Two people died were killed Wednesday in crashes on Minnesota roads.

In south-central Minnesota's Blue Earth County, a 17-year-old girl from Eagle Lake, Minn., who had been reported missing earlier in the day was found dead in her crashed car, authorities said. Hannah Nicole Gamble had left her home early in the morning and never arrived as expected at school in St. Clair, authorities said.

Authorities were called when a passerby noticed skid marks leaving County Road 28 just east of County Road 27, just above the Le Sueur River. He found Gamble's 2001 Honda Civic down on the riverbank, not visible from the road.

He called deputies, who found Gamble dead in her car. It appeared that she lost control and rolled down a steep embankment to the edge of the river. She was wearing a seat belt, according to the Minnesota State Patrol, but the crash was not survivable.

To the north, in Sherburne County, icy roads may have been a factor in a fatal car accident early in the day in Big Lake Township.

Steven Baragar, 39 of Big Lake, died when his vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree off County Road 15 just north of County Road 35 a little before 5:40 a.m., according to Sheriff Joel Brott.

Baragar, who was traveling south, had just passed another vehicle before losing control of his vehicle, witnesses said. No information was available on whether he was wearing a seat belt.

It was the second fatality on County 15 in less than a month, authorities said.

STAFF REPORTS