ALMA, Wis. - A woman is dead after drowning in the Mississippi River near Alma, Wisconsin Wednesday night.
The Buffalo County Sheriff's Office says the 35-year-old woman was standing on a sandbar where the river runs through Buffalo City around 6:50 p.m. when she either stepped off a ledge or was swept away by the current.
Witnesses say the woman disappeared below the surface of the Mississippi River and did not come back up.
She was not wearing a life vest.
Rescuers arrived just after 7 p.m. and began a search for the victim. They discovered her body approximately 150 yards down river around 8:30 p.m.
Authorities will release the name of the woman after relatives have been notified.
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