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'Items recovered' in search for missing girl along Mississippi River in Minnesota

Elle Ragin, of Northfield, has not been seen since June 19.

SARTELL, Minn. — Editor's note: The above video originally aired on July 5, 2022.

A discovery during a search in central Minnesota for a missing six-year-old girl has triggered a request for the public's help.

Elle Ragin, of Northfield, has not been seen since June 19.

Credit: Northfield PD
Elle Ragin

Police believe that Elle's mother, 39-year-old Lisa Wade, may have been involved in her disappearance before she died. 

Autopsy results are pending for Lisa Wade, but police believe she had taken her own life. 

Her body was found Saturday morning at her apartment in Northfield, but there was no sign of her daughter.

Authorities have been focusing on a park along the Mississippi River in their search for Elle. 

For the past few days, search and dive teams have been scouring Mississippi River County Park near Sartell.

The Stearns County Sheriff's Office said the three-day search consisted of 100 volunteers on foot, several K-9 units, drones, water patrol with sonar, the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter and the Stearns-Benton County Sheriff Dive Team.

Authorities say "items recovered at the park lead us to believe it possible that at one point Elle may have been at the park."

Residents living along the Mississippi River from the park to the Sartell Dam are being asked to look for "items related to this investigation and to promptly call" authorities, according to the Stearns County Sheriff's Office news release.

The Mississippi River County Park is more than 100 miles away from where Elle lived with her mother.

The park has reopened to the public.

Anyone with information is asked to call either the Stearns County Sheriff's Office at 320-251-4240 or the Northfield Police Department or the Benton County Sheriff's Office at 320-968-7201.

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