Eliotte Heinz found dead three days after student, 22, vanished walking home from bar along Mississippi River
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Police have found the body of a Wisconsin graduate student who went missing three days ago as she walked home from a bar along the Mississippi River.
Eliotte Heinz, 22, hadn’t been seen or heard from since the early hours of Sunday.
Her body was found Wednesday morning in the Mississippi River near Brownsville, Minnesota, as reported by WBAY.
A cause of death remains unclear, pending an autopsy, according to officials.
‘This was not the outcome we had hoped for throughout this search. Our thoughts are with Eliotte’s family, friends and all those who knew Eliotte. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from so many within the La Crosse community, the State of Wisconsin and nationally to locate Eliotte,’ La Crosse Police Chief Shawn Kudron said.
La Crosse police said they are now looking into the circumstances of her death.
Heinz was a graduate student at Viterbo College, where she was enrolled in the school’s mental health counseling program.
Heinz had been with a group of friends at Bronco’s Bar in the city’s downtown area, but left around 2.30am Sunday
A photo from the surveillance footage shared by local police shows Heinz walking along the 500 Block of Front St. South at 3:22am on Sunday
In an emotional press conference, her mom, Amber Heinz, described her daughter as a smart and responsible person
A photo from the surveillance footage shared by local police showed Heinz – dressed in a white t-shirt, cut-off denim shorts, and white sneakers – walking along the waterfront in the 500 block of Front Street South at 3:22am Sunday.
In the image, Heinz appeared to be alone and held something in her hand, possibly a cellphone. The footage was captured by a camera outside the Courtyard Marriott Hotel.
Heinz’s cellphone was later recovered by her friends close to the hotel, a source told the Daily Mail.
No further details have been shared, but the discovery came after loved ones made several unsuccessful attempts to reach and locate her, her family has since confirmed to Fox News.
Less than an hour before her last sighting, Heinz had been enjoying an evening out with friends at Bronco’s Bar in the city’s downtown area, but left around 2.30am when the bar closed.
Where she spent the 50 minutes between leaving the bar and being captured on the hotel’s security feed is not clear. The bar and the hotel are just 0.4 miles apart.
Heinz’s mother, Amber Heinz, said her daughter was on her way to her apartment when she disappeared.
The journey should’ve taken Heinz around 30 minutes – but she never made it back.
Heinz was working on her doctorate in psychology at Viterbo College
Local law enforcement had been searching near the Mississippi River, using drones and dive units
Heinz’s family realized something was wrong when they couldn’t reach her by phone later Sunday morning.
Local law enforcement had been searching near the Mississippi River, using drones and dive units to scour along shorelines close to where the last-known image of Heinz was captured.
Heinz’s family described her as ‘responsible, kind, and deeply loved.’
‘Her sudden disappearance is completely out of character,’ the family shared. ‘We just want Eliotte home. This nightmare has shaken us to the core.’
During an emotional press conference on Monday, Heinz’s brother, Brett Heinz, said her disappearance is ‘tearing our family apart.’
‘Everyone is just really messed up right now,’ he said. ‘We don’t know where Eliotte is. We need to find her.’
