The body of a man identified as Jon Weiland, who had been missing since Dec. 19, 2009, was believed to be located Tuesday night.

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office received a call shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday from someone who found the body of a man and a red truck by County Road R34 and 430th Street — a mile north of Thompson. The caller said the truck was in a “thick, wooded area,” according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.

The driver was identified as Weiland, of Britt, Iowa. He was 43 when he was last seen at the new Rathai’s Roadhouse Bar & Grill in Walters. The news release said an investigation concluded he had been driving his 2002 Dodge Dakota truck south on County R34 when he drove off the roadway on a curve. He then lost control of the pickup and struck several trees.

The Mason City Globe-Gazette reports that a woman who spotted something red in the evergreen trees had read the Albert Lea Tribune’s story about Jon Weiland as reprinted in the Globe-Gazette. Rose Villela of Thompson then went to the grocery store before she decided she should meet her son at the location of the trees, the newspaper reports today.

The report says they found Weiland’s body a distance from the truck. She told the newspaper she was glad she could bring some closure to the family.

Weiland, employed at Monson & Sons Inc., a trucking company in Britt, was a talented painter of custom motorcycles and golf carts.

In the Tribune’s Sunday story about Weiland, sisters Judy Weber and Pat Frayne described their brother as an easygoing, happy-go-lucky person, who had his three children at the centerpoint of his life.

They said he was a hard worker and was always busy. He was a music buff who loved a variety of music from rock ’n’ roll to country.

“He had a big heart and would do anything for anybody,” Weber said.

Weiland was listed on the National Crime Information Center missing persons database, along with the Missing Persons Information Clearinghouse, handled by the Division of Criminal Investigation with the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office at the location. The news release was issued by Winnebago County at about 12:30 a.m.

Also assisting were the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Iowa State Patrol, Thompson Fire Department, Winnebago County Emergency Management and the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Reserve.