Sources: Body Found In Mississippi River Believed To Be Barway Collins
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Sources tell WCCO that a body recovered from the Mississippi River Saturday afternoon is believed to be that of missing 10-year-old boy Barway Collins.
Police arrived at the scene near 53rd Street North and Lyndale Avenue North at North Mississippi Regional Park, near the Minneapolis-Brooklyn Center border, at around 1:00 p.m. after receiving a 911 call from search volunteers in the area.
Volunteers on the scene directed deputies to the riverbank, where they located and recovered a body about 20 feet from the shore.
Among those participating in the search party was a local troop of boy scouts. It was that group of boys that spotted what they believed was a body by the banks of the river. The boys notified adults in the group who made the call to 911.
Authorities say the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office is responsible for officially identifying the victim, and they will not be releasing any more information this evening.
WCCO-TV's Reg Chapman Reports
The park is where volunteers have focused their search for Barway, which is about five miles away from where he was last seen outside his Crystal apartment building on March 18.
His father, Pierre Collins, is considered a suspect, and was seen near North Mississippi Regional Park shortly after his son disappeared.
After the body was discovered Saturday evening, Crystal Police arrived at the Collins' apartment building. Sources say Pierre Collins has been at the apartment all afternoon.
Despite the news, Liberian community members say they will not give up hope until the body is positively identified as Barway.
WCCO-TV's Kate Raddatz Reports
Crews recovered another body from the Mississippi River near Fridley Thursday, about five miles north of Saturday's recovery scene.
