JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — John McNamee was last seen three weeks ago.
McNamee, 47, moved to Jacksonville 13 years ago, but he was born in Ireland. His family overseas says McNamee calls them almost daily. But when weeks passed and they had not heard from him, they called the police and hopped on a plane to Jacksonville.
McNamee's sister called the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office from Ireland and told dispatchers that her brother "is going through a divorce and has not been heard from since May 25, 2022."
His family also contacted Irish newspapers, putting out a plea for help finding McNamee.
“John had two kids which he loved dearly and it’s totally out of John’s character to do anything like this," John McNamee, an uncle who came from Ireland, said.
Officers say a truck registered to McNamee has been sitting behind the Quality Inn since May 26. The truck had not been reported stolen, and has no evidence of foul play in the truck, according to police.
McNamee was not registered as staying in the hotel or any of 18 hotels in the area that police checked.
A missing persons report shows McNamee's wife had filed two previous reports -- she told JSO that she had not heard from her husband in several days and she knew he had left his truck behind. She said they were going through a divorce and she was trying to serve McNamee with an injunction. She thought the truck was hidden behind the hotel because McNamee was hiding, not wanting to receive the injunction.
“None of it makes sense. How does someone just disappear without a trace, you know?" Jennifer McNamee, John's wife, said.
She said McNamee did not seem suicidal and did not own any weapons as far as she knew. Someone had come into her home recently through a side window, but she assumed it was McNamee and therefore didn't call the police. That incident occurred on May 26, the day after McNamee's sister said she last heard from him.
“I just don’t know if he was just going through a mental breakdown, or what was happening but he lived for those two girls and he’s never been away from them this long. You know they miss their daddy. It’s almost been three weeks now," Jennifer McNamee, the wife, said.
They found that someone with the same name as McNamee was supposed to get on an international flight on May 30, the report said, but his wife did not think he had his passport with him. The family said McNamee did not board that flight.
A K9 unit responded with a bloodhound and tracked to a pond deep in the woods.
A dive team was called to the pond, and are assessing the waters, but family says they still do not have answers as to where McNamee could be or what happened to him.