Hudson police investigate St. Croix River accidental drowning death

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
Updated ·2 min read

The Hudson Police Department is investigating an accidental drowning death over the weekend in the St. Croix River.

Officers were dispatched to Lakefront Park, south of Dike Road, about 8:30 a.m. Saturday on a report of a body in the water.

Police on Monday identified the man as Anders David Engstrom, 34, of Hudson. Engstrom was the sports and education programming director for Valley Access Channels in Stillwater.

“The investigation into (Engstrom’s) death did not reveal any indications of foul play, and we believe this incident to have been a freshwater drowning as a result of an accident,” Chief Geoff Willems said.

Engstrom, an avid outdoorsman, is believed to have been out walking along the river Friday night when he either fell or tripped and fell into the water, said his father, Dave Engstrom, of Afton.

“He loved hiking outdoors,” Dave Engstrom said. “He absolutely loved it. He often went hiking in Afton State Park. He was a real outdoorsman.”

Anders Engstrom studied videography at Century College in White Bear Lake and was a 2008 graduate of Stillwater Area High School.

Engstrom loved his job at Valley Access Channels, where he directed coverage of Stillwater Area High School football games and other events, and filmed Stillwater Area School Board meetings and local city council meetings, his father said.

“It was his dream job,” said Dave Engstrom, who is city administrator/clerk of Lake St. Croix Beach and a former Afton mayor and Washington County Commissioner. “He was a very, very nice man. He was a simple man.”

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office water recovery team, the St. Croix County Medical Examiner’s Office, the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office, the Hudson Fire Department and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources assisted with the incident.

Bradshaw Funeral Home in Stillwater will be handling funeral arrangements.

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