Body of missing Minneapolis man believed to be found in Austin, Texas

Christopher White was visiting college friends and attending a music festival in Austin, Texas.

October 9, 2018 at 1:36AM
Christopher White, from Minneapolis, has gone missing in Austin, Tex.
Christopher White (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The body of a Minneapolis man who went missing while attending a music festival in Austin, Texas, is believed to have been found across the river from where he was last seen.

Austin authorities were alerted about a body found in the water just before 1 p.m. Monday.

"It makes sense it could be. ... Circumstances would suggest that it's quite possible" that it's 25-year-old Christopher White, Kristen Dark, a spokeswoman with the Travis County Sheriff's Office, said at a news conference Monday afternoon.

The body was found in Lake Austin, a water reservoir on the Colorado River, directly across the river from where White and his friends were staying in a rented home while attending the Austin City Limits music festival.

Authorities have called off the search for White. The local medical examiner is expected to confirm the identity, and authorities will look at whether foul play was involved.

"No one comes to Austin City Limits expecting tragedy," Dark said. "Our hearts go out to [White's family]."

White was last seen between 5 and 6 a.m. Saturday sitting and drinking with friends on a patio of the home. Dark said he told friends he wanted to go down by the property's dock and that friends said he was intoxicated.

His friends say they left for a period, and when they came back in the afternoon they noticed that White was not in the house, Dark said.

The friends called police and began looking for White, who left behind his keys and cellphone.

White is an avid outdoorsman and liked to go on walks and hikes, said his girlfriend, Olivia Wilson.

"We had hoped he had gone to see the sunrise and got lost," she said Monday morning after authorities were alerted.

A large contingent of family members, including White's parents, flew to Austin to look for White, who Wilson said "was an all-around wonderful guy. There was nobody who didn't like Chris."

White was originally from Colorado but had been living in Minneapolis for the past four years.

Karen Zamora • 612-673-4647 Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768

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Karen Zamora

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Tim Harlow

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Tim Harlow covers traffic and transportation issues in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and likes to get out of the office, even during rush hour. He also covers the suburbs in northern Hennepin and all of Anoka counties, plus breaking news and weather.

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