JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — "Partial" human remains have been found in the woods where a search party gathered to look for missing Jacksonville father John McNamee Saturday, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
The woods are behind the Quality Inn on Airport Road in Jacksonville -- where McNamee's truck has been parked since May 26. McNamee has not been heard from since May 25, according to quotes from his sister in a police report.
The identity of these remains has not yet been confirmed as McNamee.
The case is being investigated as an undetermined death, JSO said in the release.
Members of a search party for McNamee told First Coast News they found clothes in the woods Saturday. They said that most of them were asked to leave by police after that.
Officers say the McNamee's truck had not been reported stolen, and showed no evidence of foul play in the truck.
McNamee moved to Jacksonville 13 years ago, but he was born in Ireland. His family overseas told police McNamee calls them almost daily. But when weeks passed and they had not heard from him, they called the police and got 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," police reports show.
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 with the same name who came from Ireland, said.
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," Jennifer McNamee said. "How does someone just disappear without a trace, you know?"
McNamee's wife said he did not seem suicidal and did not own any weapons.
Jennifer and John McNamee have two daughters together.
"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," she said.