Missing Grad Student Found Dead

The search for a missing grad student in Wisconsin came to a grim end on Wednesday. Authorities say the body of Eliotte Heinz was found in the Mississippi River near Brownsville, Minnesota, CBS News reports. She disappeared early Sunday after a night out with friends at a bar in La Crosse, Wisconsin. "This was not the outcome we had hoped for throughout this search," La Crosse Police Chief Shawn Kudron said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with Eliotte's family, friends, and all those who knew Eliotte. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from so many within the La Crosse community, the State of Wisconsin and nationally to locate Eliotte."

The La Crosse Police Department earlier said Heinz was last seen walking home along the Mississippi waterfront around 3:30am on Sunday, Fox News reports. Her mother said friends found her cell phone as they searched for her. Brownsville is about 15 miles downriver from La Crosse. Police say they are waiting for an autopsy to confirm the cause of death, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Heinz had just started her second year of grad school at Viterbo University, a private Catholic university in La Crosse, reports WPR. The university thanked police and the many community members who assisted the search. "There are no words that can ease the pain of losing someone so young, with so much life ahead of her," Viterbo University President Dr. Rick Trietley said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to Eliotte's family. We hold them in our prayers and stand with them in their grief."