Milwaukee police search for 24-year-old missing man

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee police are searching for 24-year-old Nick Wilcox who was last seen outside the Irish Rec Room on Old World 3rd St. early Tuesday morning, January 1st. Wilcox was out celebrating on New Year's Eve with friends, when he reportedly left the bar with a man in a red shirt.

According to Wilcox's girlfriend, Wilcox was apparently kicked out of the bar after a long night of drinking. 

"I watched him get carried out by the bouncers and that was the last I saw of him. He spoke with a few police officers outside the Irish Rec Room and was seen leaving with someone we had met there," Kelly McGonagil said.

McGonagil and a couple dozen friends met at the Irish Rec Room on Old World Third Street on Wednesday, January 2nd and searched for Wilcox throughout downtown Milwaukee.

"I have to. It's the only thing keeping me going," McGonagil said.

Friends last saw Wilcox heading down an alley outside the bar between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. on New Year's Day.

"I tried calling him shortly after, and his phone was dead. He had my house keys so I figured he would just go home, and he didn't," McGonagil said.

"It's still kind of surreal. It's almost paralyzing. It's just not like him not to find his way back home," Wilcox's sister, Andrea said.

Wilcox is described as being about 6'2" tall, 180 lbs, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Wilcox is a student at UW-Milwaukee and lives off North Avenue. 

Friends have mapped out his possible routes from the bar, and those who know him say it would be unlike him not to check in.

At this time, family and friends are conducting search efforts primarily along the river. No evidence of Nick has been found.

"I figured he would just show up and say 'I was at a friend's house.' Just waiting and never got that call. Never showed up. We're looking. We're trying. I hope we find him soon," a friend of Wilcox said.

Family members and friends held a private prayer vigil in Wilcox's honor on Wednesday night.

Milwaukee police are urging anyone with information to contact the Sensitive Crimes Division at 414-935-7403.