A part of Michelle Sanvig had hoped over the past month that her son was still alive, but the discovery last week of a body in the St. Croix River brought an end to that.
The body had the same hairstyle and shoes as her son, who fell into the river during a hike April 11 and had been missing ever since. All that remained was Sunday evening's confirmation by the Chisago County Sheriff's Office: D'Andre Sanvig — the second oldest of 10 siblings — died at age 18.
"Part of me did hope that this wasn't real, but I also knew that it was," said his mother, who is traveling from Denver to arrange a funeral.
Sanvig's death was ruled a drowning by the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office, Chisago Sheriff's Capt. Derek Anklan said in a statement.
Sanvig had moved a year ago to live with his grandmother in Luck, Wis. He was scheduled to graduate from high school this spring and complete training as an auto mechanic. His mother owned a construction company, and she said her son had learned to fix things at an early age.
She said Sunday that two things quickly became apparent were when Sanvig was a toddler: He loved cars and people.
"The best way to describe D'Andre is he was the bright light that lit up a room," his mother said.
She still has many questions about what happened after her son reportedly fell into a rocky section of the river and was swept away by a swift spring current. His body was found more than a mile from that spot.
