Police in Minnesota say a 57-year-old woman, believed to be an asylum seeker from Ghana, died last week as she was heading to cross the border near Emerson.

Mavis Otuteye was reported missing Thursday and was found dead in a ditch Friday afternoon.

Officials believe she died of hypothermia.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection representatives report her body was found less than one kilometre from the border near Noyes, Minnesota.