Jacksonville football star Louis Nix III found dead, family says

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Family members confirmed to News4Jax that former NFL player, Louis Nix III has died.

News4Jax reporter Brie Isom spoke to one of Nix’s family members, who told her Nix is, “gone.”

News4Jax is at a scene near Broxton Bay Drive, where JSO’s dive team pulled a silver Hyundai matching Nix’s car’s description and tag number. The car was removed from the pond.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office sent out a tweet at 8 o’clock Saturday night, saying they located Nix. They have not indicated where he was found.

Nix is a former NFL player from Jacksonville who was injured in a shooting in December. He was reported missing by his family Wednesday.

His mother and brother told News4Jax the last time they were in touch with him was on Tuesday. Nix was supposed to meet his brother at his dad’s house, but he ended up leaving before his brother arrived and didn’t say where he was going.

The brother said it’s not like Nix to be out of contact with his family for this long.

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, patrol officers were called to 42nd Street West on Wednesday because of a missing adult and efforts to locate Nix since have been unsuccessful.

Police said the 29-year-old may have been driving a 2014 Gray Hyundai Azera (similar to the one pictured) with Florida tag JGFM41.

Nix, a longtime football star in Jacksonville, was most recently in the news when he was shot while filling his tires at a Jacksonville gas station. He told News4Jax days after the harrowing encounter that he was “getting through it” and hoped it wouldn’t happen to anyone else.

Nix played at Raines High School and went on to Notre Dame. His mother said people in Indiana near Notre Dame are concerned and trying to look as well. Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly also released a statement on Twitter today asking for the community up there to work to look for him.

Nix, who recorded a video of himself as he was pulled into an ambulance, was shot at the Gate gas station off Airport Center Drive in December.

“At the time, I would say, I felt close to death,” he told News4Jax days after the shooting. “I was shot in my chest and the bullet ricocheted to my sternum and to my lung and I’m currently dealing with a bullet in my lung right now.”

Nix said that while pumping air, two men walked up to him, flashing a light in his eye. He pushed back, then felt a shot in his chest.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said they’re still searching for two suspects in the case -- two men that Nix said he doesn’t know.

“I think it was just something random,” Nix said. “I feel like it could have been anybody.”