Body found in Intracoastal Waterway identified as Kenneth Joseph

Published 2:47 pm Tuesday, March 25, 2014

LAPLACE –The Orleans Parish coroner’s office announced Tuesday afternoon that the man’s body found in the Intracoastal Waterway in New Orleans on March 22 has been identified as Kenneth Joseph of Reserve.

Coroner’s office investigator John Gagliano said Joseph’s body had likely been in the water for weeks.

The body of his wife, LaKeitha Joseph, was discovered on March 10 in the same waterway.

The cause of death for both Kenneth and Lakeitha Joseph was drowning.

Family members of Kenneth Joseph, 34, and Lakeitha Joseph, 29, reported the couple missing on Feb. 19 after they had not heard from them since Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Kenneth’s sister told investigators that Kenneth often borrowed her vehicle and would return it before morning the next day. She said that he borrowed her vehicle Feb. 18 at approximately 6:30 p.m. and had not returned the vehicle.

On Feb. 27 St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives received information from the Fulton County Sheriff Office in Georgia that the van the Josephs were known to be driving was located in good condition at an apartment complex parking lot in College Park, Ga.

St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives are now working this case with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and New Orleans Police Department.

Officials from the St. John Sheriff’s Office said the van has been processed for evidence, but that no information would be released at this time about what evidence, if any, was found.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office tip line at 985-359- 8477 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.