Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Andy Skoogman, 612-919-5918
Hennepin County Sheriff's Office Water Patrol and DNR Recover Body from Mississippi River
August 31, 2020 (Minneapolis) - At approximately 11:00 am today, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office Water Patrol and Minnesota Department of Resources (DNR) recovered the body of a young child from the Mississippi River.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner will make a positive identification and release the name of the victim following official notification of family members.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of this child," said Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson. "This has been an extremely difficult few days. Water Patrol has been working tirelessly and the family has been at the scene the entire time. For them, this heartbreaking story is far from over, but we hope that the recovery of the child's body can be a first step towards healing."
At approximately 6:20 pm on Saturday, August 29, 2020, the HCSO's Water Patrol, Minneapolis Park Police and Minneapolis Fire Department responded to a 911 call of a missing six-year-old child in the Mississippi River off Boom Island.
The child was part of a group of five children taken to the park to ride bikes. The group was supervised by two adults. Some of the children decided to wade in the water. Three of the children went in too deep and started to struggle. One of the adults was able to pull two of the three children from the water.
The body was recovered near the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, approximately a half mile from where the children initially went into the river.
Agencies involved in the 40 hour, around the clock search included Minneapolis Fire, Minneapolis Park Police, Minneapolis Police, Ramsey County Water Patrol and the DNR.
Sheriff David Hutchinson will be on scene to answer media questions about the recovery process today at 1:30 pm.
– HCSO–
Look for more news on
the Hennepin County Sheriff's website at http://www.hennepinsheriff.org.
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