Brady Michael Ortego

• Missing Since 01/14/2021
• Missing From St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 12/16/1976 (48)
• Age 44 years old
• Height and Weight 5'7, 155 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Graying brown hair. Ortego has the following tattoos: an anchor with an arrow and the word "FREE" on his chest, a Native American person with a feather on his left arm, and a tribal design with his initials "BMO" on his right arm. Photos of two of his tattoos are posted with this case summary.

Details of Disappearance

Ortego was last seen in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana on January 14, 2021. He was a construction worker and was working on the Hale Boggs Bridge that night, installing cameras, when a 2014 Ford F-150 pickup truck collided with him and three other construction workers.

The other three workers suffered only minor injuries, but Ortego was flung off the bridge and fell more than 150 feet down into the Mississippi River. He disappeared in the water and was never seen again.

In March 2021, authorities charged Hunter Mason Johnson with vehicular homicide/driving under the influence, hit and run involving a fatality, reckless operation and obstruction of justice in Ortego's presumed death. He had left the scene before the police arrived, abandoning his truck, and called his grandmother to get a ride home. In the weeks after the collision he had reached out to Ortego's widow over social media, something which she says caused emotional distress.

A photo of Johnson is posted with this case summary. In February 2022 he reached a plea agreement with the prosecution, pleading guilty to vehicular homicide and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with a further 12 years of supervision upon his release.

Ortego is presumed deceased, but his body has never been located.