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

[Knox]

My thoughts are the same. SMH.

Hi @borndem, I’m pulling that comment back, now that Elliotte has sadly been found deceased in the river. I don’t want to imply foul play occurred without factual information which points in that direction.

 

[TMich6811]

Welcome to Websleuths,
TMich6811 !!​

?

 

[borndem]

Hi @borndem, I’m pulling that comment back, now that Elliotte has sadly been found deceased in the river. I don’t want to imply foul play occurred without factual information which points in that direction.

Thanks, Knox.

So sad. My heart is heavy. Thinking of her family and of others who knew and loved her.

 

[Pennyfeather]

Welcome to Websleuths,
Pennyfeather !!​

​

Thanks! I've been reading WS as a guest for a while now. Finally joined in the hope that I could help this young lady in some tiny way.

 

[Knox]

Thanks, Knox.

So sad. My heart is heavy. Thinking of her family and of others who knew and loved her.

I echo that feeling, mine too.

 

[LadyL]

RIP dear Eliotte. Condolences to her family.

 

[Sjöberg]

So sad that she was found in the river.

As for now, I'm not sure what that means: murder, suicide or accident? All are on the table for me. What is worrisome is the possible combination of strangulation and body being in the river - determining cause of death and other evidence might be almost impossible.

I do hope digital data will help with what it means: say, was she meeting with someone, had she been googleing suicide-related things, was she mapsing way home, did she communicate anything about her plans, anything. I personally find accident the least likely for now.

 

[Serononin]

It seems not uncommon for young men who went missing after a night on the town to end up in a river. (There’s been chatter about a serial killer responsible for this around the country, but it sadly seems like it’s the mixture of being drunk late at night and being too close to water?). But I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this scenario with young women.

Here in the UK it seems like just about every major city has rumours of a serial killer who kills people by pushing them into canals or rivers, but there's no evidence it's anything but a series of mostly-alcohol-fuelled accidents. I think it's usually young men because they try to urinate in the water and then lose their balance, but I could see a woman leaning over to vomit, for instance, and falling in

 

[snooptroop88]

Eliotte's phone being found near the hotel (provided that piece of info's correct)-- that's of interest in terms of how this may have happened. The hotel is right on the banks of the river, but if someone were to have fallen into the river, the phone would theoretically be left right near/on the banks. The victim would have to make something of an effort to reach such an area. Why would Eliotte have done that? Without some interceding outside factor, what would prompt her to wander onto hotel grounds at near 3am/4am when she's on her way home? It's definitely possible (maybe her phone battery died and she needed to charge somewhere), but it doesn't seem likely. I mean, hotels are open all night, if she felt a need to move in the direction towards the hotel grounds, I'd guess she'd just walk in & talk to someone at the front desk, which is usually fairly easy to spot, even if it's very dark.

This wasn't Eliotte's first year at this campus, was it? Does anyone know? Because if it was, the odds become astronomically higher in my mind that she perhaps got lost and/or maybe accidentally wandered into a hazardous (in some respect) area.

RIP Eliotte. Condolences to the family, which is experiencing something so horrendous it has to be unimaginable.

 

[Knox]

Eliotte's phone being found near the hotel (provided that piece of info's correct)-- that's of interest in terms of how this may have happened. The hotel is right on the banks of the river, but if someone were to have fallen into the river, the phone would theoretically be left right near/on the banks. The victim would have to make something of an effort to reach such an area. Why would Eliotte have done that? Without some interceding outside factor, what would prompt her to wander onto hotel grounds at near 3am/4am when she's on her way home? It's definitely possible (maybe her phone battery died and she needed to charge somewhere), but it doesn't seem likely. I mean, hotels are open all night, if she felt a need to move in the direction towards the hotel grounds, I'd guess she'd just walk in & talk to someone at the front desk, which is usually fairly easy to spot, even if it's very dark.

This wasn't Eliotte's first year at this campus, was it? Does anyone know? Because if it was, the odds become astronomically higher in my mind that she perhaps got lost and/or maybe accidentally wandered into a hazardous (in some respect) area.

RIP Eliotte. Condolences to the family, which is experiencing something so horrendous it has to be unimaginable.

Only LE and the friend she walked part of the way home with, know how impaired she appeared to be on the walk home.

We saw one single still shot, I thought that was kind of odd? Also thought surely they have cameras inside the bar and more footage of the walk before she went into the river. But nothing other than a single still was shown to us.

Remember the video we saw of of Riley Strange, where he was running and fell down and hit his head? For me that was heartbreaking to watch.

I’m left wondering about this with Elliotte. LE has the information but aren’t releasing any if it.

 

[Knox]

Eliotte's phone being found near the hotel (provided that piece of info's correct)-- that's of interest in terms of how this may have happened. The hotel is right on the banks of the river, but if someone were to have fallen into the river, the phone would theoretically be left right near/on the banks. The victim would have to make something of an effort to reach such an area. Why would Eliotte have done that? Without some interceding outside factor, what would prompt her to wander onto hotel grounds at near 3am/4am when she's on her way home? It's definitely possible (maybe her phone battery died and she needed to charge somewhere), but it doesn't seem likely. I mean, hotels are open all night, if she felt a need to move in the direction towards the hotel grounds, I'd guess she'd just walk in & talk to someone at the front desk, which is usually fairly easy to spot, even if it's very dark.

This wasn't Eliotte's first year at this campus, was it? Does anyone know? Because if it was, the odds become astronomically higher in my mind that she perhaps got lost and/or maybe accidentally wandered into a hazardous (in some respect) area.

RIP Eliotte. Condolences to the family, which is experiencing something so horrendous it has to be unimaginable.

I posted a picture of her graduation last year, so I believe this was her first year at Viterbo. She was pursuing her Masters there.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"We don't know why we were so blessed to have her as a daughter or why we are unable to keep her. Eliotte's walk home is finished. Unfortunately, our family's walk down this new hard path is just the beginning," the family said in a statement.

Missing 22-year-old Wisconsin graduate student found dead in the Mississippi River

Eliotte Heinz, a 22-year-old graduate student in Wisconsin was found dead on Wednesday after going missing over the weekend, officials said.

abcnews.go.com

 

[truthfinder2019]

• The footage was captured by a camera outside the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. Her cellphone was later recovered by her friends close to the hotel.
• She left the bar around 2.30am when the bar closed. Where she spent the 50 minutes between leaving the bar and being captured on the hotel’s security feed is not clear. The bar and the hotel are just 0.4 miles apart.
• Her mother said her daughter was on her way to her apartment when she disappeared.
• Family describes her as responsible, with the disappearance being out of character.

Tragic end to hunt for missing student Eliotte Heinz, 22

Eliotte Heinz, 22, hadn't been seen or heard from since the early hours of Sunday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[truthfinder2019]

Police have stated that, based on initial findings, there is no immediate indication of foul play. However, the case remains under active investigation. A complete autopsy and toxicology screening are being carried out to determine the official cause and manner of death.

While many questions remain unanswered, the coming days may offer more clarity through the medical examiner's findings. Police say their investigation remains active, and the community continues to support the Heinz family as they process an unimaginable loss.

Eliotte Heinz Found Dead in Mississippi River: Search Ends in Tragedy After Wisconsin Woman Vanishes After Bar Visit

The body of Eliotte Heinz, a 22-year-old woman from Wisconsin who vanished after leaving a bar, has been found in the Mississippi River. Her disappearance sparked a days-long search that ended in heartbreak.

www.ibtimes.co.uk

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1948500881638387902

 

[LadyL]

Here in the UK it seems like just about every major city has rumours of a serial killer who kills people by pushing them into canals or rivers, but there's no evidence it's anything but a series of mostly-alcohol-fuelled accidents. I think it's usually young men because they try to urinate in the water and then lose their balance, but I could see a woman leaning over to vomit, for instance, and falling in

it's a phenomenon in the U.S. and other countries too ... same rumours too

 

[LadyL]

• The footage was captured by a camera outside the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. Her cellphone was later recovered by her friends close to the hotel.
• She left the bar around 2.30am when the bar closed. Where she spent the 50 minutes between leaving the bar and being captured on the hotel’s security feed is not clear. The bar and the hotel are just 0.4 miles apart.
• Her mother said her daughter was on her way to her apartment when she disappeared.
• Family describes her as responsible, with the disappearance being out of character.

Tragic end to hunt for missing student Eliotte Heinz, 22

Eliotte Heinz, 22, hadn't been seen or heard from since the early hours of Sunday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

that's very worrisome ... how did she lose her phone?

 

[airportwoman]

that's very worrisome ... how did she lose her phone?

That's probably going to be part of the investigation.

 

[Knox]

that's very worrisome ... how did she lose her phone?

It sounds like she went into the river near the Marriot. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was found on the river bank. All MOO.

 

[dotr]

Jul 24, 2025 Law&Crime Sidebar with Jesse Weber
Eliotte Heinz, 22, vanished after a night out in La Crosse, Wisconsin, just steps from the Mississippi River. Her family clung to hope during a frantic three-day search, but a tragic discovery confirmed their worst fears. Law&Crime’s Elizabeth Millner breaks down the surveillance footage, police timeline, and unanswered questions surrounding Eliotte’s heartbreaking disappearance with private investigator Steve Fischer.