An unidentified man was found Tuesday afternoon floating in the Mississippi River.
A pedestrian spotted the body of a white male from the Washington Avenue footbridge and reported it to police. The man’s age has not been determined.
The Minneapolis Fire Department hooked the body from a boat and brought it to shore at East River Flats Park. Minneapolis Police Sgt. Robin Cole said the body was found wearing only a pair of jeans, which is not unusual.
“Sometimes bodies will bloat so much the shirt will rip off,” Cole said. He added that the man didn’t appear as if he meant to go swimming.
Investigator Mike Burakowski from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said the man could have been in the river five days or more and that identification might take a while.
“Right now we have five reports of people who jumped in the water,” Burakowski said. He said he has to match the reports with the body found Tuesday as well as check to see if foul play was involved.
“We X-ray the whole body to look for metal objects like bullets or knives,” Burakowski said.
He also said he couldn’t look for identification on the body until police had taken crime scene photos.
— Scott Larson