(UPDATED) Authorities ID Body Found in Canal Near Sutherland

UPDATE (3/10/16 7:30 pm)

After searching Thursday afternoon and evening, the Lincoln County Dive Team failed to locate Ronald Kubiak’s Chrysler in the NPPD canal.

Authorities believe Kubiak’s vehicle went into the canal after tire tracks were observed upstream from where his body was found on Wednesday afternoon.

The Dive Team will search again on Saturday. Assistance will be sought from the Nebraska Games and Parks Commission on Monday if Saturday’s search is unsuccessful.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has identified the body found yesterday in the Nebraska Public Power District canal, just south of Sutherland.

Deputies responded to the Gerald Gentleman Power Plant yesterday afternoon after it was reported that a body had been found in the canal leading up to the plant.

Deputies were able to remove the body from the canal, and also discovered vehicle tracks leading into the canal upstream from where the body was found.

Chief Deputy Roland Kramer says the body was that of 50-year-old Ronald Kubiak, of Sutherland.

The Lincoln County Dive Team will attempt to extract Kubiak’s vehicle, a 1993 Chrysler Concorde, from the canal later today.

An autopsy will be conducted at the Central Nebraska Cremation and Mortuary Service, in Gibbon.

The investigation is ongoing, according to Kramer.