Body Found In Vehicle Recovered From Minnesota River

MINNEAPOLIS — Authorities discovered a body in a vehicle recovered from the Minnesota River on Sunday night. They also found a second, unoccupied vehicle while searching for the first car.

On Sunday just before 8 p.m., deputies with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Water Patrol unit — along with first responders from Dakota County, Burnsville, and Bloomington — responded to the Lyndale Avenue Boat Launch in Bloomington on a report of a vehicle entering the Minnesota River.

Bystanders reported seeing the vehicle enter the water and become fully submerged. Water Patrol deputies located the vehicle with sonar, but it was unsafe for divers to enter the water due to extreme currents. All attempts to recover the vehicle from the river were unsuccessful.

JF Brennan Company — a commercial salvage diving company — was called in to assist with the vehicle recovery.

They were able to hook the vehicle and at about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday was successfully pulled out of the water.

"We can confirm that there was a person inside the vehicle," the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said. "The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office was called to the scene and will be making the identification and determining cause of death. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is investigating this case."

During the initial search, sonar detected a second vehicle near the first. Water Patrol deputies pulled that vehicle out of the water hours later.

"It appears that vehicle had been in the river for some time and we believe the two incidents are unrelated," the sheriff's office said. "The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is also investigating this case."