The Crow Wing County Dive Team recovered the body of a 13-year-old Minneapolis boy Saturday, July 21, from the bottom of Armour No. 2 mine pit lake in Crosby.
Responders resumed the search at 7 a.m. after calling it off the night before due to hazardous underwater conditions. Using side scan sonar, the boy's body was discovered and recovered from water 92 feet deep near where he was likely swept away by current, according to the sheriff's office.
The boy, whose identity was withheld pending autopsy results, was staying with family-including relatives local to the Brainerd lakes area-at a cabin at True North Base Camp. The sheriff's office reported the boy was playing Frisbee with his father and other family members in the lake before he was reported missing at 7:33 p.m. Witnesses told officials the Frisbee went past the boy and he walked farther from shore to retrieve it.
An inlet of Serpent Creek meets the northwest corner of Armour No. 2, and officials reported a brief but heavy rain Friday evening quickened water currents. The lake bottom in the area gives way quickly to a steep drop-off-from as little as 1 foot to 20 feet to 92 feet.
When the boy began struggling, witnesses said the boy's father attempted to help and was able to reach his son, but was forced to push away as the boy panicked. A grandfather and uncle also attempted to aid in rescue and reported the current in the area was strong. The victim went underwater and did not resurface.
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The county's drone team assisted in recovery efforts Saturday morning and divers re-searched an area of interest from Friday night, when the search was suspended. The search was complicated by uneven and difficult underwater terrain, and the sheriff's office reported visibility in the area was no greater than 18 inches-likely due to the rainfall and strong current. About 11 a.m., sonar on a sheriff's office boat revealed what was believed to be the 13-year-old's body. Divers recovered the body about noon.
The boy's body was transported to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office for autopsy.
Crosby police officers assisted Saturday on shore with the victim's family. Also responding Friday were the Minnesota State Patrol, Deerwood Police Department, the Crosby Fire Department and the Cuyuna Regional Medical Center Ambulance.
