Shocking Update in Search for Missing Grad Student Eliotte Heinz

If you have Ring cameras and you think. that you might have captured an image of. Elliot, please call them. We'll take any. prayers. Any other volunteers that want. to come back tomorrow and help us pass. up flyers, we'd be grateful. Thank you. When 22-year-old Elliot Hines. disappeared following a night out, her. family pleaded for help. And they were. clinging on to hope. But just 3 days. later, their worst fears came true. We're breaking down what happened and. what we know so far about Elliot's. tragic disappearance. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Elizabeth Milner in for Jesse Weber.

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description and pinned comment. Look, it's summertime. A lot of people are out. trying to enjoy the beautiful weather. And what began as an ordinary summer. night out in downtown Lacrosse, Wisconsin turned into a nightmare for. 22-year-old grad student Elliot Hines. Now, after leaving a bar in the early. morning hours of July 20th, she never. returned home. Elliot's disappearance. sparked a desperate 3-day search, one. that ended in a heartbreaking tragedy. Now, let's walk through what we know so. far. On July 20th, around 2:30 a.m., Lacrosse police say Elliot Hines left.

Broncos Bar, a popular downtown hangout. after a night out with friends. Now, she. was believed to be heading back to her. apartment. Surveillance footage later. captured her approximately at 3:22 a.m. walking southbound along the 500 block. of Front Street South, just blocks away. from the Mississippi River. And after a. night out, what do most of your loved. ones say? Text me when you get home. Call me when you get home. So, when her. loved ones repeated calls to her phone. went unanswered later that morning, Elliot's family grew concerned. Now, her. mother, Amber Hines, spoke with Fox News.

Digital, and she said, quote, "Sunday. morning, we tried to reach her and we. were unable to get a hold of her. We. talked all the time. We talked to her. that week. We were texting back and. forth, but on Sunday morning, we. couldn't get a hold of her. We knew that. something was going on." From that point. on, the family's focus was singular. Bringing Elliot home. As Amber Hines. went on to tell Fox Digital, "We were. just really letting the police. department focus on their job here, right now, and just trying to get her. picture out there. That's what we were. here for. We're here for Elliot and.

keeping our focus on her and getting her. home." Despite the fear and uncertainty, Amber held on to hope, telling the. outlet, "We're all just trying to stay. positive and get her home. That's our. focus. We are praying for the best. possible outcome, which is Elliot to. come back to us and continue on her. journey as she grows and becomes the. amazing person that she is. Now, speaking to the Lacrosse Tribune, Elliot. Hines's family made a heartfelt plea to. the public, urging anyone with. information to come forward. >> If you have Ring cameras and you think.

that you might have captured an image of. Elliot, please call them. Let them take. a look at your foot footage. Even if you. don't think it's a big deal, it might be. something that's a really big deal for. her. Um, we'll take any prayers. Any. other volunteers that want to come back. tomorrow and help us pass up flyers, we'd be grateful. Thank you. >> The Lacrosse Police Department issued an. urgent message for the community, too. This is what they had to say. The. Lacrosse Police Department is asking for. the community's assistance in locating a. missing person. Elliot Hines was last. seen walking southbound on the 500 block.

of Front Street South at approximately. 3:22 a.m. on July 20th, 2025. Her. family, friends, and police have made. several attempts to locate her with no. success. Elliot is 22 years of age, 5'4", 120 lbs with blonde hair and blue. eyes. Elliot was last seen wearing a. white t-shirt and jean shorts. A tip. line was also set up. Meanwhile, Vurbo. University, where Elliot was pursuing a. master's in mental health counseling, became the hub of the search efforts. The university mobilized volunteers and.

hosted a community search on July 22nd. Supplies were handed out, flyers were. distributed, and donations were accepted. at the School of Nursing. One of their. posts on the effort reads, quote, "Every. share, every prayer, and every helping. hand matters. We will continue to post. updates as they become available." I. want to thank Upside for sponsoring this. episode of Sidebar. Upside is a free app. that gets you cash back on daily. essentials like gas and groceries. Every. time I pump my gas, I use the Upside. app. I go out to lunch at Chipotle, maybe. Upside, perhaps some gum or some.

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Sidebar and get an extra 25 cents back. on every gallon on your first tank of. gas. Again, that's promo code sidebar. for an extra 25 cents back on your first. gallon of gas. During the large-scale. search, the New York Post reported that. Friends found Elliot's cell phone, but. it offered no breakthrough in locating. the missing grad student. Also on July. 22nd, the Lacrosse Police Department. issued a follow-up plea. This time. urging local residents and downtown. businesses to review their surveillance. footage. In that message, the police. department said, quote, "The Lacrosse.

Police continues to actively search and. investigate the whereabouts of Elliot. Hines. Thank you for the community. support and assistance. We continue to. ask all across downtown businesses and. residents to please check your. properties along with reviewing camera. video footage between the hours of 2:00. a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 20th, 2025 for anyone matching the description. of Elliot. Now, at the same time, Elliot's family released a heartfelt. message through Veteros University. social media channels saying, quote, "On.

behalf of our entire family, thank you. The outpouring of support in the search. for Elliot has been overwhelming and we. are deeply grateful for the kindness, prayers, and encouragement from the. community and beyond. Many of you have. asked, "How can you help?" At this time, the most important thing you can do is. continue sharing Elliot's information on. social media. For those in the Lacrosse. area, we ask that you review any home. security camera footage from early. Sunday morning between 2 to 6:00 a.m. Even the smallest details could make a. difference. If you see anything that may.

help, please contact the Lacrosse Police. Department. But then on July 23rd, the. search for Elliot came to a. heartbreaking end. At approximately. 10:28 a.m. on Wednesday, July 23rd, the. Houston County Sheriff's Office notified. Lacrosse police that a body had been. discovered in the Mississippi River near. Brownsville, Minnesota, just across the. state line. It was later confirmed to be. Elliot's. The Lacrosse Police Chief Sean. Kadron issued the following statement. saying, quote, "This was not the outcome. we had hoped for throughout this search.

Our thoughts are with Elliot's family, friends, and those who knew Elliot. We. are so grateful for the outpouring of. support from so many within the Lacrosse. community, the state of Wisconsin, and. nationally to locate Elliot." Now, police say the investigation remains. ongoing and are awaiting autopsy results. to determine the official cause of. death. Elliott School also released a. statement expressing grief, writing, quote, "Veturbo University joins the. Hines family, the Lacrosse community, and all those who knew and loved Elliot.

in mourning her tragic passing. We are. heartbroken by this loss and extend our. deepest sympathies to her family and. friends. We are especially grateful to. the Lacrosse Police Department for their. tireless efforts and to the many. community members who showed up with. compassion by searching, sharing. information, offering prayers, and. providing food, water, and comfort. during the most difficult of days. Your. outpouring of love reflects the very. best for Turbo, our lacrosse community, and beyond. There are no words that can. ease the pain of losing someone so young.

with so much life ahead of her. Our. heart goes out to Elliot's family. We. hold them in our prayers and stand with. them in their grief. Now, the. Mississippi waterfront, where Elliot. Hines disappeared, has long been a focus. of safety concerns in Lacrosse. Fox News. reported that since 2006, the University. of Wisconsin Lacrosse has operated. Riverwatch, a student volunteer program. aimed at preventing alcoholrelated. drownings along the dangerous river. banks. The program currently coordinated. by the Sigma Gamma fraternity with. volunteers from UW Lacrosse, Murbo.

University, and Western Technical. College typically patrols Thursday. through Saturday nights during the. academic year. Equipped with reflective. vest and flashlights, teams of at least. two volunteers monitor the Riverwalk. from 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., steering. intoxicated pedestrians away from the. water's edge. While the program partners. with local police and businesses, university officials confirmed Riverw. Watch was not active on the summer. weekend when Elliot Hines vanished. The. fall patrol schedule wasn't set to begin. until late August when students returned.

to campus. Now, the disappearance and. death of Elliot Hines has drawn. attention to the dangers young adults. face near waterways, a concern. tragically familiar to the family of. Riley Strain, a University of Missouri. student who drowned in Nashville's. Cumberland River last year under. different circumstances. While. investigations into Elliot's death. remain ongoing, Riley Strain's case, which involved alleged fraternity. negligence, has sparked nationwide. discussion about student safety. Riley. Strain's family recently filed a. wrongful death lawsuit against the Delta.

Kai fraternity, claiming brothers failed. to protect him after he became. intoxicated during a spring formal. The. suit alleges the fraternity encouraged. dangerous drinking habits and abandoned. Riley Strain when he needed help. But. unlike Riley Strain's alcohol-related. drowning, Elliot Hines's case has no. evidence as of now suggesting. intoxication played a role. So here to. break this down even further is missing. person's private investigator Steve. Fiser. So Steve, based on the timeline. and the details that have been made.

available so far, how typical is the. initial response and search effort in a. case like Elliot Hines is? Well, this. was this was a great response and I got. to say the Lacrosse Police Department. and um the university did an amazing. job. This is what I like to see more in. so many of my cases. They they welcome. the community. I mean um you know the. the police department, police chief were. very front uh facing. They kept. everybody informed. They they welcome. the volunteers. the university um made.

the nursing uh college available as a. base camp for university searchers even. supplies and um so this is you know in. so many departments we see this you know. we don't want the volunt we don't want. the community's help um but here it was. different and you know that's a real. comfort to the family too to know that. there's that many highballs out there. looking and and so I really commend uh. you know the family the volunteers the. police department and the university. I.

think they did a really fantastic job. showing up for this young lady and. >> I was really hoping that there would be. a different outcome in this case and. it's just really tragic and horrible how. it ended. And Steve, talk to me a little. bit about some of the common challenges. that investigators face in missing. person cases where maybe their last um. sighting was similar to Elliot Hines's. sighting where or her last um last place. she was seen alive I should say. um in. terms of she was out late, it was. downtown, it was dark, she's um assume.

assuming she's trying to just get home. What are some of the main challenges. that you see in cases like this? >> You know, especially in case like this. where it's right on this is occurring. right on the water uh on a river. >> Um it's a lot like the Riley Strain. case, you know, where we saw it's just. it's as an investigator when you get. that that call that a person's missing, it's late at night, they may have been. out having drinks. Um, and it's along a. river. It's it's it's scary. Uh, because,

>> you know, you don't have to be. inebriated for an accident to happen. I. mean, um, you know, I was looking at. the, um, that the riverfront street, that front street, and there's parts of. the river that have a barrier wall. that's no more than a foot high. Um, and. you're in the water. All it takes, you. know, the water is if it's not, you. know, it's not well lit. Um, so it's. it's dark and you know it can be really. deceiving you death perception wise and. it just takes one stumble and you're in.

and once you're in the river it's so. hard to get out because it's not like. when you're training and you you know um. you know okay we're we're going to be in. the water and how how to get out this it. hits you by surprise and it's that. initial shock and tear and not know what. to do and you're clothed instead of just. wearing a bathing suit. So you got stuff. waiting you down, you got shoes. Um it's. a it's a tragic, you know, um. combination and you know, so as. investigator, you can't find the person.

right away and then you have footage of. them along the riverwalk. It's it's very. unfortunate. >> Yeah. Just horrible. And you know, we're. in the age of 2025. We're in a very. digital um kind of fronted age in terms. of just surveillance footage from. businesses, from residents, all of that. good stuff. How important is it and how. helpful is it to investigators too to. help piece everything together in terms. of last steps, last appearance, all. those types of things? Especially since. it seems like a lot of people have. either ring cameras or other types of.

surveillance footage kind of at their. disposal. I mean it's for me at least it. is the very first step uh especially. when it's an endangered you know missing. uh you know it's not just well first of. all that area because I was checking out. while this is going on you know they. have open webcams along the riverwalk uh. 24/7 that you can watch and and the. businesses of course but beyond that I. mean so many um door dash drivers and or. bike delivery drivers now um for their.

own personal safety are are carrying um. body cams or some sort of dash cam. There's there are surveillance cameras. so many places you don't even imagine. Even the barges that are going along the. river all have are running surveillance. cameras. So, you know, that that's what. I really focus on is these um. surveillance sweeps right away. And I'm. sure that they did that as well. I'm I. know that they released the one image. I. think that they had more than than that. to work on. Um, but it's that's the that.

is it. I mean, literally, you know, um, you can just dot plot them um, walking. along those areas. And the the family. again did a fantastic job. I know that. they came out early, you know, begging. for anybody that had, you know, please. check your ring cameras, check your. business surveillance systems, even if. it was just a shadow walking by. It. could be super important. So again, the. family did an outstanding job along with. the investigators and the community and. it's just an unfortunate, you know,

circumstance that um you know, it's just. tragedy. >> It's a family's worst nightmare truly. And in terms of just the community's. response, it seems like a lot of people. really just wanted to find Elliot. um in. terms of just you know investigators. prioritizing leads or tips from the. public, how does that all work in terms. of what um tips that they may kind of. follow through first versus you know the. others. How do they kind of pick and. determine which leads to follow through. first? >> Yeah. So so the first leads that are are.

going to um be addressed are the people. that are saying listen I have I I think. I have her on surveillance. uh I think. you know and and they'll have they have. a system where you can upload that now. that actually goes through usually. through Axion the body cam company and. where they can immed people can. immediately upload they'll give. privateem a link and they'll upload. whatever footage they have and it'll be. viewed immediately because that's the. number one thing and then it's going to. go to eyewitness um accounts. You know I. I was out you know um walking my dog at.

3:00 a.m. and I I'm pretty sure I saw. her. uh those are going to be more. important than talking to those. witnesses from inside the bar like what. her mindset might have been and stuff. because although that's important. putting eyeballs on her is is the most. important and then then it goes down to. then you're going to get a lot of calls. and it happens in every case of people. with theories or um every case involves. water smiley face killer you know type. of things and then psychics and and. whatnot. So there is a a priority, but.

actual surveillance and eyewitness. accounts are are going to be the. priority with surveillance by far being. the on unless somebody actually saw an. event happen. I I saw somebody stumble. into the water, but then you would hope. they would have called 911, you know, that happened. And just off of what we. know so far, because we're still kind of. waiting for the um results from the. autopsy report and all of that stuff, but in terms of what we know now, do you. think that there's possible foul play. involved or do you think that this was.

just a horrible and tragic accident? >> I don't think there's any indication. that there's foul play. Uh I think that. we would see a little different posture. from law enforcement. Now, of course, they have said listen to autopsies back. We can't um say anything, but I do think. that there's more surveillance than. they've shown available. And even if. they doesn't capture the actual event of. her going in the water, they'll be able. to tell if anybody approached her at any. point, if she was speaking with anybody. was following her. There is a rush to.

judgment sometimes in these cases, and. again, we saw it especially like in. Riley Strain and whatnot where people. were making accusations against people. and it just ended up not being the case. You know, it was a tragic accident. And. I think that's what's going to happen. here. I of I was not one of the. investigators in this case, so I can't. say for certain, but it appears that. this is a um this is an accident. Although, you know, you're going to have. a certain amount of population that are. convinced that it's foul play. A lot of. times the family. will be convinced it's foul play because.

they just can't imagine how an accident. like this can happen. And I understand. that. I I I get that like you're uh. you're trying to make sense of this. But. I think as the reports come in and the. autopsy comes in and and investigators. are able to to speak and say, "Listen, this let me show you more video evidence. and whatnot," then then it'll make more. sense to the family. And that grieving. process is a tough one. And so I. understand they're going to be um you. know, um upset and they're they're most. likely going to think that this couldn't. have been an accident, but um you know,

in the end, I think that's what it'll. be. But again, I was not an investigator. on the case. >> And I know that you had um just brought. up the Riley Strain case. Are you seeing. kind of commonalities between these? Are. you seeing major differences between. these two cases? I mean, I can see kind. of both um aspects from different. spectrums that they do have kind of. similar qualities, but also in the same. time that they are completely different. But do you see any kind of um. similarities and comparisons between the. two cases? >> Yeah, I do. And you know, and these are.

these are those are a couple cases that. got a lot of media attention, but there. are so many more of these. >> And um. >> I'm by no means saying this in a. negative way uh or or saying it it all. was her fault, but you know, alcohol and. being around water are just such. dangerous combinations. As a missing. person's investigator and somebody. that's been involved in search and. rescue for a long time, we just see it. so often. It just takes one misstep to. be in that water. Once you're in, it's. so hard to get out, especially along a a.

river like the Mississippi that has is. such a strong undercurrent. Um, so yeah, there's similarities as far as it was. late. All of Riley wasn't that late. It. was only about 10:00 p.m. You know, nighttime, had a few drinks. Um, dark, you know, it's it's dark in those areas. Uh, not real well lit. And also in both. cases the barriers to entry into that. river were not significant. I mean there. are some areas that like around the.

private like around the hotels and stuff. that she was there that do have. barriers, but there's some that are um. public areas that are wide open. You. could just step right into the river. So. and that and that was a case in Riley's. too. He was under a bridge. So there are. similarities in that case and and. unfortunately once you go in, it's just. unless somebody witnessed it and can. immediately help or call for help, it's. the odds are really stacked against you. >> And one clue that kind of stands out to.

me, I feel like with this case, possibly. leaning to, and I say possibly with very. kind of big emphasis, possibly um. leaning towards it being um a little bit. of foul play is the cell phone. And I. was interested in knowing that her. friends had her cell phone or found her. cell phone, that type of thing. And I. was thinking, okay, well, maybe she was. out searching for her phone late at. night. Maybe alcohol wasn't involved and. maybe she was just searching for it and. then something terrible happened. Do you. think the phone kind of um and her. friends later finding her phone? Do you. think that stands out to you in any.

terms of the investigation? >> It it definitely could. And um. again it's a tough subject because. >> right. >> it can also be a matter of what was that. person's mental mind set at the time. Was there anything going on in their. life that they were distressed over and. um we see that in multiple cases in fact. leaving bars and whatnot sometimes. emotions run high. And it so it it does.

appear that the phone was placed, you. know, somewhere. However, I I in a foul. play um circumstance, I think if it if. the motive was to harm the person, I. don't think the phone would have been a. of concern to that person. Um, however, you know, if if a person's in a bad. mental mindset and and they kind of want. people to know what may have happened, that could be an indicator. You know, it.

could have been. she, you know, there was a long period. there was a period of time when she was. last seen at 3:30, but she left the bar. at 2:30. So, for that hour, what was. going on? You know, was was she on the. phone with somebody? Did she have a a. phone call that upset her and just, you. know, placed the phone down and and. walked off? It's really hard to say. I. think we'll learn more about that. It it. does it is something that has concerned. me, but not so much from the foul play, but possibly from the other end. Was she.

distraught? >> Yeah. And I guess we'll see um pending. the results of the autopsy report. See. what comes out of that, plus um possibly. any other information that police may. relay to the public, too. Steve Fischer, I want to thank you so much for your. time and your insight into this case. Before we sign you off though, is there. anything else you would like to add or. any kind of messages for awareness for. cases like these that feel like they're. kind of a little common more than we. would think? >> Yeah. It just, you know, alcohol being. around water, alcohol, it's such a.

dangerous combination. But I really want. to stress that as an investigator in. these cases like the response and the. outreach from the police department and. from the university and from the family. I mean that is the type of community. togetherness that we need and. transparency that really helps these. cases so much that keeping everything. totally secret and keeping everybody in. the dark including the family just. doesn't help in these missing person. cases. So, I really um applaud the. university and the police department and.

the volunteers and her friends and I am. just so so sorry to the family and her. friends for what a I just can't imagine, you know. >> Yeah, it's just horrible overall and. we're thinking about everyone who's been. affected by her death, too. Again, Steve. Fischer, thank you so much for your. insight into this case. I really. appreciate your time today. >> Thanks for having me. Now, as. investigators continue working to piece. together what happened in those early. morning hours, the official cause of. death remains pending autopsy results. Meanwhile, Vurbo University plans to.

hold a memorial service in Elliot's. honor this fall in coordination with her. family once students return to campus. That does it for this episode of. Sidebar. Be sure to subscribe to us. anywhere you get your podcast, whether. it's YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify. I'm Elizabeth Milner filling in for. Jesse Weber and this has been Sidebar. presented by Law and Crime. [Music].