The St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Coast Guard are searching the Mississippi River for a man who is believed to be the brother of Baltimore Ravens All-Pro safety Ed Reed.
Karen Reed, mother of the NFL star, told WWL that the missing man is her 29-year-old son, Brian Reed. She said Brian Reed had problems with drugs and alcohol in the past and she believes that the pursuit was prompted by a traffic stop by police, WWL reported.
According to St. Charles Parish Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Dwayne LaGrange, at about 10 a.m. today, a citizen flagged down a St. Charles Parish deputy to complain that a car was driving erratically on River Road. The deputy found the car and driver a short distance away, pulled over onto the side of the road.
The man told the deputy that he had run out of gas and needed to walk to get help. The deputy offered to call someone for him, but the man refused.
Moments later, the deputy received a call about a stolen vehicle, matching the description of the subject's car.
At that time the motorist fled on foot and the deputy gave chase. The man ran up the levee and onto the batture. As the two approached the St. Charles Parish-Jefferson Parish line, the deputy saw the man enter the water. He surfaced once, then disappeared.
LaGrange said the Coast Guard, the Sheriff's Office Marine Unit and Port of South Louisiana are conducting the search.
Reached by telephone, Wendell Sanchez, the other brother of Reed, said that he was told that the man is believed to be a family member, but did not believe it was one of his brothers.
"We don't know anything," he said. "We're waiting to hear."
Ed Reed is from St. Rose and graduated from Destrehan. He is in his ninth season with the Baltimore Ravens.
