PDA

View Full Version : Man's Body Reportedly Found in Search for Missing Exec in New Orleans



dan9999
03-09-2010, 06:29 PM
New Orleans Search Team Finds Body in Mississippi River
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Fox News Channel

DEVELOPING: Fox News affiliates in Houston and New Orleans are reporting that a body has been found in the Mississippi River. Police are not confirming whether it is the body of missing executive Douglas Schantz.

The body is described as a white man dressed in a suit, Fox8live.com in New Orleans reports.

A search team from the Houston area began searching Tuesday for the top executive of a Houston energy company who was last seen early Friday morning leaving a bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Police no longer suspect foul play, but instead believe Schantz may have fallen into the river, Fox8live.com reports.

Texas EquuSearch arrived in New Orleans on Monday night to assist in the search for Douglas Schantz, 54, president of Sequent Energy Management, L.P. About 30 detectives also were looking for Schantz.

Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, told MyFoxHouston.com that his team has arranged to use sophisticated sonar technology to look for Schantz in the Mississippi River. Miller says his volunteers used the technology when Texas EquuSearch took part in the search for Natalee Holloway in Aruba.

The Coast Guard has already searched the river.

"There's no evidence he's there, but if he is we know what currents are like in the river and how dangerous it is, so it's one of the first spots we want to eliminate," said Miller.

Schantz was last seen on surveillance video leaving a bar on Bourbon Street around 2 a.m. Friday. He was seen walking in the direction of the Mississippi River.

Also on Monday, Douglas Schantz's son, Michael Schantz, and John W. Somerhalder II, chairman, president and chief executive officer of AGL Resources Inc., spoke about Schantz in downtown Houston. AGL Resources Inc. is the parent company of Sequent Energy Management, L.P.

Michael Schantz returned from the search effort in New Orleans on Sunday night and Somerhalder was with Douglas Schantz in New Orleans during the same time period that the executive was staying there.

"He's such a good dad. My mom dearly misses him," said Michael Schantz.

Douglas Schantz's credit cards and cell phone have not been used. He was visiting New Orleans with several employees to make a donation to his daughter’s university, Tulane, but never arrived at the airport for the flight home. The reward for information about Schantz's disappearance has been increased to $25,000.

dan9999
03-10-2010, 12:45 PM
Missing Oil Exec's Body Found in Mississippi River, Police Say
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Fox News

Police confirm the body pulled from the Mississippi River Tuesday is missing Houston oil executive Douglas Schantz.

Bob Young of the New Orleans police department says police believe Douglas Schantz drowned accidentally. The 54-year-old president of Houston-based Sequent Energy Management had been missing since early Friday.

Searching through videos from businesses in the French Quarter, police were able to trace Schantz from a Bourbon Street bar to the dock for the Riverboat Natchez.

He was in town to give Tulane University a $25,000 gift during a reception Thursday. A colleague who was with him says that after the dinner they went to Bourbon Street around midnight.

Police Superintendent Warren Riley said that Schantz, who left the Razzoo Bar and Patio about 2 a.m. Friday, was seen walking on a 2-foot walkway by the river.

Riley says the man had been drinking and seemed disoriented.

Schantz's son, Michael Schantz, and John W. Somerhalder II, chairman, president and chief executive officer of AGL Resources Inc., spoke about Schantz in downtown Houston on Monday. AGL Resources Inc. is the parent company of Sequent Energy Management, L.P.

"He's such a good dad. My mom dearly misses him," said Michael Schantz.

Young says Schantz had all of his credit cards and jewelry and foul play is not suspected.