Chad Rygwall's small plane was pulled from the Mississippi River in Anoka County on Sunday afternoon and, as expected, the body of the 47-year-old Princeton, Minn., man was found inside, sheriff's officials said.
Anoka County deputies solemnly packed away gear and wrapped up their efforts on the river as Lt. Brent Erickson talked to the media Sunday afternoon in Mississippi Point Park in Champlin.
Erickson said the Anoka and Hennepin County dive teams and a local salvage company tried to recover the plane Saturday evening, but the swift current and swirling debris made it too dangerous.
A commercial diving company was contacted and a diver was in the water by noon Sunday.
The diver reached the wreckage, attached lines and the plane was pulled from the water about 12:45 p.m. on the Dayton side of the river, Erickson said.
Rygwall's body was taken to the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office in Ramsey about 1:40 p.m., Erickson said.
The body of his wife, Jill Rygwall, 48, had been found in the river shortly after the late afternoon crash Friday.
The couple, both flying enthusiasts, were on a sightseeing flight, flying low to see the fall colors. Chad Rygwall, the pilot, hit power lines that stretched across the river and the plane nose-dived into the water. The wreckage was found by sonar about 300 yards downriver from the power lines.