Franklin Wayne Silcox Jr., 33, is known to everyone in the forest community of Eureka as Lil’ Wayne because of his size, just 5 feet tall and 130 pounds. Deputies are still asking for help to find him.
They searched by air, by land and by boat Friday in the Ocala National Forest community of Eureka, looking for Silcox.
He left his home near Graveyard Lake about a half mile from the Ocklawaha River around 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, and never returned. Silcox was last seen on a boat ramp. K-9 teams searched several tracks from the boat ramp and the home.
While Fish and Wildlife officers used boats with side sonar scanner to search a mile of the river, divers also got in the chilly water but found nothing.
“At this time we have teams on the ground with four wheelers going door to door, looking into any vacant residence he possibly could have gotten into as a way to stay warm in these cold nights,” said Lt. Dennis Chesser with Marion County Sheriff's Office.
Temperatures dipping into the 30s aren’t the only concern for searchers right now. Silcox is a liver transplant patient who lives with his parents and requires daily medication. Family told deputies he walks with a limp and is prone to seizures.
“This is almost his daily routine to go out on walks," Chesser said. He’s been known to go out on walks, he’s been known to walk several miles from home. But the normal pattern is as it gets later in the day he will call home, he’s got a cell phone.”
That phone now appears to have gone dead with no way to trace it. Search teams planned to be back Saturday morning doing a more detailed search of the area.
If you’ve seen Silcox or have any idea where he could be, you are asked to call the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.