Latest news with #missingstudent
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Wisconsin graduate student Eliotte Heinz found dead in Mississippi River after disappearing from waterfront
Authorities found the body of a missing Wisconsin graduate student Eliotte Heinz in the Mississippi River on Wednesday following four heartbreaking days of search. Heinz, 22, vanished while walking home from Broncos Bar in La Crosse, Wisconsin at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the La Crosse Police Department (LCPD). She was last seen walking along the Mississippi River waterfront at about 3:30 a.m., and later spotted on surveillance footage walking in the direction of her apartment, which was three-quarters of a mile away. Her body was found in the river just before 10:30 a.m. local time Wednesday near Brownsville, Minnesota—more than a dozen miles from her last known location. Mom Of Missing Wisconsin Grad Student Pleads For Her Daughter's Return: 'Trying To Stay Positive' Heinz's cellphone was found by her friends during the search, according to her mother. Read On The Fox News App La Crosse Police are continuing to investigate and are waiting on autopsy results for an official cause of death. LCPD Chief Shawn Kudron said the "entire department" is sending its condolences. "This was not the outcome we had hoped for throughout this search," Kudron wrote in a statement. "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." Viterbo University released a statement noting it joins the Heinz family, the La Crosse community, and all who knew and loved Eliotte in mourning her tragic passing. "We are heartbroken by this loss and extend our deepest sympathies to her family and friends," Viterbo University president Rick Trietley wrote in a statement. "There are no words that can ease the pain of losing someone so young, with so much life ahead of her. Our hearts go out to Eliotte's family. We hold them in our prayers and stand with them in their grief." Viterbo said it plans on holding a memorial service in Heinz's honor this fall, in coordination with her family, once students return to campus. Heinz's mother, Amber, told "Fox and Friends" earlier Wednesday her daughter was "beautiful inside and out." "She has got the biggest heart and unending kindness for everyone," her mother said. "I think that is noted by how many people have showed up for her. … She is our oldest. Her brother and sister, and her dad and I want her back." Heinz's parents knew something was wrong when they were unable to reach their daughter on Sunday morning. Her family, friends and local police have made "several attempts to locate her with no success," authorities said in a statement. Father Presses For Answers In College Freshman Daughter's Death After Fall From Dorm: 'She Was Our World' In a statement posted by Viterbo University, the family thanked the community for its efforts in helping to find their daughter. "On behalf of our entire family, thank you," the Heinz family wrote. "The outpouring of support in the search for Eliotte has been overwhelming, and we are deeply grateful for the kindness, prayers, and encouragement from the community and beyond." Heinz was a student in Viterbo's mental health counseling program, her mother told Fox News Digital. FBI Agent Jason Pack told Fox News Digital that in a case like Heinz's, the first priority is reconstructing the timeline. "Investigators are reviewing surveillance footage, gathering witness statements, and looking at any phone, social media, or financial activity that could help determine where she went and whether she was alone," Pack said. According to Pack, investigators are likely working to determine if Heinz was alone at the time of her disappearance and whether she left voluntarily. Two Students Dead In Suspected Murder-suicide At University Of Wisconsin-platteville Rideshare services Uber and Lyft told Fox News Digital they are not involved in the investigation. "If investigators believe there was an abduction, or if there is evidence the person crossed state lines or was taken across them, federal involvement becomes more likely," Pack said. "The FBI can be requested by local or state authorities when a case needs additional support or expertise." The area near the Mississippi River where Heinz went missing has peaked local concern in the past. In 2006, the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse launched "River Watch," a campus-based initiative in La Crosse that seeks to prevent alcohol-related accidental drownings in the Mississippi River. Sigma Tau Gamma at UW-La Crosse took over coordination of the program in 2007, though student volunteers come from all three campuses in La Crosse. Volunteers donning reflective vests, flashlights and other gear patrol the walkway every weekend during the academic year on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night in shifts of at least two. Mom Of Missing Wisconsin Grad Student Pleads For Her Daughter's Return: 'Trying To Stay Positive' They stop anyone walking into the park after closing time, and guide those who may be potentially intoxicated away from the river, according to the River Watch website. Partners include the La Crosse City Police Department, Radisson Hotel La Crosse, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Viterbo University and Western Technical College. As the school year had not yet started, it is unclear if the program was operating on the night of Heinz's disappearance. UW-La Crosse and River Watch declined injuries from Fox News Digital. Click Here For The Fox News App Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the police non-emergency number at 608-782-7575. Information can also be sent anonymously to La Crosse Area Crime Stoppers at 608-784-TIPS or submitted online at The La Crosse Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for article source: Wisconsin graduate student Eliotte Heinz found dead in Mississippi River after disappearing from waterfront Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Many College Students Went Missing in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Is There a Serial Killer?
It's a story all too familiar to people in La Crosse and Wisconsin: A young college student going missing after a night in a bar with friends. The latest college student to go missing was a 22-year-old Viterbo graduate student named Eliotte Heinz. A massive search ignited to find Heinz, who disappeared while walking home from a bar in La Crosse on July 20, 2025. Tragically, she was found dead in the Mississippi River on July 23, according to Viterbo. The cause of death is not yet clear; her body was located in the river in Brownsville, MN. For years, dating back to 1997, a string of missing college students turned up dead in the Mississippi River, the victims of apparent drownings. Those students were all males. The full list can be found at the bottom of this article. In La Crosse, authorities have repeatedly attributed the previous deaths to alcohol, not a serial killer. They have not released any details about how Heinz died, though. However, the serial killer theory got a boost by two former New York cops who advanced the belief several years ago that a gang of "smiley face" killers was at work. "Between 1997 and 2006, La Crosse experienced tragedy after tragedy as eight separate college students were found to have drowned in the Mississippi River," the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's website says. "The deaths, contrary to some 'serial killer' theories put forth, were determined to be the results of excessive drinking combined with a close physical proximity to Riverside Park, bordering the Mississippi River." Another drowning death occurred in 2010. Separate theories have also emerged about a young woman from Platteville, WI, named Emma Jacob, also 22. A Reddit thread asked whether there could be a connection between the two cases. Some people on social media are also bringing up the murder of Kelly Nolan in Madison, WI, from 2007. The College Students Found in the Mississippi River The earlier deaths of young men in the Mississippi River, which date back to 1997, sparked years of persistent theories that a serial killer could be operating in the area. The former New York police officer, Kevin Gannon, went on television to push the "smiley face serial killer theory" - that a gang of killers was murdering young male college students throughout the Midwest and leaving smiley faces at the scenes. He was assisted in the research by another officer named Anthony Duarte and a professor, Lee Gilbertson. The "smiley face" serial killer theory got new life in an Oxygen series, which explored it. Some of the drowning deaths extended to the East Coast. Authorities in local jurisdictions have pushed back at those theories, which have never been proven. A gang called the "Dealers of Death" was allegedly linked to some of the deaths, a theory that traces to a mysterious river death in Minneapolis that was later reclassified by police as a homicide, according to Milwaukee magazine. Whether that gang really existed is in dispute, however. The story says there were more than 40 river deaths throughout the Midwest. The Minneapolis case was the death of Wisconsinite Chris Jenkins, found in the Mississippi after a night out. No one has ever been charged in it. According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, investigators spoke of two "possible male suspects: one a possible eyewitness who was already incarcerated and another suspect police were looking to talk to at the time." "After three months of research into the case, Milwaukee Magazine has learned a gang called the 'Dealers of Death' claims involvement in the deaths of some of these men," the magazine wrote in 2008, noting that a convicted murderer "who is also a suspect in a river death that police now believe is a homicide, (allegedly) told the FBI last year that the gang had murdered 40 of the men." "In a letter obtained by Milwaukee Magazine, the FBI said there's no evidence the gang exists, but admits" that the inmate "discussed the gang," the magazine found, noting that "both the FBI and the New York cops" talked to the man. "Milwaukee Magazine also has discovered documents from the New Brighton, Minn., police department in which two men associated with (the inmate)...admit belonging to the Dealers of Death," that report says. A professor named Douglas Swanson wrote a detailed report on the previous disappearances, exploring the theories that a "River Killer" was at work. The report documented the prevalence of taverns and alcohol in the rust-belt city of about 51,000 people that lines the Mississippi River. His article argues that two frames have emerged around missing college students in La Crosse: Frame A holds that alcohol is to blame and that the deaths were tragic accidents, and Frame B argues that a serial killer might be at work. "All the evidence, applied logically, points to the perspective identified here as Frame A," he concluded. The Disappearance of Eliotte Heinz Heinz, who was born on June 8, 2003, "was last seen walking southbound on the 500 Block of Front Street South at approximately 3:22 a.m. on July 20th, 2025. Her family, friends and police have made several attempts to locate her with no success," La Crosse police wrote in a statement. Heinz was at Bronco's Bar in downtown La Crosse with friends "less than an hour before she disappeared," Fox News reported. After closing time, she set off on the .4 mile walk to her home, but she never arrived. Heinz's cellphone "was later recovered by her friends close to the hotel," a source told the Daily Mail. "Sunday morning, we tried to reach her, and we were unable to get a hold of her," Amber Heinz, Eliotte's 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," she told Fox. The La Crosse serial killer theories centered around the disappearances and then deaths of young college-age men, whereas Heinz is female. The FBI eventually deemed that the deaths were accidents in a report. But the theories tore up the town. Police "were heckled when they held a community meeting to assure the public the drownings were accidents," the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. "People accused them of ignoring obvious connections between the deaths—all men, all white, all disappeared downtown." Authorities have taken a number of measures to improve safety along the Mississippi River and the city's famed bar district. Among other things, they "have enacted a public intoxication ordinance and spent about $60,000 on fencing in Riverside Park," the Pioneer Press reported. The Emma Jacob Case The details about Emma Jacob derive almost entirely from a post by a woman named Sydney Wiltsie, who wrote on Facebook on July 22, "My little sister Emma Jacob has been missing since around 9:30 this morning. Her last pinged location was near the mound, or the 'big M' in Platteville, WI. Her car, phone, keys, and purse were all found there. Police are involved and we ask that everyone in the Platteville area keeps an eye out for her and that she is found safe." Platteville police said the Jacob case is being handled by the University of Wisconsin-Platteville police, who told Men's Journal on July 23 to contact the university's public relations spokesperson for details about Jacob. Men's Journal is awaiting a response from the spokesperson. The Lafayette County Sheriff's Department confirmed to Men's Journal that Jacob died, but could not provide additional details on any cause of death, other than saying she was found in "rural Platteville" and that investigators "don't think it's related" to the disappearance of Heinz. The cause of death is not clear; nor is there any publicly known indication of foul play at this point. In an update, Wiltsie wrote of Emma Jacob, "She has been found. At this time we ask you please respect our families privacy as we grieve the loss of our daughter, sister, and auntie. Thank you." Although La Crosse and Platteville are both college towns, they are not very close together, being located about 2.5 hours and 101 miles apart. Some people online have also mentioned the unsolved murder of Nolan, also 22, who disappeared after a night out on State Street in Madison, WI; her body was later discovered in the woods. However, Madison is also not very close to La Crosse or Platteville, and Nolan's death occurred in 2007. Once Missing La Crosse, WI, College Students Here are the other cases of once-missing La Crosse, WI, college students: Richard Hlavaty Hlavaty, 19, drowned "after a street brawl in July 1997," according to Swanson's report. Jared Dion According to the paper by Swanson, on April 15, 2004, "the body of college student Jared Dion, 21, was pulled from the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The discovery of the body ended a five-day search for the student, who had disappeared from a crowd of his University of Wisconsin-La Crosse peers while waiting for a bus outside a local tavern." Dion "was the sixth young man and the fourth college student to have drowned in this stretch of the Mississippi River since 1997, and the 23rd such victim since 1974," Swanson wrote. Luke Homan According to the La Crosse Tribune, Homan, a basketball player at UW-La Crosse, disappeared on Sept. 30, 2006, after a night at downtown bars. His body was discovered in the Mississippi River on Oct. 2 of that year. Patrick Runingen Runingen, 23, of West Salem, was seen walking outside Nutbush City Limits (an establishment) on March 1 or 2, 2001, and his body was found in the Black River on March 8, the Tribune reported. Jeffrey F. Geesey The 23-year-old was seen in a bar in downtown La Crosse on April 11, 1999, and found in the river a month later, the Tribune reported. Nathan Kapfer Like Heinz, the 20-year-old Kapfer was a Viterbo student. He disappeared on Feb. 18, 1998, and his body was found in April by a fisherman, the Tribune reported. Anthony D. Skifton Anthony Skifton, 19, was "found drowned after leaving a house party two days after (Charles) Blatz's death," in 1997, Swanson's report says. Charles Blatz According to Swanson's report, Blatz, 28, was "an out-of-town college student found drowned during the city's Oktoberfest celebration" in 1997. Craig Meyers Meyers, 21, drowned in the Mississippi River in La Crosse in 2010. His blood-alcohol concentration was three times the legal limit, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. That story says his father did not believe there was foul play.. Many College Students Went Missing in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Is There a Serial Killer? first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 23, 2025
The Sun
5 days ago
- The Sun
Body of missing student Eliotte Heinz, 22, is found in river over 10 miles from last sighting as she walked home
THE body of a missing Wisconsin grad student has been found 10 miles away from where she was last seen walking home. Elliote Heinz, 22, was found in the Mississippi River on Wednesday, four days after she vanished on a night out with her friends. 7 7 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. 7 7 7 7
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Najeeb Ahmed: Delhi court closes investigation into JNU student's disappearance
Nine years ago, an Indian student vanished into thin air. Najeeb Ahmed was studying biotechnology at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, when he mysteriously went missing in October night before his disappearance, the then 27-year-old who lived in one of the university's residential hostels was involved in a scuffle with members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a right-wing student group. The students have denied any involvement in his disappearance. For years, India's crime-fighting agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has been trying to figure what may have happened to Mr Ahmed - the agency took over the case from city police in 2017. Now a court in Delhi has finally shut the investigation after the CBI said it had exhuasted all possible leads in the case. "As a parting note, the court earnestly hopes that Najeeb Ahmed shall be traced soon," the court said in the order, which was announced last month. Mr Ahmed's family, however, have alleged the inquiry was not conducted in a proper manner and said they would appeal the decision in a higher court. "What message does it send, that India's premier investigating agency has not been able to find a missing student from one of India's best universities?" Mr Ahmed's mother Fatima Nafees told BBC Hindi. "We will not give up until we find our son."Born in a village in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Ahmed, the son of a carpenter, was the eldest of four. His family made many sacrifices to support his JNU education."After completing his undergraduate degree, he was adamant that he wanted to study at JNU," Ms Nafees said. "I told him you can take admission, but you won't stay in the hostel. You are too naive. But he didn't listen to me." On the night of 14 October, 2016, Mr Ahmed reportedly got into a scuffle with a group of students affiliated to ABVP who were campaigning for hostel elections. JNU is known for its vibrant and intense student politics, with ideological groups often clashing over campus his testimonies to the CBI, his roommate Mohd Qasim said that Mr Ahmed got injured in the altercation and had to be taken to a public hospital, where he was allegedly refused treatment. The doctors told him they could not treat his wounds without a formal crime complaint having been made to the police, his roommate to the court order, Mr Ahmed chose not to file a complaint and returned to campus. He went missing the next day, leaving behind his phone, wallet, and clothes in his hostel room.A CBI report says Mr Ahmed last used his phone and laptop around 10am the day he disappeared. A hostel warden told the agency that he saw Mr Ahmed getting into a tuk-tuk in the morning and leaving campus. Ms Nafees, who had been informed of the scuffle over phone by Mr Ahmed's roommate, was on her way to Delhi to see her son. She arrived in the morning and upon finding him missing, filed a missing persons complaint on 15 October 2016. For days, there was no progress. Protests erupted on campus as students and activists accused authorities of November 2016, Ms Nafees filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, accusing the police of being "slow, misdirected and subjective" and called for a court-monitored probe.A month later, Delhi Police conducted two extensive searches using sniffer dogs across JNU's sprawling campus - but again, nothing was found. In May 2017, the court handed over the investigation to the CBI. A year later, the CBI told the court it had exhausted all possible leads - and asked the bench to close the case. The agency said it had examined more than 500 witnesses, collected information from taxi, bus, train and flight operators, and searched hospitals and morgues, but had found nothing.A one million rupees [$11,600; £8,600] reward for information about Mr Ahmed also failed to yield results, investigators argued. The case dragged on for two more years, when in 2020, Ms Nafees returned to court, this time to challenge the CBI's conclusions. She alleged the agency failed to properly probe the students involved in the scuffle with her son. She said they had a "clear motive", had threatened him, and should have been arrested. The CBI denied all allegations saying they had left "no stone unturned" in looking for Mr agency said it had tracked the phone locations of the nine students involved in the fight with Mr Ahmed that night, but found no evidence linking them to his disappearance. Explaining its decision to finally shut the case, a court in Delhi said that the CBI has investigated "all plausible avenues" thoroughly but "no credible information" could be received about Mr Ahmed's judge dismissed Ms Nafees' plea, noting that while witnesses confirmed verbal threats, there was no "direct or circumstantial" evidence linking Mr Ahmed's disappearance to the fight with ABVP members."Such scuffles and exchanges are not unheard of" in the charged atmosphere of JNU, the order court, however, added that the CBI could reopen the case if new information comes to order has been a huge blow for Mr Ahmed's family and well-wishers. Colin Gonsalves, who represented Ms Nafees in the Delhi High Court in 2018, said he still questioned the investigation. "The police routinely arrest people for minor crimes in India. It's shocking then, that none of the students were taken into custody for questioning," he said. Ms Nafees alleges that her son's religion had affected the seriousness of the investigation."If the victim had been a Hindu boy, would the police have responded the same way?" she asked. "They would have demolished the houses of those suspected," she alleged, referring to the rising instances where homes of individuals accused of crimes are bulldozed by Indian authorities. The BBC has reached out to the CBI for comment. However, the agency has consistently maintained that they have carried out the probe impartially. In 2018, the Delhi High Court had said that they had found no evidence that CBI investigated the case unfairly or "under political compulsions". Ms Nafees says she's not done fighting. Every 15 October, the day her son vanished, she joins a candle march at JNU in his memory. The hope has dimmed, but the wait continues."Sometimes I wonder if I should put a nameplate outside our house," said Nafees Ahmed, his father. "Our house has been renovated. What if he comes, but can't recognise it?"Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
CBS News
5 days ago
- CBS News
Missing La Crosse graduate student Eliotte Heinz found dead, officials say
A graduate student who was reported missing from La Crosse, Wisconsin, over the weekend has been found dead. The La Crosse Police Department said Eliotte Heinz's body was found in the Mississippi River near Brownsville, Minnesota, around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. "This was not the outcome we had hoped for throughout this search," La Crosse Police Chief Shawn Kudron said. "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." The community had been searching for Heinz since she disappeared in the early morning on Sunday near the 500 block of Front Street South. Her school, Viterbo University, had been acting as a headquarters for volunteers in the search. Police are still investigating. Her cause of death is not yet known. Brownsville is about 15 miles down the river from La Crosse.
