PETERSON — The body of a Fillmore County man pulled from the Root River has been identified as that of a Rushford man.
The man was identified as 58-year-old William Michel, according to Fillmore County Chief Deputy Lance Boyum. An official cause of death will be determined pending the autopsy.
On Wednesday, the Fillmore County Sheriff's Office posted on the office's Facebook page that search and rescue teams located the body of a Fillmore County man in the Root River near Peterson. A friend reported around midnight Wednesday that Michel had gone fishing on the river Tuesday and had not returned home.
"A search operation was conducted, and at approximately 1:23 p.m., the man’s body was located in the Root River between Peterson and Rushford by Minnesota (Department of Natural Resources) Officers using an airboat, a short distance downstream from the man’s flotation raft," the post read.
The search was led by the Rushford Fire Department, assisted by the Minnesota DNR, Winona County Dive Rescue Team, the Houston Fire Department, the Rushford Police Department, and the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office.
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