Octogenarians Unharmed After Truck Crashes Through Lake

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- An octogenarian couple from Sartell, Minnesota, were carried unharmed to the shore of a Stearns County lake after their truck crashed through the ice.

Charles Hansen, 84, was sitting on the roof of his Ford F-150, sunk in Fair Haven Township's Clearwater Lake, when a deputy from South Haven Rescue arrived.

Below him, his 83-year-old wife, Mary Esselman, was seated in the passenger seat, the lake's three feet of water rising only as high as the truck's floorboards.

Hansen said he was meeting up with friends on a fishing expedition and wasn't familiar with the lake.

The truck sunk around 11 a.m. Tuesday about 300 yards from the Department of Natural Resources landing site off Bayberry Road.

Once taken to the lake's shore, the couple left without the need of medical assistance.

Capes Towing Company removed the truck from the lake.