Couple's vehicle found at bottom of Lake Benton; Two remain missing

LAKE BENTON - Authorities searched Tuesday afternoon for a Lake Benton man and his girlfriend who apparently have died after going through the ice on the sprawling southwest Minnesota lake, which has the same name as the nearby town.
Lake Benton is southwest of Marshall, and east of Brookings, South Dakota.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department said it received a missing persons’ call for Bradley Lund, 54, and Brianna Thooft, 29, about 6 p.m. Sunday.
The sheriff’s department said the last word from the pair was an early Sunday morning cell phone call.
On Monday, the investigation led authorities to believe the vehicle the pair may have been in could have gone through the lake ice near the Norwegian Creek Campground on the north central part of the lake.
The pair, authorities said, had apparently been at an ice house on the lake earlier in the day Sunday.
Ever since the call to the sheriff’s office Sunday night, family, friends and multiple agencies have been searching for the two.
The search was focused on the part of the lake where it’s believed the vehicle went into the water in an area where aerators keep the water open.
The vehicle they were in has been located at the bottom of the lake, but the pair was not in the vehicle.
Dive teams from nearby Codington County across the border in South Dakota were assisting in the search that began Monday in addition to Lincoln County Sheriff Chad Meester and his deputies.
The search continued into the afternoon Tuesday.
Lund is a well-known area farmer, who has worked with his family in the farming operation for years.
Anyone with information concerning the whereabouts of the pair are asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 507-694-1664.