NEW ORLEANS — *Video note: The above video is from the story when Marquise Jones was reported missing by his family more than a week ago.
The body of a missing Southern University nursing student was recovered from Lake Pontchartrain Thursday afternoon, the mother of 21-year-old Marquise Jones confirmed.
Friday morning, Jones’ mother confirmed that it was her son’s body that was pulled from the lake by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies sent to check out a report of a body in the water.
Jones’ family said he was last seen on Feb. 26 when he dropped food off at his mother’s home in Slidell. Friends said he went to a house party that night in New Orleans and left around 11:30 p.m., presumably to head back to Slidell.
A week later on March 5, New Orleans police found his car parked in front of an abandoned apartment in New Orleans East. Police at the time said they were investigating the possibility of foul play.
"I'm living my worst nightmare, literally," Erica Jones said last week as the search for her son Marquise continued.
Monica Populist, Marquise's great aunt, told Eyewitness News last week that he had always been full of life. He was a nursing student on the Dean's List at Southern University.
One of six siblings, family has always come first. Populist says he would never have gone days without telling a family member what was going on.
"It's so out of character," she said. "We're confused, someone knows something and we're asking for help."