Twin Cities Plane Crash: Second Body Recovered From Mississippi River (UPDATE)

ANOKA COUNTY, MN — Authorities have reportedly recovered a second body on Sunday after a small plane crashed into the Mississippi River and the victim is believed to be Chad Rygwall, the husband of the woman whose body was previously pulled from the river.

According to a report in KSTP, Lt. Brent Erickson of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office said Rygwall was likely the pilot and his body has been taken to the medical examiner's office for positive identification. Jill Marie Rygwall was identified as the woman who died Friday in the plane crash in Ramsey.

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office told KARE 11 that several witnesses on a pontoon pulled a woman's body from the river.

Witnesses said the plane nosedived into the water.

The plane was mostly intact but the wings were unattached upon recovery, according to the KSTP report. Chad Rygwall was found inside the plane, which was about 12 feet deep in the water.

Witness Jeremy Scott told KSTP he saw the plane flying about 20 or 30 feet above the water. "I saw the guy in the airplane, and about five or 10 minutes later I started hearing sirens," he told the news station. "I thought he was taking scientific measurements. There wasn't any sputtering. He wasn't gliding and the engine was running, but he looked very serious."

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Authority are both assisting in the investigation. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Minnesota Patch, click here to find your local Minnesota Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

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