Police investigating death of Jacksonville football star; mother unsure what happened to Louis Nix

The mother of Louis Anthony Nix III, a former NFL and Notre Dame football standout  found dead Saturday — three days after being reported missing — said it's unknown how, when or why he died.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office issued a cryptic news release about 8 p.m. Saturday announcing that officers had located Nix after issued a missing-person alert earlier in the day. However, the Sheriff's Office provided no information about his condition or where he had been found and did not respond to a request for clarity.

The announcement came as Sheriff's Office divers and crime-scene investigators recovered a car from a retention pond outside Nix's apartment complex on Broxton Bay Drive. It matched the description of a Hyundai Azera sedan that Nix was believed to have been driving after visiting his father Tuesday on Leonard Court.

Police have told the family little about finding her son or the ongoing investigation into what happened to him, according to Stephanie Wingfield, who is his mother.

"They did say that it didn't look like foul play," Wingfield told The Times-Union on Sunday.

She said it's possible her son suffered a heart attack or some other medical emergency related to his being shot in the chest nearly three months earlier during an attempted robbery.

"It's all a mystery right now until they give me more information about what happened," she said. 

It's possible that until an autopsy is performed detectives don't know themselves how he died, Wingfield said.

It was unclear, his mother said, whether the 29-year-old former Raines High School defensive lineman was found in the car pulled from the retention pond.

Initial news reports from the scene said Nix was inside the car. However, Wingfield said she was told that police found his body elsewhere although no location was given.

"The last location that his phone pinged was right there, which is why they searched the lake area for him," she said. 

"They didn't say where he was. They just said they located him but couldn't tell me anything except sorry for my loss. And I just lost it," she said of breaking down at the news.

Wingfield reported Nix missing Wednesday when she said he didn't respond to her calls or text messages. She'd last spoken to him Tuesday. 

The mother and son routinely spoke to or texted each other daily. Saturday, the bad feeling overwhelmed her hours before police found her son and his car.

"I knew something was wrong because me talking to him daily and he wasn't answering his phone … I was in Walmart and I just started crying," she said. "I just felt sick because I knew, I felt something had happened to my baby."

Police launched the missing-person case in the area of 1700 West 42nd Street where family members lived. The Sheriff's Office then issued an advisory Saturday saying it was attempting to locate Nix to ascertain his safety.

His death comes after he survived being shot on Dec. 8 outside a gas station on Airport Center Drive, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Back then, he posted a live video that went viral on Twitter and Instagram as a rescue unit took him to a hospital, saying "I just got shot and robbed while I was putting air in my tires."

"If I do not make it, I really love everybody," he said. "I can't contact nobody right now."

Police said the shooting occurred shortly after 9 p.m. at a Gate gas station. Nix said two young men approached him at the air pump and one put a flashlight in his face demanding money, according to the incident report. Nix said he pushed him back and was shot.

No arrests have been reported.

Nix was in the hospital for 11 days. His sternum was fractured and the bullet remained lodged in his left lung because doctors said it was too dangerous to remove it, he said on Facebook as he recovered.

"He was a big, loving teddy bear even when he got shot," Wingfield said. "I'd go and change his bandages and he'd ask me if I needed anything. That's the kind of person that he was. He always looked out for others first."

Nix was a Times-Union Super 11 selection in 2009 with Raines, then helped Notre Dame reach the national championship game in the 2012 season. He was chosen in 2014 by the Texans in the third round but injuries curtailed his football career in 2017.

His nickname — "Irish chocolate" — stuck with him after he moved on from Notre Dame, where he was remembered for his gregarious, easygoing nature, according to social media posts offering condolences Sunday.

He was among the most popular Notre Dame players, according to alumni.

Head football coach Brian Kelly reached out to Nix via Twitter after learning that he was missing.

"NOTRE DAME Nation: Let’s all do our best to reach out and connect with Louis Nix," he wrote. "Louis, let us know you are doing alright or that you may need your NOTRE DAME family and friends for assistance."

It was unknown Sunday when the family would be able to arrange funeral services.

"Everything is up in the air right now," she said.