DETROIT LAKES, Minn. - Authorities are asking for the public's assistance in an investigation into the apparent hunting-related death of a former northwest Minnesota police chief who died when a bullet hit him in his vehicle on a forest trail, the Becker County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Jay Clayton Nelson, former police chief in Lake Park, was found dead Saturday, Nov. 10, near Little Flat Lake on the White Earth Reservation in Becker County, according to the news release.

Little Flat Lake is about 15 miles southeast of the town of White Earth, Minn.

About 6:09 p.m., Saturday, Becker County deputies responded to a report of a dead body, later identified to be Nelson's, in a vehicle on a logging trail approximately a half-mile west of Little Flat Lake, the news release said.

The incident appears to be an accident and a preliminary autopsy report revealed Nelson died as the result of a gunshot wound, the sheriff's office said.

Any hunters who were in the area on Saturday or anyone else who may have information regarding vehicles or persons that may have been in the area on Nov. 10, is requested to contact the Becker County Sheriff's Office at (218) 847-2661.

Little Flat Lake is about 64 miles east of Fargo.