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Three men, including MTV "Buckwild" reality star Shain Gandee, were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning inside a Ford Bronco that had bogged down in a rural mud pit in Kanawha County, authorities said.

Gandee, 21, his uncle David Gandee, 48, and Donald Robert Myers, 27, were discovered on April 1, 2013, in a wooded area about a mile from Gandee's home near Sissonville, according to the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office. The 1984 Bronco was stuck in deep mud with its exhaust pipe below the surface.

The three had last been seen around 3 a.m. the previous day leaving a bar, where they told friends they were going off-roading, the sheriff's office said.

A friend searching the ridge trails found the vehicle and called 911 late Monday morning. "We've been looking for them for two days," the caller told a dispatcher on a recording released by the county, saying the men were "up on a hill in a mud hole." The caller reported finding "three dead people" before breaking down.

Deputies found mud covering the lower passenger side of the Bronco while the driver's side sat above the surface, according to the sheriff's office. Investigators concluded that the submerged tailpipe had allowed carbon monoxide to build up inside the cab.

Autopsies released April 2 attributed all three deaths to accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, officials said.

MTV canceled "Buckwild" on April 10, ending the reality series after a single aired season. The network said in a statement that continuing "was not appropriate" following Gandee's death.