UPDATE: 8-Year-old Last Seen in Minnesota River Found Dead

UPDATE: 12:00 p.m. (KROC-News)  - The Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office said an 8-year-old girl who was last seen struggling in deep water in the Minnesota River has been found dead.

The girl was found near a sandbar around 8:40 a.m. Friday by a crew from the Cleveland Fire Department who has been searching the river.

Original story below:

Mankato, MN (KROC-AM News) - A search is underway in Mankato for a missing eight-year-old girl who was last seen struggling in deep water in the Minnesota River.

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According to the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office, emergency personnel responded to a possible drowning on the river at Sibley Park Thursday evening.

A family with four children were swimming in the river near a sandbar. Witnesses reported two of the children, including the eight-year-old girl, began struggling in deep water. A bystander was able to help one of the children out of the water but was not able to rescue the girl.

Members of the sheriff’s office, Mankato Fire and Police, the Nicollet County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota DNR, and Madison Lake Fire Department are continuing their search efforts on the river Friday.