The body of an unidentified man, who appeared to be 18 to 20 years old, was found in the Mississippi River, near the Washington Avenue Bridge on Monday morning, after a student spotted it, Minneapolis police said.

The body appeared to have been in the river for some time and is being investigated by the Minneapolis Police Homicide Unit, although the cause of the man’s death has not been determined, Lt. L.A. Evenrud of the Minneapolis park police said.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiners Office said the autopsy and identification of the body should be completed Tuesday morning.

A female student on her way to class spotted the corpse floating along the river on the West Bank, Evenrud said.

Police officials from several departments searched for the body Monday morning, and a Minneapolis Fire Department boat recovered the body near the University’s Centennial Showboat’s dock before noon, Evenrud said.

He said he thinks this is the third body found in the Mississippi this year, which he said is average.

In the two previous cases, two women jumped off the Franklin Avenue bridge at different times in January. One woman was found dead, and another was pulled ashore and survived, Evenrud said.

– Tim Sturrock