Nashville Firefighter Jesse Reed's Death 'Suspected Homicide'

NASHVILLE, TN -- Nashville firefighter Jesse Reed's death was a "suspected homicide," an autopsy released Friday determined.

Reed's cause of death was drowning, the medical examiner found, with a contributing factor of blunt force trauma. His blood-alcohol level was .305, almost four times the legal limit for driving. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will complete its investigation into Reed's death and turn it over to the Humphreys County District Attorney General who will determine if charges are appropriate.

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Reed's body was found by a participant in a bass fishing tournament March 17, 12 days after he disappeared, in a cove of the Tennessee River near Waverly. His Jeep was found nearby March 6.

Reed's wife, Ellen, told police she and her husband drove off secluded Bluff Point Lane in Waverly, about 85 miles west of Nashville, and into the Tennessee River.

Reed's wife escaped and while searchers found the submerged truck March 6, there had been no sign of Reed in the water or otherwise. The truck was in 10 feet of water with its windows down when it was discovered.

Deputies searched two homes owned by Reed March 9 in what Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said was an effort to exhaust all means to locate the 32-year-old.

In March, Davis told WSMV that Ellen Reed's involvement with the investigation had been "minimal."

Davis said that there was a "delay" between the time the vehicle went in the water and when the 911 call was made.

"Some of the things that happened in the initial onset was a little different to us," Davis told Fox 17. "My understanding is from the investigators on scene that night there was a little bit of a delay of the initial call from the time of the incident."

Also this week, NewsChannel 5 reported that sources said investigators are at least exploring the possibility of foul play and also that there may be a connection between Reed's disappearance and the suicide of a NFD EMT earlier this month.

Despite the questions, the women who helped Ellen Reed after the incident are certain nothing nefarious was happening.

Joyce Dunaway, who lives across the street from the Reeds in Waverly, told Fox 17 she saw the couple leave their home at 10:30 p.m. and then woke up to Ellen Reed banging on her door three hours later with the back of her shirt wet.

"She kept saying 'help me, help me'," Dunaway told the station. "My daughter opened the door, and she came in and she just sat right down. She didn't fall. She sat, and my daughter immediately called 911. She just kept saying 'oh my husband, my husband' and was in shock, strictly in shock. She was in a terrible shape, freezing, barefoot."

Tamera Patrick told WSMV said Ellen Reed was genuinely upset.

"We know what happened in this house when she came in that night," she said. "From all I saw and how she was acting, to me, I believe everything she said."

Photo via Nashville Fire Department