By Gladys Davis Mulkey
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — A body recovered Thursday afternoon has been identified as that of Ronald Green Sr., who authorities said killed his wife and son in Ascension Parish and jumped off the Mississippi River Bridge.

St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office officials reported a body was found at 3:06 p.m. Thursday in the Mississippi River near LaPlace.

Authorities received a call from a vessel notifying them a body was found in the river near mile marker 136, close to the LaPlace anchorage.

An autopsy was performed Friday morning. Due to the body’s decomposition, identification was made with dental records.

The body was spotted by a vessel’s crew member at approximately 3 p.m. Thursday, and authorities took nearly two hours to recover the body due to the swift currents of the river.

The following was prepared by the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office:

Eleven months prior, shortly before 2 a.m. April 17, 2014, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office received a call from a person who indicated Green called her and said he had killed his wife and son and planned to jump off the Mississippi River Bridge.

APSO deputies began searching for Green, who killed his wife, Dewona, and the couple’s 12-year-old son, Ronald Green Jr.

Deputies arrived at the home on Lakeway Cove Drive in Gonzales and found the front door glass shattered and found Dewona and her son dead in a bedroom of the residence. Both had been shot.

All area law enforcement agencies were alerted to the possibility Ronald Green Sr. had jumped from a bridge and soon afterwards, his car was found abandoned and running on top of the Veterans Memorial Bridge in St. John Parish the morning of April 17.

APSO Detectives believed it was probable Green followed through on his stated intention to jump from the bridge, but over the past year, detectives were still pursuing the case as if he were alive, monitoring his financial accounts for possible activity.