LONG A TOWNSHIP – A Massachusetts man hoping to go hunting after visiting friends in Brownville may have become the area’s first motorist victimized by snowy weather early Friday when his pickup truck overturned and crushed him, state police said.

Frank J. Pirri, 59, of Rehoboth, Mass., was headed south on Route 11 when he apparently lost control of his GMC K2500 Sierra pickup truck between midnight and 4 a.m. The vehicle spun 180 degrees as it crossed the centerline and went off the east side of the road.

Pirri was thrown halfway out the driver’s side window and the truck rolled over on him, Trooper Paul White said.

A passing motorist found the truck off the road and called 911 at about 4:15 a.m., White said. She said she did not see the accident occur.

Pirri was pronounced dead at the scene. He did not appear to be wearing a seat belt.

“Nothing looks fishy about it. In fact, it looks pretty simple,” White said Friday. “It may simply be an accident caused by road conditions and weather.

“The road conditions were definitely very slippery, with a lot of slush and ice on the road,” White added, “and it was very dark and rainy. We think that this contributed to the accident, but we won’t know for sure until we get the coroner’s report.”

An autopsy will be performed over the next few days, White said.

Although Pirri may have struggled for as long as four hours to get out from under the truck, there were no immediate signs he survived the initial impact, White said. A tree stand, rifle, boots and other outdoor clothing found in the truck, and interviews with Pirri’s friends indicated he was going hunting, White said.

Anyone with information about the accident or who might have seen Pirri before it is asked to call White at 866-2121.

A woman who answered the phone at Pirri’s home in Rehoboth, which is about 10 miles from Fall River, Mass., and Providence, R.I., declined to comment on the accident.

A mixture of rain and wet snow started to fall in the township area, about 10 miles south of Millinocket, just before 11 p.m. It continued into the morning hours, said Duane Wolfe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Caribou office.

State Department of Transportation trucks sanded and salted Route 11 after the accident was reported, White said.

With gusty winds expected overnight Friday and temperatures dropping below freezing, black-iced roads could become common, Wolfe said.