Medical examiner confirms body pulled from Mississippi River was missing woman

The search for a north Minneapolis woman who has been missing since last year has officially come to a tragic end.

Monday, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that a body recovered from the Mississippi River in April was that of 21-year-old Alexis Ida Whitehawk-Ruiz.

Whitehawk-Ruiz’s family said they thought she was arguing with someone on the other end of the phone before leaving their home in North Minneapolis on Nov. 16, 2022, at around 8 p.m. Just 15 minutes later, the phone was shut off and has not been turned on since.

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She was found almost six months later, miles from her last known location and in the Mississippi River under unknown circumstances.

While her cause of death is ruled as an apparent drowning, her manner of death is still undetermined, according to the Hennepin County medical examiner.

Efforts to find her in December were supported by the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, the Minneapolis Police and the Minneapolis Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Her death was investigated by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.