St. Paul firefighters recovered a man's body from the Mississippi River Monday evening.

Runners headed across the Marshall Avenue bridge spotted the body in the river about 6:30 p.m. and called 911, according Fire Marshal and department spokesman Steve Zaccard.

Reports that the body went over the Ford dam were unfounded, he said. The river current brought the body close to shore, where firefighters recovered it and turned it over to the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office.

Zaccard said it will be up to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner to determine the man's identity and cause of death.

The body appeared to have been in the water for "some time," Zaccard said.

Mary Lynn Smith