Police: Body Found In River Is Missing Hager City Woman
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Officials with United Legacy say a vehicle was found in the Mississippi River near Red Wing, and the Pierce County Sheriff's Office says the body found inside is that of a missing woman.
Marya Christiansen, a 23-year-old woman from Hager City, Wis., has been missing since Saturday. She left a bar across the Mississippi River in Red Wing after a night out with friends and was presumably headed home to Hager City. The mother of two boys hadn't been seen since.
"We knew that she didn't just take off, so we knew there had to be something," Christiansen's freind Kayla Meyer said.
Officials with the Pierce County Sheriff's Office says a dive and rescue team pulled a white van from the Mississippi River just before 6 p.m. Wednesday near the Trenton Island boat launch "under what's known as the back channel bridge." They later said the van matched the vehicle Christiansen was last seen driving.
Family and friends headed to a private vigil at Bluffs Bar in Hager City Wisconsin later in the night, to remember the young woman.
While the loss is hard for friends like Meyer, who knew Christiansen for eight years, she says the support from the community will help the healing.
"Think before you do things, and be safe, and watch out for yourself and your friends," she said.
United Legacy led search efforts earlier in the day.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help raise funds for a memorial for Christiansen, and to help with funds for her boys.