A motorcyclist crashed and died on a Brooklyn Center highway ramp in the middle of the night, and his body remained at the scene until family found him nearly seven hours later, according to authorities.

The motorcycle was heading west on Interstate 694 on Saturday morning when it went off the ramp to northbound Hwy. 252, according to the State Patrol.

The patrol identified the motorcyclist as Jonathan Harley Jones, 37, of Blaine.

The patrol got word of the crash shortly before 10 a.m. and was told that Jones was riding with "his friends, [and] they noticed he wasn't behind anymore, probably around 3 o'clock," according to emergency dispatch audio.

Jones' family knew where to find him after "they tracked his phone," dispatch audio disclosed.

Highway traffic cameras confirmed the timing of the crash as reported by the family, dispatch audio added.