By Bruce Karnick

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Warning: this report revolves around graphic content. It is presented in as respectful of a manner as possible. Monday, August 16, a call was made to 911 by a worker at the lock and dam stating they saw a severed arm in the water.

Captain Dan Bianconi with the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office explained the call and the situation. “[It was] reported that they had seen an arm while they were in the lock and dam with the barge and in the boat, you know, pushing the big barges and everything. Obviously, you know how the turbulence with the water is there so it was only seen for just a quick second. We went out there and were not able to locate any arms or any obvious human body parts. We did recover some remains that are not confirmed as being human, we suspect that they are, but we just we don’t even know they are there at this point.”

The remains that were found went with the Hennepin County Medical Examiner for testing and is still under investigation.

“By the time we responded and got there, and we never observed any of that,” added Captain Bianconi regarding the arm. “We don’t have any reason to believe that it’s not truthful in any way. So, we’re acting that it is credible and that there was something there, but we just weren’t able to recover anything. We searched the area by boat and by air via drone and we’re not able to locate anything.”

It is unclear if the two are related and it is also unclear as to where the various remains are from. If you come across a situation like this, aside from contacting 911, remember that the discovery is going to end up as evidence. If it as risk of disappearing due to being carried away by water, secure it without touching it and doing additional damage or putting yourself at risk. If there is any doubt, simply document what you can with pictures or video and contact authorities.

Deputy Jordan Klug of the Dakota County Sheriff’s office recently finished the water search near the Lock and Dam. Photo by Bruce Karnick