A woman in a furry, hooded coat, who the Coast Guard said was with her dog and asked how to get to a nearby park just after 5 a.m. Thursday was seen nearly two hours later and three miles downriver, floating facedown in the icy water near the Detroit Princess riverboat dock.

Much about the case is still unknown, including the woman's identity.

But authorities stitched a series of seemingly unrelated incidents into a timeline of the last hours of the woman's life.

A big clue has been the dog, which initially was seen with the woman at 5:18 a.m., when she stopped at the Coast Guard station's entrance, close to Belle Isle. The dog was spotted hours later alone, acting frantic and running up and down the sidewalk along the RiverWalk near the Coast Guard station, as if it was worried about its owner.

"We don't know where she went after our security guard had contact with her," Coast Guard Ensign Jeremiah Schiessel said. "All we have on her is our security camera is at the front gate, which is a little ways from the RiverWalk and then her dog was found pacing near our area."

He added that it is unknown where — or what time — she entered the water.

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What is known: At 5:18 a.m., the woman and dog stopped at Coast Guard security. At about 7:30 a.m., the Detroit Fire Department alerted the Coast Guard that a woman's body was spotted in the river.

And about an hour after the call from the fire department, someone arriving at the Coast Guard station saw a frantic dog.

Police confirmed that the harbormaster was able to remove the body from the river at about 9:15 a.m., and the case is under investigation. Where it was found is near the Renaissance Center, about a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk from the Coast Guard station.

One possible scenario is that the woman somehow fell into the river near the Coast Guard station and then the currents took her downriver.

Police did not release a description of the woman's body or the dog but said there is no initial indication of foul play. The Wayne County Medical Examiner is attempting to determine how and when the woman died.

The dog was picked up by Detroit animal control, according to the Coast Guard. Authorities didn't know the dog breed. They added the dog did not have visible identification, but it might have an embedded microchip.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.