Found Deceased La Crosse Police ask for community assistance locating 22-year-old Eliotte Heinz - Last Seen 3:20 AM - 20 Jul 2025

[LadyL]

The flyer says she was last seen at Bronco's Bar. The first post in this thread says, "The police department said 22-year-old Eliotte Heinz was last seen walking southbound on the 500 Block of Front Street South at around 3:20 a.m. Sunday morning."

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In maps, I have put in Bronco's, the location where she was seen walking southbound (which I believe is in front of the Weber Center for the Performing Arts -- see the photos below this map for screen captures that I think line up with the photo of her walking southbound). Did she live at Viterbo University? I added that as the third stop on the map. The last stop is the location where family & friends were meeting to start their search.


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If she was walking back to a house or apartment (my supposition) around the university, why would she have gone along Front Street as it looks like a detour out of the way? MOO.

yeah that does seem strange to take Front Street if her destination was the university/home

 

[TechGirl]

Not much info has been released so far…. Was Elliote with friends at the bar? If so, why didn’t they leave together given the time of day? What was her condition when she left the bar? Did she live on or off campus? Was it common for her to walk home alone at night? Who was the last person she talked to? Did she seem depressed lately? Had she met anyone new or used a Dating App recently? Recent break-up with a boyfriend? Need more info….

 

[swanniee11]

@TechGirl All very good questions. I recall being 22 and I wouldn't go to a bar just to hang out by myself, Meeting friends yes. I thought maybe she worked there since that bar closes at 2:30am (according to google)

 

[Sjöberg]

I do agree with other posters, that there is probably something we don't know about, that caused the level of concern by the family. This can go many ways, but none of them are good, imho.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1947738836949164463

 

[truthfinder2019]

So she left Bronco’s at 2:30 am according to Daily Mail, and was last seen in cctv at 3:22 am.
From the bar to 500 Front Street is only 9 mins on foot, what did she do during the other 50 mins or so ?

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Note that the theatre in front of which she was last seen, is of Viterbo University

 

[Dotta]

So she left Bronco’s at 2:30 am according to Daily Mail, and was last seen in cctv at 3:22 am.
From the bar to 500 Front Street is only 9 mins on foot, what did she do during the other 50 mins or so ?

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Note that the theatre in front of which she was last seen, is of Viterbo University

From my DM link above:

"...vanished along the Mississippi River ..."

That sounds ominous IMO

 

[otto]

Looking forward to cell phone info. It looks like she's walking and talking, or using her phone for maps.

Where is the last phone ping?
What was her last activity using her phone?

 

[Vaderman]

From my DM link above:

"...vanished along the Mississippi River ..."

That sounds ominous IMO

Agreed. This already seems similar to the Riley Strain disappearance.

Edit--I was actually thinking of the Caleb Harris disappearance, but Riley Strain is sadly probably more fitting.

 

[TechGirl]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1947738836949164463

“The family of a missing graduate student are desperately seeking answers after she disappeared on a night out with friends.”

So we now know she was out with friends before leaving the bar. Did she leave alone or is it possible she walked a friend to her apartment and was on her way back to her’s when she disappeared? Does she live on or off campus? Knowing her address would be helpful, but there may be reasons it isn’t being released.

 

[mickey2942]

What is worrisome is her age, so attractive and petite frame. Not unlike Eliza Fletcher, Mollie Tibbets, Dru Sjodin, Chianti Dixon. I have noticed that most women who are abducted are petite.

I have been following many of these cases. I hope that she is found safe quickly.

 

[Pennyfeather]

The flyer says she was last seen at Bronco's Bar. The first post in this thread says, "The police department said 22-year-old Eliotte Heinz was last seen walking southbound on the 500 Block of Front Street South at around 3:20 a.m. Sunday morning."

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

In maps, I have put in Bronco's, the location where she was seen walking southbound (which I believe is in front of the Weber Center for the Performing Arts -- see the photos below this map for screen captures that I think line up with the photo of her walking southbound). Did she live at Viterbo University? I added that as the third stop on the map. The last stop is the location where family & friends were meeting to start their search.


View attachment 603182

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

View attachment 603183

View attachment 603184

If she was walking back to a house or apartment (my supposition) around the university, why would she have gone along Front Street as it looks like a detour out of the way? MOO.

Thank you for posting this. I agree that's the exact location she was last seen, at the Weber Center. There are cameras on the building now (if you look in street view the cameras aren't there, so they must've been installed since then.)
As for why she would have been walking on Front Street, I agree it's out of the way if she was going straight home from the bar. About 4 blocks behind Eliotte in the photo (to the north) is Riverside Park, and that's where you would go to sit and look at the river. So it's possible she went there after the bar, then mapped her way home and it sent her along Front St.

 

[TMich6811]

I'm local to this one. Thankfully the community is going a good job of getting Eliotte's face out there on the news, facebook, and fliers.

I took a walk around the area she was last seen. This immediate area used to all be industrial years ago, and now it's a mix of nice new businesses and ugly stuff a block away. Where she was last seen is just about the end of the nice part.

She was very close to the Mississippi river, but she had just walked past the places you'd go to get to river itself. IMHO, she could not have made it to the river without being on camera, or climbing over a fence and some ugly stuff. Still, there are crews searching the river, which is good.

There are two hotels right there, and she's heading right toward one of them - Courtyard by Marriott. It looks like it's possible to walk past the hotel or into their parking lot without being on camera. I'm assuming their front entrance has a camera.

One block to the east is the other hotel, Fairfield Inn. The way she's walking is not the natural way to get there. She'd basically be walking on one really unwelcoming block, to come up to the back of the hotel. There is a side entrance, and I didn't see any cameras anywhere along here including that entrance.

The only other thing right here is the Cass Street Bridge, which is our biggest landmark (you would not need to be using maps on your phone to find it.) There is a stairway leading up to the bridge. The stairway itself doesn't seem to have cameras, but I'm pretty sure the top of the bridge does.

One other note: bars legally have to close by 2:30am here. She was last seen at 3:22am, so almost an hour later.

Keepng any further speculation to myself, as I'm not sure it would be allowed or helpful.

Everything MOO: my opinion only / my local observations only

In Google maps it looks like the brick building across the road has cameras in the back so if she went into that parking lot she would have been seen.

Looks at Google reviews to find pics of the Marriott to identify cameras, I don’t see cameras but -
Through this parking lot there is the fence to the river as you mentioned but it doesn’t see to high to climb or something?

 

[Pennyfeather]

UPDATE: No criminal conduct found in death of Eliotte Heinz

The Brief

www.news8000.com

Local news report from today. I wanted to note the spot where the reporter is standing and looking at the river, while she talks about the search. She's standing in the parking lot south of the Courtyard hotel, which is a block south of Eliotte's last photo. You can see it's some distance to the river, with a bunch of pipes and stuff in the way. If you can see it, there's a big black pipe running along this whole way, and I have to keep telling my self it's not a sewage pipe. I'm attaching my own photo from this same spot.

The next photo is from where Eliotte was last seen, looking west. Hopefully you can see there's a path to a couple of benches that overlook the river. There are cameras here.
There's also a walking path that goes along the river, and ends where those benches are. So she could have been walking along that instead of on Front St, if she wanted to be by the river.

I also mentioned in my previous post that the big city park (Riverside Park) is a few blocks behind Eliotte in her last photo, and that park is where you'd normally go to be by the water. The park is closed at night, but it's possible she went to that park after the bar, and then it would make sense why she's on this street.
So what I'm trying to get at is that whether or not she went to the park, she definitely walked past this little overlook spot. It's possible she passed that up, went further south, then saw a bunch of nasty pipes and decided to climb over one to get to the river. But to me it doesn't seem like she wanted to do that, she looks like she's trying to get home.
I'm going to post again with some more photos from this area. I hope these are helpful.

edited to hopefully fix images

 

[Pennyfeather]

In Google maps it looks like the brick building across the road has cameras in the back so if she went into that parking lot she would have been seen.

Looks at Google reviews to find pics of the Marriott to identify cameras, I don’t see cameras but -
Through this parking lot there is the fence to the river as you mentioned but it doesn’t see to high to climb or something?

Thanks! I was typing up a post when you posted this. The fence also stops at the south end of the Marriott property - I apologize that I didn't realize that when I posted yesterday.
I couldn't see any cameras on the Mariott (Courtyard). They might have some that cover the front entrance, but there are trees there so they might not cover the sidewalk.

 

[TMich6811]

Thanks! I was typing up a post when you posted this. The fence also stops at the south end of the Marriott property - I apologize that I didn't realize that when I posted yesterday.
I couldn't see any cameras on the Mariott (Courtyard). They might have some that cover the front entrance, but there are trees there so they might not cover the sidewalk.

I wonder if she decided to cut through and look at the bridge. It’s pretty I’m drunk kind of thing

 

[Pennyfeather]

Some more photos from this area:

This would have been Eliotte's POV when that last photo was taken at 500 Front St. It would have been fairly well lit at night. Posting this to contrast with the next few.

This would have been her POV is she walked 1 more block south, and continued looking south. Past the bridges are a bunch of warehouses, off to the right is something industrial. If you can see the warehouse under the 2nd bridge, it does have cameras on the back.

Here is the POV from the same spot, looking east. Not very inviting either, but just past what you can see in the photo, at the end of the bridge is 2nd street, which probably had traffic even this time of night. I couldn't see any cameras anywhere along here. Previous poster mentioned the brick building with the camera on the back - I'm not confident that would have reached this far back into the parking lot.

POV if you headed east from the last photo. Again, not very inviting, but just past this little stretch is 2nd street and the Fairfield Inn (on the opposite side of this warehouse) and it would be getting less industrial.

There's also a stairway to go up the bridge. I'm pretty sure there are a bunch of cameras up on top, but I'm not great with heights so I didn't go all the way up. This sign that I got from the back says to call 988 if you need counseling. I don't think this bridge is any kind of hot spot for that, just pointing it out because the sign is there.

So basically she was photographed going south and nearing the end of a well-lit area with restaurants, a hotel, and theater. A block further south it starts to look industrial, not very inviting in any direction, maybe the east is the least uninviting. And camera coverage isn't great.
I'm not going to speculate on anything, but hopefully this is helpful to show what the area is like.

 

[Pennyfeather]

I wonder if she decided to cut through and look at the bridge. It’s pretty I’m drunk kind of thing

It's possible. It would have been visible from where she was photographed, and probably other spots where she was, too.
I don't always like to use body language, but to me she looks like she's pretty determined in her walking. Like "oh **** it's late, I better get home asap."

 

[hudsonjr]

I live in the area and would be concerned that google maps tells people to walk on Front Street that far down. I don't think there is a sidewalk there and calling it a road is generous. I've taken that road after events when traffic is crazy and it's not well marked, there's no light, and has places where it seems like dirt/gravel. I would never take that road in normal circumstance.

If it were me I would take King St. east at least a few blocks and then take one of the more well lit routes South. I would say King St. isn't bad, but I get my car serviced near there and there are sometimes sketchy people in the area as there is a Greyhound bus station there. That bus station is about 2 blocks East of where she was last seen.

[Mod snip - Gossip is not allowed]

 

[TMich6811]

dbm