Authorities recovered the body of a man in the Mississippi River on Feb. 14, less than a day after he fell through ice.
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office received a call Friday afternoon about a man who plunged through the frozen river near the University of Minnesota rowing club. Temperatures that afternoon reached 50 degrees.
A woman who witnessed the incident attempted to reach the man before falling through the ice herself and making it back to shore, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities took her to a hospital as a precaution for cold exposure.
A search for the man that began Friday afternoon resumed Saturday morning in the daylight. The sheriff’s water patrol unit located and recovered the body around 11:45 a.m., finding the man in 9 feet of water about 75 feet from where he fell through the ice.
The medical examiner has yet to release the man’s identity.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to this individual’s family and friends,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “This tragic incident is a stark example that the ice is never 100% safe. Please use cation when venturing on to lakes, rivers, and ponds, especially with our changing weather.”
