A 22-year-old western Wisconsin man reported missing more than a week ago likely was dead the entire time inside his crashed pickup truck on a remote piece of lakeside property in Barron County, authorities said Tuesday.

Benjamin Jacobson, of Cumberland, was located Tuesday by a homeowner who told the Sheriff's Office that he spotted the pickup along the west side of Silver Lake.

"It appears he crashed the night he went missing," said Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald.

The homeowner's call came while sheriff's deputies and state Department of Natural Resources personnel were on the lake searching for Jacobson, who had not been heard from since Feb. 8, Fitzgerald said.

Those searchers went to the scene and saw Jacobson's body inside the truck, which had crashed into an embankment and brush, the sheriff said.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482