SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minnesota — An investigation is underway after a woman’s body was found in the Mississippi River during the weekend.
According to the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, a body was reported in the river near the Wabasha Bridge in St. Paul Saturday morning.
St. Paul Police Department officers were able to get a view of the body in the fast-moving water, but lost sight of it near the Highway 52 bridge.
Due to conditions on the river, the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office has asked for assistance in the search.
A search party – including officials from Dakota County, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Inver Grove Heights Fire Department – searched the river and located the body near the Wakota Bridge in South St. Paul.
Officials say the body of a woman was recovered from the river and taken to the Ramsey County coroner’s office for an autopsy.
“It is unknown at this time how and when the body entered the water,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The investigation is still ongoing.
The river, which has flooded several parks in St. Paul, is projected to the top at 20.3 feetwhich would make it the seventh worst Mississippi River flood ever.
On Friday evening, President Joe Biden declared Minnesota a major disaster and ordered federal aid to help areas hit by the storms and flooding.
