LYMAN, Neb. – A Lyman woman was found dead Monday in an irrigation ditch east of town, apparently the victim of an accident.

Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Troy Brown said the 59-year-old woman, whose name is being withheld pending notification of family, reportedly left work in Morrill, Neb., around 10:30 p.m. Sunday night. She reportedly texted a roommate sometime in the early morning hours Monday, saying she’d been in an accident and was in “a swamp.”

The roommate reportedly was asleep and didn’t see the message until later in the day, Brown said.

“Initially, it was reported as a missing person,” he said. “Later it turned into – we think she was in a wreck. Where she was at, you couldn’t see the car from the road.”

The Airlink air ambulance and crew was dispatched from Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff, Neb., to aid in the search. Brown said the crew visually located the vehicle about three miles east of Lyman.

The air ambulance landed near the scene and two nurses on the crew exited the helicopter to examine the woman, who was outside her vehicle, Brown said. They determined the woman was deceased.

The sheriff’s department is awaiting the results of an autopsy. Initial determinations indicate no foul play, he said.

“She ran off the road and got down into an irrigation ditch,” Brown said. “It looks like she died of exposure.”

This report will be updated as more information becomes available.

UPDATE: Scotts Bluff County officials have identified the victim as Cynthia M. Magee 59, of Lyman. Her death has been ruled accidental.