By Jo McMullen / KVSC reporter

Authorities have been looking for a missing six-year-old girl from Northfield in a park in Stearns County.

Stearns County Sheriff Steve Soyka shared in a media release that the Sheriff’s Office has been helping the Northfield Police Department since July 3rd in looking for Elle Ragin at Mississippi River Park. The Stearns-Benton Sheriff’s Office dive team assisted in the search at the park which is located in Stearns county north of Sartell.

They’re working in conjunction with the Northfield Police Department and the Minnesota BCA as well as several area fire departments from St. Stephen, Sartell and Rice and volunteers with the NorthStar Search and Rescue team. Mississippi River Park is closed to the public until further notice.

The girl has been missing for three days and her mother was found dead of an apparent suicide in their townhome in Northfield.

The Northfield Police Department has released new details about the search including that Elle was last seen on June 19th, her mother Lisa Wade drove to the park on June 21, based on cell phone records. The phone was shut off on that date and was not turned on since then.

Two days later, Wade got help from a Stearns county deputy at the park. She told the deputy she lost her phone and car keys while hiking and they helped get her vehicle towed to a dealership near St. Cloud to get a new key made. Authorities have found evidence in the park including Elle’s cell phone on land, her mother’s cell phone, key fob and purse were found in the river.