Authorities have recovered the body of a man who was inside a pickup truck that broke through a guardrail on Interstate 35 near Owatonna, Minn., on Monday and landed in the Straight River.
The State Patrol identified the man as Ray Eldon Mudgett, 71, of New Richland, Minn.
Mudgett was driving south on I-35 about 12:43 p.m. when his Toyota Tundra left the interstate a few miles south of Owatonna in Steele County and went into river, the State Patrol said.
The truck was submerged by the time the patrol, the Owatonna Fire Department, deputies from the Steele County Sheriff's Office and members of the Rice County Dive Team arrived. They located Mudgett, who was the only person in the truck, and pulled him out. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the patrol said.
Mudgett was wearing a seat belt, the patrol said.
It was not immediately clear what made Mudgett's truck leave the freeway.
Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768
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