Fisherman discovers grad student Eliotte Heinz’s body in the Mississippi River

New details are emerging about the fateful morning when Wisconsin graduate student Eliotte Heinz was discovered lifeless in the Mississippi River, as locals vividly recount the chilling moment a fisherman found her body floating face down in the water.

The 22-year-old Viterbo University student vanished Sunday morning after a night out at the bars with friends, Fox News Digital previously reported. She was last seen walking along the Mississippi River waterfront at about 3:30 a.m., and later spotted on surveillance footage heading toward her apartment, which was less than a mile away.

Her body was found by a fisherman 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, according to authorities.

The owner of a marina bar near the spot where Heinz’s body was found told Fox News Digital the young fisherman found the body face down and wrapped in duckweed. The body could be seen from the shore.

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Authorities were desperately searching for missing grad student Eliotte Heinz, 22, who was last seen early Sunday. She was found dead four days after her disappearance. (Photos courtesy of Amber Heinz)

The bar owner said the fisherman was spooked, having initially thought the body was a log.

Police were called and those nearby kept their distance to preserve the scene.

Members of the La Crosse Fire Department searched the Mississippi River in LaCrosse, WI, on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. The search was related to the disappearance of Viterbo grad student Eliotte Heinz who was last seen on July 20. (LB/Splash for Fox News Digital)

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It remains unclear how Heinz ended up in the river. Her cause of death is pending autopsy results. However, intoxicated drownings near La Crosse’s downtown area are not uncommon.

The University of Wisconsin River Watch, a campus program launched in 2006 to prevent alcohol-related accidental drownings, noted that between 1997 and 2006 eight college students drowned in the Mississippi River.

Other media reports speculate the number of drownings could be closer to a dozen, as of 2017.

Eliotte Heinz, 22, vanished after last being spotted on a late-night walk in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She was found dead days later in the Mississippi River. (Amber Heinz; La Crosse Police Department )

Contrary to the “Smiley Face” murder theory that circulated around the city, River Watch confirmed the deaths between 1997 and 2006 were determined to be the result of excessive drinking, combined with close physical proximity to Riverside Park, bordering the Mississippi River.

The “Smiley Face” theory suggests the drownings of multiple young men in Midwestern states were murders marked by smiley face graffiti near discovery locations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reportedly discounted the theory, instead attributing the deaths to alcohol.

Some of those found in the river included UW-La Crosse students Jeffrey F. Geesey, 20, whose body was found May 22, 1999, with a .42 blood alcohol content; Jared Dion, 21, whose body was found April 15, 2004, with a .27 blood alcohol content; and Luke Homan, 21, whose body was found Oct. 2, 2006, with a .32 blood alcohol content, according to a report from The Minnesota Star Tribune.

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A business owner, located just steps from the last bar Heinz visited before the tragic discovery on the Mississippi River, insisted that despite the area’s history of fatal drownings, locals still view downtown as a safe and vibrant community.

“It’s definitely a college town, specifically the downtown area on Third Street,” Muy Caliente Taco Broz owner Eric Mora told Fox News Digital. “It’s pretty relaxed, being the younger crowd drinking. It’s never anything too concerning, in my opinion. We get the late-night crowd going into Taco Broz, and we’ve rarely ever had any issues. For the most part, it’s just a bunch of drunk college students, just having fun.”

Exterior view of Bronco’s Bar in La Crosse, WI, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. The bar is the last place where late Viterbo grad student Eliotte Heinz was seen alive. (LB/Splash for Fox News Digital)

Mora said it is more common for young barhoppers to call a rideshare service after a night out. However, he noted many college students do choose to walk home.

“Just in general, I don’t know if it would be a wise idea to be walking alone late at night in any city or in town, but since it’s a college town, we do see a lot of college students tend to walk, even after a night out,” he said. “At least from my time in college, it was rare that anybody would ever want to go down there toward the river… This is, at least for me, the first time of hearing something like this. It definitely came to us as a shock.”

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Taco Broz, which opened its downtown location in December, was closed on the night Heinz went missing. Had it been open, Mora said he would have offered help.

“I wish we would have stayed open,” he said. “[Maybe] we would have seen something if she would have came in.”

Heinz’s family said they are embarking on a path to healing.

“Eliotte is a beautiful person,” the family wrote in a statement to Fox News. “She was smart, funny, caring and loved fiercely by us. We don’t know why we were so blessed to have her as a daughter, or why we were unable to keep her. She’s amazing and would have continued to amaze us. Eliotte’s walk home is finished. Unfortunately, our families walk down this new hard path is just beginning.”