MINNEAPOLIS — A child's body has been found in the Mississippi River after two days of intense searching.
Crews spent the weekend searching the river after a 6-year-old boy went under the water off Boom Island Saturday and never resurfaced. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office released a statement Monday saying that the body of a young child was found at about 11 a.m., about a half mile from where the child went into the water.
Crews from the Hennepin County Water Patrol and Minneapolis Fire Department responded to the call at approximately 6:20 p.m. Saturday near Boom Island Park, where authorities say the child was part of a group of five children taken to the park for a bike ride.
Some of the children went into the water, including three who went in too deep and started to struggle.
An adult nearby was able to pull two of the children from the water, but one of the children could not be found, according to officials.
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office issued a statement Monday just after 1 p.m., saying that the body of a young child had been found at approximately 11 a.m.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of this child," Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson said in a statement. "This has been an extremely difficult few days. Water Patrol has been working tirelessly and the family has been at the scene the entire time. For them, this heartbreaking story is far from over, but we hope that the recovery of the child's body can be a first step towards healing."
The medical examiner will identify the body and release the name once family members have been notified. The sheriff's office reported that the body was found near the Hennepin Avenue Bridge.
Sheriff Hutchinson held a news conference at 1:30 p.m., saying that the boy's body was farther down the river than they thought it would be, but the current was stronger than anticipated. He said they recovered the body "carefully and with compassion."
Hutchinson said community groups like A Mother's Love were helpful and involved for the entire search, and the family remained at the river as well.
"This is a tragedy for everybody," he said. "This is a 6-year-old boy."
One of the lieutenants coordinating the search has two children. Hutchinson said that lieutenant told him, "This is the toughest one I've ever dealt with."
"It's tough on all of us, but again this is about the family," the sheriff said. "Now we have to support them outside of this time. Because some of his siblings saw him drown."
Hutchinson said the community needs to come together and help the family.
"Now is the time to start acting like human beings and do what we're supposed to do, which is care for each other," Hutchinson said. "This is a tragedy that we're probably not going to get over for a long time, but we can learn from it."
When asked why his crew worked longer hours on the search than is usual, the sheriff responded again by saying, "It's a 6-year-old boy."
"I made sure I told my staff, 'We're not leaving this kid under,'" Hutchinson said. "And we didn't."