the most shocking new stories. He is most noted for being one of the top reporters on the Munich Olympic hostage crisis in 1972. Throughout his entire career, Wittman was a common name among Canadian households.
Wittman is survived by his wife and three grown children.
Lou Palmer, the voice of the Indy 500 and other radio and TV broadcasts, died at the age 75 on January 21, 2008. He recently suffered from a hemorrhage, which left him bed-ridden and in critical condition. Palmer leaves his legacy to his wife and two adult children.
Finally, another Chicago TV news reporter died back in November of 2007. John Drury, who passed away at the age of 80, lit up the TV as he reported on the City’s most watched evening news show on WLS Channel 7. He was a common figure and talked about news anchor among the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune as well.
Sources:
Chicago Tribune. “Drury was everything you could hope for.” www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-tue_anchor_1127nov27,0,4517705.column
Hollywood Reporter. “CBC’s Don Wittman dies, 71.” www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/features/people/deaths/e3ie223c6999f82414255418d1befde4d2a
Indianapolis Star. “Ex-Indy 500 voice Lou Palmer dies.” www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article
Chicago Tribune. “Channel 2 anchor Randy Salerno dies in snowmobiling accident.” www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-salerno_webjan26,0,3049318.story
