KC police release the name of man killed when his SUV plunged off U.S. 71

Police have identified a 60-year-old man found dead Monday after his SUV plunged from a bridge on U.S. 71 as Michael Blackwell of Kansas City.

Workers at a nearby construction company contacted police about 11 a.m. after they found the mangled SUV amid a pile of pipes in a scrap yard beneath the highway in the 8100 block of Indiana Avenue.

Relatives were attempting to file a missing person’s report around the same time police identified Blackwell as the driver of the SUV. Investigators think the crash occurred sometime well before the vehicle was discovered.

Blackwell was southbound on an elevated span of U.S. 71 just north of the 85th Street exit when he lost control and struck the concrete wall on the left side of the traffic lane. The SUV crossed over the top of the jersey barrier and plunged into a pile of pipes.

The drop is considerable and police think Blackwell died when he crashed or shortly after. No one else was in the SUV.

This story was originally published October 25, 2016 at 11:25 AM with the headline "KC police release the name of man killed when his SUV plunged off U.S. 71."