The body of a man who reportedly walked out of a Crookston alcohol treatment center and into the Red Lake River near Crookston Monday was recovered Tuesday morning.
Polk County Sheriff's officials said rescuers found the body of Wade Douglas Bergman, 37, Thief River Falls, about 9:15 a.m. Tuesday.
The sheriff's office is investigating Bergman's death, and an autopsy will be performed by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office in St. Paul.
Bergman had 15 criminal convictions in Polk and Becker counties in Minnesota, mostly alcohol related, dating to 1991 when he was 18 and nabbed for drunk driving, according to state court records.
All but the first Minnesota conviction happened from late 2004 through mid-2008.
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All appeared to be misdemeanors except for a felony in April 2007 when he was sentenced to jail in Polk County for escaping from custody.
In May 2007, he was sentenced to a year in jail in Crookston for fifth degree criminal sexual conduct for having nonconsensual sexual contact, a misdemeanor. Later that year, he was sentenced for misdemeanor assault.
He had been involuntarily committed to alcohol treatment previously, according to court records.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, witnesses saw Bergman jump in and surface, then disappear in the river about a mile east of Crookston along U.S. Highway 2 shortly before 9 a.m. Monday.
A search involving Polk and Grand Forks county emergency workers, Crookston police and firefighters continued until 5 p.m. and resumed Tuesday morning, a sheriff's dispatcher said. His body was found about 600 feet west and downstream from where he entered the river.
The Crookston Times newspaper reports on its website that Polk County Sheriff Karl Erickson told searchers that three employees of Glenmore Recovery Center, on the campus of the former St. Joseph's convent and school east of Crookston, saw Bergman leave the center and enter the nearby Red Lake River. They urged him to come back to shore, they said, but he continued and went under the surface and didn't come back up.
The Times reported that the man's jacket was recovered from the river.
Glenmore, which is part of Riverview Health in Crookston, offers in-patient and out-patient treatment for addiction and short-term detoxification care, voluntary and involuntary, for people as young as 12, according to its website.
