WEST SUGAR BUSH TOWNSHIP, Minn. - The former police chief of Lake Park, Minnesota, was found dead over the weekend after a hunting-related incident.
According to the Becker County Sheriff's Office, deputies received a report of a deceased man in a vehicle on a logging trail in West Sugar Bush Township. The call came in at about 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Emergency responders located the man and identified him as 53-year-old Jay Clayton Nelson, of Cormorant Township. Nelson was the retired police chief of Lake Park.
A preliminary autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound. The sheriff's office says suicide has been ruled out, and so has an accidental discharge of Nelson's own weapon.
The sheriff's office is looking for any information about who may have been hunting in that area on Nov. 10, or about any vehicles in the area. They also want to talk to anyone who heard gunshots. Nelson's body was found about a half mile east of Yellowhead trail and a half mile west of Little Flat Lake.
The sheriff's office says the incident appears to be a hunting-related accident.
The death is under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Becker County Sheriff's Office at 218-847-2661.
