JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former Notre Dame and NFL footballer Louis Nix, who was reported missing earlier this week, was found dead Saturday, family members told two Jacksonville television stations. He was 29.
Nix’s family reported him missing to the police on Wednesday. After several days of searching, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office tweeted at 8 p.m. ET Saturday that Nix had been located, but did not report Nix’s condition. Action News Jax of CBS / Fox reported that Nix’s mother confirmed that Nix had passed away. WJXT TV-4 reported Nix’s death through another family member.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Nix was last seen on Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET, leaving his father’s house in Jacksonville. Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly sent a tweet on Saturday morning asking for the public’s help in finding Nix.
Nix was injured in a shooting in December while filling the tires of his car at a gas station near Jacksonville airport. He said on social media that he had been in hospital for 10 days and a bullet bounced off his sternum and ended up in his lung.
Nix played at Raines High School in Jacksonville and played three seasons at Notre Dame before being called up to the third round by the Houston Texans in 2014. A defensive tackle, Nix never played a game for the Texans due to knee injuries and played in just four games in 2015 for the New York Giants. He also spent time on the exhibition teams with Washington and the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016.