Authorities are investigating the separate discoveries near the Stone Arch Bridge, Bde Maka Ska and the Mississippi River.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Authorities are investigating after three people were found dead at separate public locations in Minneapolis over three consecutive days, including a man discovered Monday near the Stone Arch Bridge. Officials have not announced evidence connecting the deaths.
The latest discovery came Monday afternoon when University of Minnesota police responded to the area of Sixth Avenue Southeast and Main Street Southeast, near the Stone Arch Bridge. A man was found dead there, according to university and local officials. His identity and the circumstances of his death had not been released as of Tuesday.
The discovery followed two other deaths reported over the weekend, one near the Mississippi River and another along the shore of Bde Maka Ska. Authorities have not announced causes of death in the three cases, leaving investigators and medical examiners to determine what happened and whether there is any connection between them.
The first of the three discoveries was reported about 6 p.m. Saturday. Minneapolis Park Police responded to a wooded area near East River Parkway and Oak Street Southeast, close to the Mississippi River. Authorities later identified the person as Karen Lynn Sognesand, 56, of Maple Grove. Officials had not released information about the circumstances leading to her death.
Another investigation began shortly after 11:30 a.m. Sunday when Minneapolis police and Park Police responded to the shoreline of Bde Maka Ska near West 36th Street and East Bde Maka Ska Parkway. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office sent water patrol deputies to the lake after receiving a report of a body along the shore. Authorities said the remains were decomposed.
The Sheriff’s Office Dive Team searched the area around the Bde Maka Ska discovery for additional evidence. The person’s identity had not been publicly released, and investigators had not announced a cause or manner of death. The Hennepin County medical examiner is responsible for making official determinations about deaths investigated in the county.
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said investigators from different agencies were staying in communication as authorities examined the deaths. She told WCCO Radio that officials were taking the discoveries seriously but did not want to create unnecessary alarm before investigators determined the causes of death. Witt said authorities still needed to establish whether factors such as drowning or something else contributed to any of the deaths.
The Monday case is being investigated by University of Minnesota police, while local law enforcement agencies are involved in the weekend cases. The discoveries occurred in different parts of Minneapolis: near the university and Mississippi River corridor, at Bde Maka Ska in south Minneapolis and near the Stone Arch Bridge area.
Authorities had released Sognesand’s identity by Tuesday, but the identities of the people found Sunday and Monday remained undisclosed. No cause of death had been announced in any of the three cases, and officials had not publicly identified evidence showing the deaths were connected. The investigations remain ongoing as authorities await further findings.
Author note: Last updated August 19, 2026.