Crime, Law and Justice

Minneapolis police say recent body discoveries are unrelated

Minneapolis police say bodies found since the weekend are unrelated to one another, rejecting online theories that one person is responsible.

According to an MPD representative, the body found earlier this week under the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, next to the Mississippi River, is due to an apparent suicide.

A body found Saturday on SE Oak St. near East River Parkway, also near the river, has been identified as Karen Lynn Sognesand, 56, of Maple Grove. An MPD statement says there is no known connection of Sognesand to any other incident.

“Deputies located decomposed human remains,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement released Sunday. “The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team conducted a search of the area for additional evidence.”

The University of Minnesota Police Department Thursday identified Randip Eugene Satoskar, 54, as the person found Monday near 6th St. and Main St. SE. The U’s police department is the lead agency on the case, according to MPD.

The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office is overseeing the case, but at this time there's no known connection among the cases or to any other incidents.

A body was found Sunday in the water near 36th St. W and East Bde Maka Ska Parkway. The sheriff’s office is the lead agency for this case.