Man's body pulled from Mississippi River after he jumps from bridge

Last update: October 7, 2009 - 9:36 PM

The body of a 53-year-old man was pulled Wednesday afternoon from the Mississippi River in Minneapolis after he jumped from the Hennepin Avenue Bridge.

A person who talked to the man before he jumped called 911 about 4:15 p.m., said Park Police Lt. Robert Goodsell, adding that, according to the caller, the man was despondent.

After the man went into the river, he went through the upper lock area, coming to rest at the bottom of the lock near the Stone Arch Bridge, Goodsell said.

An officer went into the river to help the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office Water Patrol pull the man out, he said. Rescue crews tried to resuscitate the man, who was taken to a spillway ramp belonging to the University of Minnesota's St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, but he was dead, Goodsell added.

Lori Cornelius was walking her dog around the Stone Arch Bridge when she saw the body in the river. "It looked like it went over both the falls," she said.

The county medical examiner's office will determine the cause of death, said Lisa Kiava of the Sheriff's Office.

VINCE TUSS

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