Body of missing student Eliotte Heinz, 22, is found in river over 10 miles from last sighting as she walked home
Elliote Heinz, 22, was found in the Mississippi River on Wednesday, four days after she vanished on a night out with her friends.
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Heinz was last seen on surveillance footage at around 3 am on Sunday while walking home from a downtown bar in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The walk to her apartment from the Bronco Bar was only supposed to be 30 minutes long, but Heinz never returned home.
A fisherman found Heinz's body at around 10:15 am on Wednesday in the Mississippi River near Brownsville, Minnesota, police said.
Less than 15 minutes later, Minnesota cops called the La Crosse Police Department to tell them that a body had been found.
'This was not the outcome we had hoped for throughout this search," La Crosse Police Chief Shawn Kudron said in a press release.
"Our thoughts are with Eliotte's family, friends and all those who knew Eliotte."
Heinz's cause of death hasn't been made clear and is awaiting an autopsy.
LCPD was notified that her body was found by the Houston County Sheriff's Department, which is across the Mississippi River from La Crosse.
Her body was found just south of the Lawrence Lake Marina in Brownsville, which is more than a 10-mile drive and seven miles downriver from the hotel where Heinz was last seen.
Heinz was a graduate student studying at a mental health counseling program at Viterbo University.
Missing student Eliotte Heinz, 22, vanishes on 30-minute walk home as desperate family releases last-known picture
The tragic discovery comes after Heinz's mom, Amber Heinz, said her friends found her phone while searching for the student.
Heinz appeared to be on her phone when she was caught on camera walking home from the bar that night.
The footage was captured by a camera outside the Courtyard Marriott Hotel.
A photo shared by police showed Heinz wearing a white-shirt and jean shorts as she walked along the waterfront at 3:22 am on Sunday.
La Crosse Police Department's statement
The La Crosse Police Department in La Crosse, Wisconsin, shared the following statement after Eliotte Heinz's body was found on Wednesday:
It is with sadness that we report, at approximately 10:28am, Wednesday, July 23 rd, 2025, the La Crosse Police Department was notified by the Houston County Sheriff's Department that a body had been located.
In what has been an ongoing proactive effort to locate Eliotte Heinz who had been reported missing on July 20 th, 2025, today Eliotte's body was recovered in the Mississippi River near Brownsville, MN. La Crosse Police are continuing to investigate and will await the results of an autopsy for an official cause of death. The entire department sends their condolences.
'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,' said La Crosse Police Chief Shawn Kudron.
Source: LCPD
She had left Bronco's Bar at around 2:30 am when the bar closed.
It's unclear where she spent the 50 minutes between leaving the bar and being seen on security video at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel.
Heinz's family realized something was wrong when they couldn't reach her on Sunday.
"Sunday morning, we tried to reach her, and we were unable to get a hold of her," her mom told Fox News Digital.
"We talk all the time. We talked to her that week.
"We were texting back and forth, but on Sunday morning when we couldn't get a hold of her, we knew that something was going on."
Heinz's family has yet to share a statement about her death.
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