Missing energy exec found dead in New Orleans

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A senior executive with an Atlanta-based energy services company was found dead on Tuesday after going missing during a business trip to New Orleans, city police said.

Searchers pulled the body of Douglas Schantz, the president of AGL Resources' wholesale energy-trading unit Sequent Energy Management, from the Mississippi River on Tuesday afternoon, the New Orleans Police Department said in a statement.

Schantz' body was found near the Toulouse Street Wharf next to where the Natchez boat docks, police said.

Schantz' valuables were on his person when he was found, and police say they believe that he drowned. A coroner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death, police said.

Police said Schantz' wife reported him missing on Monday morning after he missed a flight with his daughter.

AGL is the largest natural-gas distributor in the Southeast. Sequent, based in Houston, said on its website it is currently is ranked by Platts Gas Daily magazine as the 11th-largest wholesale gas marketer in North America.

(Reporting by Chris Baltimore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)