Police working to identify body found in Mississippi River

A body was found floating on the surface of the Mississippi River near downtown St. Paul Monday morning, police said.

The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office Water Patrol was called to the river shortly after 9:00 a.m. on reports of a deceased body in the river, sheriff's office spokeswoman Holli Drinkwine said.

Workers on a barge spotted the body near Alabama Street and the Highway 52 Bridge, Drinkwine said.

The body, which was partially clothed, was so decomposed authorities turned it over to the county medical examiner's office for identification, St. Paul Police spokesman Paul Schnell said.

"It appeared as if it had been there for some time, given the level of decomposition," Schnell said.

Authorities are waiting for an autopsy -- which could take a couple days to complete -- to determine the cause of death and gender of the body, Schnell said.

Schnell said officials will also be looking at missing-persons databases to try to identify the body.

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