Idaho State Police find missing 73-year-old man dead in car wreckage

A 73-year-old man was killed when his vehicle left the roadway near the Kootenai County and Benewah County line.

Robert R. Westbrook, of Smelterville, Idaho, was reported missing at about 6:45 p.m. Monday by concerned family members when he failed to return home from a medical appointment in Hayden, Idaho State Police said in a news release. Troopers pinged his cellphone, which put him in the area of Rose Lake on state Highway 97 and state Highway 3.

Police continued searching for Westbrook Tuesday evening, when a trooper traveling on Highway 3 at about 7:45 p.m. noticed tire tracks lead over a steep embankment, the news release states. Westbrook’s tan 2008 Ford F350 pickup was located with the man nearby.

He apparently was ejected from the vehicle and was found dead at the scene, troopers said. He was not wearing a seat belt.

Troopers theorize Westbrook was headed south on Highway 3 just north of the Kootenai and Benewah County line when he failed to negotiate a right hand curve, went left of center and off the left shoulder of the roadway. His vehicle went over the embankment and struck a large tree, coming to a rest on its roof.

An autopsy will be performed to determine cause and time of death.