The body of an 8-year-old girl was recovered Friday morning, one day after she and another child struggled to stay above water while swimming with her family in the Minnesota River in Mankato, authorities said.
Blue Earth County Sheriff's Capt. Paul Barta identified the girl as Willow Bense, of rural Janesville, Minn. Barta said the body was located about 8:30 a.m. by personnel from the Cleveland, Minn., Fire Department in shallow water about 5,000 feet downstream from where she was last seen.
Emergency personnel were dispatched early Thursday evening to Sibley Park, where a family with four children had been swimming near a sandbar, Barta said.
People nearby said two of the children began struggling in deep water, he said.
"A bystander was able to help one of the children out of the water but was not able to rescue the girl," a statement from Barta read.
