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Minnesota man whose remains were submerged for decades died in car crash, medical examiner says

A medical examiner found no evidence of foul play in the death of a central Minnesota man whose remains were found in a submerged car nearly 60 years after his disappearance.

Roy Benn was reported missing from Benton County in 1967 after leaving a supper club in a blue Buick Electra. Earlier this year, a fisherman spotted a car on sonar in the Mississippi River in Sartell, Minnesota. Authorities pulled the car from the water and found Benn's remains inside.

On Wednesday, the Benton County Sheriff's Office said a medical examiner determined Benn "died as the result of a single motor vehicle crash with water submersion." His death has been ruled accidental and the investigation will be closed, the sheriff's office said.

Benn was 59 when he disappeared and was reported to be carrying "a large sum of money" at the time, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Investigators worked for several years after Benn disappeared to find him, conducting various interviews and searches, but the case went cold until his car was discovered. Brady Loch, the fisherman who found it, said it was "100% luck."

"If my buddy wouldn't have caught that walleye, then we would have just kept on floating down and never would have found it," Loch said.  

Note: The video above originally aired Aug. 14, 2025.

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