The Dakota County Sheriff's Office was in the process of recovering a body from the Minnesota River near the Mendota Bridge, the Sheriff's Office reported early Friday evening.

The office had received a report of a body in the water in the area beneath the bridge, Chief Deputy Sheriff Tim Leslie said.

A boater had called in a sighting of what appeared to be a body in the water about 2:45 p.m., he said.

The Sheriff's Office still had boats with divers at the scene, working on the recovery, just before 5 p.m., Leslie said.

Sheriff Dave Bellows confirmed that the body was that of a man.

JOY POWELL