Man found dead in vehicle after driving off Highway 101 near Hopland

Mendocino County sheriff’s officials have identified the man who was found dead in his vehicle Monday morning after it apparently ran off a Highway 101 embankment near Hopland.

Gregoer Yarwood-Benson, 20, of Greeley, Colo. was visiting friends in Philo, said Sheriff’s Lt. Shannon Barney.

His friends were looking for him Monday morning after he failed to return from a trip to the Bay Area. They found him at the bottom of the embankment after they noticed skid marks that went off the highway, officials said.

According to a CHP collision report, Yarwood-Benson was traveling northbound at an unknown speed when the 2000 Suburu he was driving went off the roadway. The Suburu struck several trees before it came to rest at the bottom of the embankment.

Mitch Franklin, assistant chief of the Hopland Fire Protection District, the accident was first reported at about 10:30 a.m. just north of the Green Bridge, near LaFranchi Road.

Franklin said the vehicle was not visible from the roadway and it appeared the man had been in the car for at least a day, if not longer.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.