Authorities in Freeborn County have identified a woman who died when her SUV rolled over into a southern Minnesota ditch despite the rescue efforts of a passing road crew.
Joyce R. Chapek, 74, of Albert Lea, Minn., crashed Friday morning in icy conditions along County Road 30 south of Interstate 90, where her vehicle was found partly submerged and upside down in a drainage ditch by county highway workers, the Sheriff's Office said Wednesday.
The workers used their vehicle to get the SUV back on its wheels, and that allowed them to see Chapek was dead in the driver's seat, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Emergency responders declared her dead at the scene, a rural area about 8 miles east of Albert Lea.
Chapek was heading north on the county road, lost control on the icy surface and rolled to the right into the ditch, the Sheriff's Office said.
