Body of Seattle man, Mark Mercer IV, found in Mississippi River near New Orleans wharf

The body of a Seattle recording engineer missing since June 9 was found early Tuesday morning near a wharf on the Mississippi River in New Orleans.

Mark Mercer IV, 26, was in New Orleans to see friends and attend a recording conference when he drowned after friends said he spontaneously jumped from a ferry into the river.

Mercer had been sitting with friends Danny Laurino and David Weinberg on a levee near a ferry landing discussing his ideas about finding bands in the South and then mastering their tracks in Seattle, Weinberg said. Suddenly, Mercer jumped up and said, "Let's go," and ran down on to the landing ramp as the ferry was docking, Weinberg said.

Mercer jumped onto the ferry as it docked. When the ferry crew discovered him aboard, he jumped into the water.

Laurino and Weinberg ran down to the ferry as the ferry crew threw life rings, but Mercer didn't try to grab one, Weinberg said.

Mercer's friends turned and walked back up the ramp to see if they could spot Mercer better from above. When they looked back to the water, he had disappeared beneath the surface, Weinberg said.

The chief investigator for the New Orleans coroner's office, John Gagliano, ruled that the cause of death was drowning, according to wire reports.

Friends and family speculate that Mercer underestimated the danger of the Mississippi River. The Coast Guard unsuccessfully searched for him for two days, according to The Times-Picayune newspaper.

Mercer moved to Seattle about three years ago to get in on the independent music scene and record the post-punk band, Masks Phantoms. Mercer also produced the latest album for the local band H Is for Hellgate. Most recently, Mercer was living in an apartment in the back of Avast recording studio in Greenwood, where he also worked.

Mercer was a self-taught sound engineer with dreams of one day building his own studio, Weinberg said.

"He was really into living and doing, more than material things," said Mercer's aunt, Barbara Mercer, of Pittsburgh. "When he wanted to do something he would just go and do it. He wouldn't think there was any reason not to when he wanted to do it."

Friends and family described Mercer as a high-energy, spontaneous music lover who lived by his own rules.

Last winter, Mercer took a freighter to China and lived for a month with a man he met who offered him lodging in exchange for English lessons for his family.

Mercer volunteered at the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library. Though recording was his passion, Mercer was also a self-taught keyboard, guitar, bass and drum player, Weinberg said.

Mercer grew up in Aurora, Colo. He attended Colorado State University, where he received a degree in sociology. He is survived by his parents Jeri and Mark Mercer III of Aurora, and an older sister, Kristin Mercer.

Leslie Anne Jones: 206-464-2745 or ljones@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times news researcher Gene Balk contributed to this report.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.