NEW ORLEANS (March 9, 2010--The body of missing Houston oil company executive Douglas Schantz, 54, was pulled Tuesday from the Mississippi River.

Bob Young of the New Orleans Police Department said investigators believe Schantz, the president of Houston-based Sequent Energy, drowned accidentally.

He had been missing since Friday.

He was in New Orleans to give Tulane University a $25,000 gift during a reception Thursday.

Police say Schantz left a bar around 2 a.m. Friday and was then seen on a security video at a river dock.

They say he had been drinking and seemed disoriented.

Young says Schantz had all of his credit cards and jewelry.

Tim Miller, president and founder of Texas Equusearch, said the body was found "very, very near" the spot where Schantz, who’s president of Houston-based Sequent Energy Management, was last recorded by a security camera Friday morning.

The search was focused on the Mississippi River Tuesday after police traced Schantz to a riverfront location from a Bourbon Street bar where he was last seen.

Searching through videos from businesses in the French Quarter, police were able to trace Schantz to the dock that serves the Riverboat Natchez.

Police Superintendent Warren Riley said Tuesday that Schantz, who left the Razzoo Bar and Patio about 2 a.m. Friday, was seen walking on a 2-foot walkway by the river.