No foul play is suspected in the death of missing Wisconsin graduate student Eliotte Heinz, whose body was found in the Mississippi River Wednesday following a massive four-day search, police confirmed.
Preliminary autopsy results suggest no criminal conduct was involved in the 22-year-old’s tragic death, the La Crosse Police Department announced Friday.
Police said the investigation will remain active as they await final autopsy results to determine the official cause of death, which could take several months to complete.
Heinz, a student enrolled in Viterbo University’s mental health counseling program, vanished early Sunday while walking home from a night out in downtown La Crosse.
She had spent the evening at the Bronco Bar with friends, who said she left to go home around 2:30 a.m. About 50 minutes later, she was captured on security footage walking near the Mississippi River waterfront — the last time she was seen.
Her devastated loved ones reported her missing Sunday morning after several failed attempts to reach her, sparking an exhaustive, days-long search involving police and community volunteers.
Her body was found Wednesday morning about 10 miles downriver near Brownsville, Minn.
“This was not the outcome we had hoped for throughout this search,” La Crosse Police Chief Shawn Kudron said in a statement following the grim discovery.
Heinz’s heartbroken family remembered her as a beautiful, caring and intelligent young woman, while thanking the volunteers and police who aided in the painstaking search.
“We don’t know why we were so blessed to have her as a daughter or why we are unable to keep her,” her family wrote in a heart-wrenching statement, WISN reported.
“She is amazing and would have continued to amaze us. We are devastated that she is no longer with us. Our family will forever have a missing piece.
“We cannot thank our family, friends, the La Crosse community, Viterbo University, or the La Crosse PD enough for showing up for Eliotte. They were an amazing light in an incredibly dark space. Eliotte’s walk home is finished. Unfortunately, our family’s walk down this new hard path is just beginning.”
The college will hold a memorial service for Heinz, in coordination with her family, when students return to campus in the fall.
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