Man found dead at wooded McHenry County crash scene

Bull Valley police are investigating the cause of a crash Sunday that left a man dead in a ditch 20 feet off the road in a heavily wooded area of the McHenry County community.

Aaron D. Sutherland, 22, of Wonder Lake, was found in a vehicle off road in the 300 block of Ridge Road after passers-by noticed roadside debris in the vicinity shortly after noon, according to McHenry County Coroner Anne L. Majewski.

Police were dispatched about 12:05 p.m. to the crash scene, located along a rural stretch of Ridge Road just south of Swarthmore Road, shortly after noon Sunday.

Bull Valley supervisor of police Danielle Stevens said trees at the scene are so thick that there was no way to spot the 1997 Honda sedan from the roadway, and a crew from Bull Valley Public Works had to chop down several trees to expose the car. A tow truck with a long boom was called in to pull the car out of the vegetation before the man's body could be removed.

Sutherland was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:30 p.m., Majewski said.

According to police, the crash occurred sometime in the previous 24 hours. Stevens said the car struck several trees before coming to a stop.

An autopsy is scheduled Tuesday, Majewski said.