Rice Man Dies After Car Found in Horseshoe Chain of Lakes

MUNSON TOWNSHIP (WJON News) -- A man from Rice is dead after crashing his car into the Sauk River Horseshoe Chain of Lakes.

The Stearns County Sheriff's Office got a call from a watercraft operator at around 8:30 p.m. Thursday reporting that there was a car in the lake and they believed a person was inside.

The location was in the 2000 block of Edgeton Road, about four miles south of Richmond.

Sheriff's deputies and officers from the Cold Spring/Richmond Police Department arrived and quickly entered the water to help citizens get the person out of the car.

They got the driver to shore and immediately began life-saving measures. Paramedics arrived and continued working on the man, who's been identified as 23-year-old Tate Lehnen of Rice.

Lehnen was pronounced dead at the scene.

Members of the Stearns/Benton Dive Team were called in to check for any other victims. No other victims were found.

Authorities believe Lehnen was eastbound on Edgeton Road when he overcorrected in a left-hand curve, crossed over the oncoming lane, and drove down the steep ditch leading into the lake.

Lehnen's body was sent to the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.