Body Of Jackson Man Found In New Orleans: Report

JACKSON, NJ — The body of Jackson Township man who went missing while on a business trip to New Orleans in January has been found in the Louisiana city, according to a report.

Michael Gelfand, 33, was reported missing Jan. 11 and his body was identified Monday, The Lakewood Scoop reported.

The report did not give and information about where Gelfand's body was found in New Orleans, but said he was being returned to New Jersey for funeral services and burial.

His family last heard from him on Jan. 6, when Gelfand sent a text to his wife that he would be flying home that night, ABC7 New York reported. He never arrived.

The report said Gelfand's credit card had been used in the days following the text to his wife, and friends and family members went to New Orleans to search for him, even offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his location.

"Michael wants to be found, Michael needs to be found and Michael wants to be part of that community," Nathan Ginsbury told ABC7. "He may right now have a struggle that we don't understand — that he may not understand — but he wants to be a part of that community still."

New Orleans police confirmed in early February that they were searching for Gelfand, Fox8 Live in New Orleans reported, but there were few additional details about the search.

The Lakewood Scoop report said ground searches, drones, cadaver dogs, sonar and aerial searched were conducted in the effort to find Gelfand.

Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters here, or download our app to have breaking news alerts sent right to your phone. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com Follow Lakewood Patch on Facebook.