Body recovered from pond near Maplewood homeless encampment

The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office says deputies recovered a body from a pond Thursday evening near a homeless encampment in Maplewood.

According to a news release, around 7 p.m. deputies responded to a report from a volunteer with Wings of Hope Search and Rescue that a body was found in a pond near the Ramsey County Maplewood Library.

Deputies found the body of an adult male and turned it over to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office for positive identification, the sheriff’s office stated.

On Tuesday afternoon deputies responded to the same location on a report that a person from the homeless camp went underwater but did not return to the surface. The caller said they heard a person struggling in the pond.

First responders tried searching the pond but were unsuccessful. According to the sheriff’s office, murky water and dense vegetation hampered their search efforts.