A missing Carlton guy was discovered dead in a lake.
The name of the dead has not been confirmed, but according to a sheriff’s office release, he is a 38-year-old man who was reported missing on Oct. 31.
COUNTY OF AITKIN — The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office released a news release Friday afternoon announcing the recovery of a man’s body from Rat Lake, situated in Workman Township north of McGregor. A Ramsey County medical examiner will be contacted to confirm the deceased’s identify and to determine the most likely cause and manner of death.
Dudden was reported missing on Oct. 31. His last known contact was with his brother on Oct. 26. And his truck was later found on a remote road near Rat Lake, according to his father, Don Dudden, who told the News Tribune earlier this week that he considered his son’s disappearance highly suspicious.
“It’s not like Luke just to park his truck on a remote gravel road and just take off hiking,” he said, noting that his 38-year-old son was an outdoorsman who would be unlikely to get lost in the woods. “Especially in that area, which isn’t even good hiking.”
Lucas Dudden had been renting a room at a house in Carlton while working for about the past year as a pipefitter helping to rebuild the Superior refinery. Don Dudden, who lives in western Nebraska, told the News Tribune that his son had never before missed so much as a day of work. He was last seen on the job Oct. 25.
Lucas Dudden was born in Nebraska and grew up in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
The Carlton and Aitkin County Sheriffs’ Offices, the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, the Aitkin County Search and Rescue unit, Christian Aid Ministries-Search and Rescue, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ enforcement division, the Minnesota State Patrol, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, and the Fond du Lac Tribal Police Department were among the agencies assisting in a massive land and water search in the area.
