MONTEREY, La. &8212; The search for Jonathan Edens ended late Monday afternoon in a field some three miles from where his wrecked pickup truck was found last Thursday.

A tractor driver was working a field behind the Angelina Rice Elevator when he came upon the body of the 19-year-old Vidalia man.

Edens&8217; body was found in a drainage ditch next to a farm access road.

Concordia Parish Sheriff&8217;s deputies on the scene would not comment, but members of the Edens family said he was without his shirt and shoes.

Edens&8217; mother, Lana, who identified the body, said he was facedown in the ditch and showed signs of severe trauma to his head.

Friends and family sobbed in each other&8217;s arms as the hearse bearing their loved one passed by.

&8220;He&8217;s in a better place now,&8221; his brother, Michael, said.

Edens had been missing since last Tuesday night when he left the Monterey home of his girlfriend on his way to his father&8217;s house in Vidalia.

He called his father at 9:20 to tell him he was leaving, but never arrived.

His truck was found 200 yards off of Louisiana 565 in the woods surrounding Bayou Cocodrie two days later by a sheriff&8217;s deputy. The windshield on his truck was smashed and a 150-pound deer was in the back seat.

In a release issued at 5 p.m., the Concordia Parish Sheriff&8217;s Office said its investigation will continue, &8220;although it does appear initially that Edens was most likely dazed, disoriented and injured and walking for help following the crash of his truck&8221; when he passed away.

While relieved his younger brother had been found, Michael Edens still believes foul play may be involved.

&8220;If you&8217;ve got cops and helicopters and horses and almost a week, and he was only three miles away, somebody would have had to find him,&8221; Michael Edens said.

&8220;I want further investigation.&8221;

Earlier in the day, members of the Edens family talked about what a hard working, independent and caring person Jonathan was.

&8220;He was a good kid, well-mannered and respectable,&8221; Lana Edens said. &8220;He was loved by everybody that touched him.&8221;

His grandparents, Flo and B.D. Edens, remember how the young Jonathan would come over hunting chores for pocket money. He was also a &8220;mean little lefty&8221; pitcher, as well, his grandmother remembers.

But it was work that won out over play with Jonathan, who hit the work world as soon as he turned 18, working for two different boat companies and two different drilling companies. He settled for an offshore drilling company, &8220;because they made his food for him and did his laundry,&8221; his father, John, said.

&8220;Every job he ever got, he got it for himself,&8221; he said. &8220;He&8217;d fax out his resumes&8230;everything he did, he did by himself.&8221;

As independent and mature, Edens maintained a gentleness and innocence about him.

&8220;He was soft-hearted,&8221; his mother said.