Investigation underway after woman’s body found near Rochester

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office is confirming a woman’s body was found in Cascade Township Monday afternoon.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, a woman was walking her dog at 4:24 p.m. when her dog started pulling her toward the ditch on West River Road Northwest near River Bluff Lane. As the woman approached the ditch, she discovered a human arm sticking out of the snow. She called law enforcement.

Investigators say they have identified the woman. They are waiting until all family is notified before releasing her name. They are not saying how long the woman’s body was outside in the cold. They say her body was intact when it was discovered.

Authorities have conducted a neighborhood canvas in hopes of finding security camera footage with any details to the crime.

As of right now authorities do not believe the public is in any danger and say it was a location of opportunity.

“We need to find out what led up to her being there who she was with. Based on what we have, we believe it to be a suspicious death, so we want to be able to follow it through,” Olmstead County Sheriff’s Captain Schueller said.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is assisting in the investigation.

“We have a lot to follow up on. The most important part is going to be to make the family notifications so we can start asking them questions, maybe when they last had contact with her, how that went, if anything was talking about, maybe if they know any associates for her so we can start doing the follow up on that,” Schueller said.