In a college town, where drinking is often accepted, encouraged and done to excess, it can be hard to walk the line between buzzed and blackout.
When preparing for a night out, most college students probably assume (or hope) their worst outcome will be a bad hangover. However, for many young people each year, the aftermath of a night spent drinking heavily can look darkly grim. Tragically, one of these catastrophes is exactly what police suspect happened to 22-year-old Viterbo University graduate student Eliotte Heinz.
Sometime on the evening of Saturday, July 19, 2025, Elliott went to Bronco’s Bar in La Crosse, Wisconsin, with friends. In the early morning hours of Sunday, July 20, 2025, she was last seen walking at the 500 Block of Front Street South in La Crosse, in front of the Weber Center for the Performing Arts, at 3:22 am. She was seen on surveillance walking alone, and is believed to have been headed toward her apartment, which was less than a mile away. This specific location is immediately adjacent to the Mississippi River.
Four days later on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, her body was discovered at 10:28 am by a fisherman along the Mississippi River near Brownsville, Minnesota. Eliotte’s last known location was not far from the Mississippi River and Brownsville is 13 miles downstream from that location. Eliotte was lying face-down and her body was wrapped in duckweed, a type of free-floating aquatic plant. Friends later located her cell phone on a sign at Courtyard La Crosse Downtown/Mississippi Riverfront, which is 0.4 miles from Bronco’s Bar.
Currently, police don’t believe there is evidence of foul play. However, the full autopsy report will not be available for months.
Many questions remain:
What was Eliotte doing between 2:30 am and 3:22 am on Sunday, July 20, 2025?
During these 52 minutes, was she speaking to someone on the phone?
Did she meet up with someone?
What route did she take from the bar the 500 Block of Front Street South, where she was last seen?
Did Eliotte intend to leave her cell phone behind or was foul play involved?
What did her last cell phone conversations consist of?
Remembering Eliotte Heinz
Photo from Facebook.
Eliotte Heinz of Stevens, Wisconsin, was enrolled in Viterbo University’s graduate mental health counseling program. Born on June 8, 2003, she was the eldest of three children. Eliotte graduated from from University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point in 2024, where she was on the Board for the Psychology Club, and was an aspiring mental health therapist.
Eliotte was 5’4” tall and weighed approximately 120 lbs., with blonde hair and blue eyes. The last time she was seen, she was wearing jean shorts and a white t-shirt.
WISN reported that Eliotte’s family released the following statement about their daughter:
“She was smart, funny, caring, and loved fiercely by us.
“We don’t know why we were so blessed to have her as a daughter or why we are unable to keep her. She is amazing and would have continued to amaze us. We are devastated that she is no longer with us. Our family will forever have a missing piece.
“We cannot thank our family, friends, the La Crosse community, Viterbo University, or the La Crosse PD enough for showing up for Eliotte. They were an amazing light in an incredibly dark space. Eliotte’s walk home is finished. Unfortunately, our family’s walk down this new hard path is just beginning. We love you, Eliotte.”
An Eliotte Heinz Memorial Fund has been established through Community First Credit Union. Those interested in donating can do so at any Community First Credit Union branch, or via mail to: N1230 County Road CB, Greenville, WI 54942. Donations must include a note indicating the contribution is intended for the Eliotte Heinz Memorial Fund.
Alcohol, Walking Alone, and the Mississippi River
La Crosse, Wisconsin, is a city known for its bar scene. Its downtown area is home to more than 20 bars, and combined with Onalaska, another city that borders La Crosse, there are more bars than any other U.S. metropolitan region, reports WTMJ. On its own, La Crosse is also a college town, home to some 20,000 college students attending its three largest universities—University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, Viterbo University, and Western Technical College—and more than 51,000 residents.
The city is sits on the Mississippi River, otherwise known as the “Mighty Mississippi.” The Mississippi River is the second-largest river in the U.S., running from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. It’s known for its strong undercurrents, with some areas more dangerous than others. Swimming in the river is not recommended for safety concerns.
Bringing the focus back to Eliotte’s untimely death, there are questions surrounding the location that her body was found. Eliotte was found 13 miles downstream from her last location, just over the Wisconsin-Minnesota border in Brownsville, Minnesota. Based on the currents, there is speculation that Eliotte’s body would have been more likely to travel towards Goose Island, not towards Minnesota.
If Eliotte did, indeed, pass away from drowning in the river, she wouldn’t be the first in the La Crosse area. Between 1997 and 2006, 10 college-aged men drowned in the river, according to University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Alcohol intoxication was a factor in all 10 deaths. As a result, Operation: River Watch, a public safety effort, was established by University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity and Student Association, Viterbo University, and the City of La Crosse Police Department.
Operation: River Watch appoints volunteers from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Viterbo University, and Western Technical College, to monitor Riverside Park—a public park located on the waterfront in downtown La Crosse—Thursday through Saturday from 11 pm to 2 am throughout the school year. The park closes at 11 pm, and volunteers ensure that no one subsequently enters the park. In 2011 alone, volunteers turned away more than 1,300 people from entering the park after hours, though it’s unknown how many of these people were under the influence, reports News 8000.
According to the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse website, many of the individuals who are turned away from the park are intoxicated, and believe they are walking in the direction of their homes.
In response to the number of fatalities involving drunkenness and drowning, the city of La Crosse also outlawed public intoxication in 2007, making it an offense punishable by the law. A first offense occurs a penalty of $250. Nonetheless, binge drinking and alcohol-related offenses remain problematic in La Crosse. According to La Crosse County, 26.7% adults in the city drink to excess, and more than 1,040 emergency room visits and 740 inpatient hospitalizations are associated with alcohol each year. Further, it’s estimated that alcohol costs the city $60 million in lost productivity annually
With La Crosse being a college town, walking home alone is also generally commonplace, particularly when heading back from bars and especially during the summertime. Operation: River Watch is not operational during the summer months, despite there being students attending graduate school.
NOTE: We will continue reporting on Eliotte Heinz’s case with relevant updates as such becomes available. Eliotte’s story needs to be heard and if foul play was involved, she deserves justice.
Sources
- NBC 5 Chicago — Body of missing Wisconsin grad student Eliotte Heinz found in Minnesota, police say
- People — Police Share Update After 22-Year-Old Grad Student Found Dead in River, but Say Final Autopsy Results Will Take Months
- WISN — ‘We love you’: Family statement after student in La Crosse found dead
- WTMJ — Report: Wisconsin is home to 12 of the nation’s top 20 drunkest cities
- Universities of Wisconsin – La Crosse —Riverwatch History
- News 8000 — River Watch success raises awareness on local drinking culture
- La Crosse County – Alcohol
- Law & Crime Sidebar with Jesse Weber — Shocking Update in Search for Missing Grad Student Eliotte Heinz
- AI See What You Did There — The Disappearance of Eliotte Heinz
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