Missing Minnesota man, Curtis Strand, identified as body found on Essar Steel Mining Property
A Minnesota man missing for several ago has been identified as the body found Wednesday in a snow covered ditch off a maintenance road on Essar Steel Mining Property in rural Nashwauk Township in Itasca County.
Curtis Strand, 24, of Hibbing, Minnesota, was identified by the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office. The Nashwauk Police Department and Hibbing Police Department noted it that does not appear foul play was a factor in his death, but added that the case would be open to investigation.
Curtis Strand
The original Essar Steel Minnesota was owned by Essar Global, based in India. It had promised to build a traditional iron ore processing plant in Nashwauk, like others in the region, and a steel mill, something that was lacking on the Iron Range and in Minnesota.
Eventually, the project was scaled back to just the taconite plant.
In 2015, the state demanded that Essar repay the state for $66 million in infrastructure costs and planned to give away the mineral rights. There is no reason provided for Strand being on the property at this time.
