Graduate Student’s Cause of Death Confirmed After Vanishing on Late-Night Walk

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of 22-year-old graduate student Eliotte Heinz has come to a heartbreaking close. Authorities have confirmed that the Wisconsin student died from accidental drowning after vanishing during a late-night walk home from a local bar this summer.

Heinz, a graduate student at Viterbo University in La Crosse, was last seen on July 20, 2025, after leaving Broncos Bararound 2:30 a.m. She never made it home. For four agonizing days, her family, friends, and community organized searches along the Mississippi River, posting flyers and pleading for answers.

On July 23, a young fisherman spotted a body floating face down in the water near Brownsville, Minnesota, roughly 15 miles downstream. The La Crosse County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed it was Eliotte.

The autopsy, released Thursday, determined Heinz drowned accidentally. Officials found no signs of trauma, assault, or foul play. Toxicology results revealed her blood alcohol concentration was 0.19%—more than twice the legal driving limit. No drugs were detected.

Medical experts say that level of alcohol can severely impair coordination, balance, and reasoning—dangerous factors near the steep riverbank where Heinz was last seen.

“She had likely become disoriented near the water,” one forensic consultant told us. “At that hour, in darkness, with her level of impairment, it would’ve been nearly impossible to recover footing if she slipped.”

Surveillance cameras captured Heinz walking alone toward her apartment around 3:30 a.m., less than a mile from the bar. Friends told investigators she’d appeared “happy and steady” earlier in the night, but left alone after declining a ride.

The owner of a nearby marina recalled the discovery vividly. “My daughter saw the emergency boats come in that morning,” he said. “The fisherman who found her was shaken. You never forget something like that.”

Neighbors describe Heinz as warm, grounded, and genuine. “She was a very sweet, quiet girl,” said Jonathan Strike, who lived in the same building. “Always smiling, always said hi—even when my dog jumped all over her. It’s heartbreaking.”

Her parents, Amber and Scott Heinz, released a statement shortly after her death:

“Eliotte was smart, funny, and endlessly kind. We don’t know why we were so blessed to have her or why we had to lose her. Our family will forever have a missing piece.”

They added, “Eliotte’s walk home is finished. Unfortunately, our family’s walk down this hard path is just beginning.”

The tragedy has reignited concerns about student safety near the Mississippi River, especially in alcohol-related cases. According to the University of Wisconsin River Watch, at least eight college students drowned in the river between 1997 and 2006 under similar circumstances.

Local safety advocates are now urging universities and city officials to install better lighting, cameras, and barriers near the riverfront’s nightlife district.

“She’s not the first,” said one volunteer with River Watch. “But we want to make sure she’s the last.”