SKOWHEGAN — An Athens man died Wednesday night when the SUV he was driving on U.S. Route 2 rolled over, police said.

Earle Shepardson, 53, was pronounced dead at the scene, Chief David Bucknam of the Skowhegan Police Department said via telephone Thursday morning.

Based on conditions police observed, it appears black ice on the road likely contributed to the crash, Bucknam said. At the time of the accident, temperatures in the area were falling and approaching the freezing mark, and later overnight dropped below freezing, weather data show.

The crash, Bucknam said, was reported around 9:10 p.m. in the area of 994 Canaan Road, which is near the former Eaton Mountain Ski Area and about 1 ½ miles west of Lake George Regional Park and the Canaan town line. 

Shepardson’s 2007 GMC Acadia was heading west, toward downtown Skowhegan, when it went off the road and rolled over, Bucknam said. It came to rest about 5 feet off the highway against a guardrail.

Bucknam said he believed Shepardson was wearing a seat belt.

There were no passengers and no other vehicles involved, Bucknam said.

The Skowhegan and Canaan fire departments responded to the crash.

The accident was the second in Somerset County on Wednesday that left a driver dead and police believed was caused by road conditions. Kenneth Dunphy, 73, of Lexington Township, died in a crash reported around 9 a.m. on Route 148 in Madison, according to the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office.