Deputies recover body from river

D arrow — Deputies recovered a white male’s dead body from the Mississippi River on Saturday morning, an Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.

Investigators were “95 percent sure” it was the body of a Russian cargo ship crew member who jumped overboard when the vessel was under way near White Castle on Tuesday, said Lt. Col. Bobby Webre.

About 7 a.m., a security guard working at the Geismar Logistics Plant called the Sheriff’s Office to report seeing a body floating along the river, Webre said.

By 9 a.m., the body had been recovered.

Because the corpse was so badly decomposed, the man’s identity may take days or weeks to confirm, Webre said.

Authorities were not suspecting foul play in the man’s death as of Saturday, Webre said.

The Coast Guard personnel confirmed to the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office they were aware a Russian crew member had jumped from his ship, though they did not specify that the death definitely was an act of suicide, Webre said.