No foul play is suspected in the death of a Loda man who went missing from Penfield and was found three days later underneath his crashed pickup truck in a Ford County ditch.

Ford County Sheriff’s Lt. Pat Duffy said in a news release that 47-year-old Daniel Starkey was last seen with friends at a Penfield tavern around 9 p.m. Sunday and was reported missing on Monday.

Around 2 p.m. Wednesday, a passer-by spotted Mr. Starkey’s 2004 F250 pickup truck in a drainage ditch near Clarence on Ford County Road 2600 East, near County Road 250 North. 

Duffy said it appears the truck was northbound when it left the road to the west, striking and damaging a bridge guard rail. The truck then entered an approximately 20-foot-deep ditch, impacting the embankment.

Mr. Starkey was ejected from the truck and was found under the truck in the drainage ditch, which had about 3 feet of water flowing in it, Duffy said.

Mr. Starkey was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:22 p.m. Wednesday by Ford County Coroner Rick Flessner.

Duffy said an investigation into the crash was not complete as of Thursday morning.

Assisting at the crash site were Rankin firefighters, Paxton firefighters, Paxton Emergency Management Agency personnel and Reynolds Towing.