A 47-year-old man who had been missing for nearly three weeks has been found dead in an upside-down car in a creek off a central Minnesota interstate.
A Minnesota Department of Transportation crew spraying vegetation in ditches and "going slow on the shoulder" spotted the Scion and notified authorities early Monday afternoon, said Patrol Sgt. Jesse Grabow.
The patrol has determined that the car was heading west on Interstate 94 about 6 miles northwest of Sauk Centre when it "veered off the road to the right and overturned and landed upside down," a statement from the patrol read Monday evening. By Tuesday afternoon, officials had confirmed that the driver was Alan Michael Thomas of nearby Osakis, who had been missing since Aug. 4.
Thomas had gone to Blaine to visit friends and had planned to return the same day, but family and friends had not heard from him.
The car was "in the water resting against the bank" of Silver Creek and out of sight of passing motorists, Grabow said.
He said investigators are working on determining when the crash occurred.
Both the car and the driver "have been there for a long period of time," the statement continued.
Thomas was not wearing a seat belt, the patrol said.
