Doctor Killed In Canadian Avalanche Had Ties To New Jersey, Pennsylvania

BOSTON (CBS) – Two snowshoers, one with ties to New Jersey, have been identified as victims killed in a deadly avalanche in Canada earlier this month.

According to WBZ, the investigation started when the couple, Victor Fedorov and Lauren Zeitels, didn't check out of their hotel in southwest Alberta on March 14. They also missed their flights.

Police later found the couple's rental car near a trail just north of Lake Louise. There were snowshoe tracks leading into nearby avalanche debris.

On Monday, doctors at Mass General Hospital in Boston identified the victims as two of their "extraordinary and beloved internal medicine residents."

According officials, Zeitels grew up in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Fedorov was born in Moscow, Russia, and grew up in Richmond, Virginia.

"We are deeply saddened to share the tragic news that two of our extraordinary and beloved internal medicine residents Lauren Zeitels, MD, PhD, and Victor Fedorov, MD, PhD, died in an avalanche while snowshoeing near Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada," said MGH President Peter Slavin. "This tragic accident occurred despite their extensive planning and taking every safety precaution."

Hospital officials say Zeitels received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in biochemistry. In addition to a master's in philosophy from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, she completed her medical and doctoral degrees at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine before she came to the MGH.

Fedorov attended the University of Richmond as the Ethyl and Albemarle Science Scholar and received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, chemistry, computer science and mathematics.

"This tragic accident occurred despite their extensive planning and taking every safety precaution," said Slavin.