I remember following this case closely when it broke a dozen years ago. Crazy scary.

If you look at a topography map of Lincoln county MN you can see about a 1000ft variation in that general area. Maybe he fell into a ravine, hence the “oh shit”?

Sounds like Bryce was suffering from some severe depression, tried driving off the cliff to drown in the lake, didn’t realize the gap & road beneath, landed on the road, busted out the back window to escape, and drowned himself in the lake or offed himself in a nearby remote area. Given the proximity of the truck stop he could have hitched a ride and took his life elsewhere.