By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LULING – The body of a man pulled from the Mississippi River near the St. Charles-Jefferson Parish line Tuesday afternoon is believed to be that of Brian Reed, brother of Baltimore Ravens Safety Ed Reed, family members said Wednesday.

Brian Reed jumped into the river Jan. 7 after an incident with a St. Charles Sheriff’s deputy. Sheriff Greg Champagne said family members called authorities after Brian Reed took his younger brother’s car without permission and a deputy located him on the side of River Road.

“The vehicle was disabled and the deputy offered assistance,” Champagne said. “The car had run out of gas.”

Champagne said Reed declined the help, saying a friend was on the way to assist him. The deputy then helped Reed push the vehicle off the road and out of traffic.

“The conversation was amicable,” Champagne said. “The deputy knew him personally.”

As the deputy was leaving the scene, he heard a radio call reporting the vehicle stolen. The deputy tried to call Reed, who was jogging away from the car, back to the scene. Champagne said Reed continued to jog up the levee with the deputy following in his unit.

When Reed went over the side of the levee, the deputy got out of his vehicle and walked up the levee. As he reached the other side, the deputy saw Reed enter the water. He came up once, then never resurfaced.

Champagne said deputies from St. Charles and St. Tammany Parishes, along with help from professional divers and a private search company, scoured the banks of the river for several days after the incident to search for Reed’s body.

Using sonar technology, the team was able to locate what was believed to be the body Sunday, but was unable to completely retrieve it due to strong currents and a cluster of debris. The group was able to cut through the debris and recover the body just after 4 p.m. Tuesday.

An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday in Jefferson parish, but family members were able to identify Reed based on characteristics of various tattoos on his body.

“This was about parents being concerned about their child,” Ed Reed said to reporters Wedneday. “My brother was not that type of person to have that mentality of doing anything to himself. Those of us who were close to him know that.”