Authorities have identified the 6-year-old boy whose body was recovered early this week from the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

Isaac Nathaniel Childress III of Minneapolis went wading in the river on Saturday near Boom Island, and his body was found by search crews late Monday morning near the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office.

An autopsy confirmed that the boy died from freshwater drowning, the medical examiner said.

The child was among five young friends with two adults on a bike ride early Saturday evening when some of the children decided to wade into the river. Three of the children went in too far and began to struggle, authorities said. One adult rescued two of the children, but the 6-year-old slipped away.

Sheriff's Office spokesman Andy Skoogman said the river depth drops substantially near the shoreline and the current runs hard, so the children didn't get far before they ran into trouble.

Staff writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this report.