Local police are looking for Wesley Kennedy III, a former Benedictine and Georgia Southern soccer star, who has been missing since Sunday.
Kennedy’s mother, Yulonda Maxwell, posted on her Facebook account on Sunday that the family needed help finding her 23-year-old son.
“I’m having a hard time posting this, but my son John Wesley Kennedy III is missing,” she wrote on Facebook. “He was last seen this morning on 10/17/11 at 10 am. He wasn’t thinking clearly and he wasn’t himself. If you see him, please alert the police and the news media and please send me a DM. Thank you “
Maxwell worries that her son, whose full name is John Wesley Kennedy III, could harm himself.
“He’s not himself. He’s not mentally himself,” Maxwell said in a phone interview on Monday afternoon. “He said he planned to save the world and sacrifice himself.”
Law enforcement agencies unsuccessfully searched for Kennedy from Garden City on Sunday and Monday in areas of his last known whereabouts near the 1100 block of Dean Forest Road.
The Garden City Police Department announced in a press release on Monday at 3:30 p.m. that it would investigate the missing person.
Maxwell said Kennedy’s girlfriend spoke to him at 8 a.m. on Sunday. Maxwell texted him around 1pm and he replied, but then she stopped and she didn’t know if the phone was running out of battery. Since then, the family has not been able to reach him.
Kennedy’s family reported him missing at around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, according to Garden City Police, and he was last seen walking from his apartment on Kessler Avenue in Garden City.
On Monday, Maxwell posted photos from Sunday of Kennedy wearing a light colored T-shirt and shorts. She also posted about a possible overnight sighting of her son on Interstate 16 and Interstate 95 around 4 a.m.
The Savannah Police Department helped the search Sunday after family members believed Kennedy may have been near police properties on Dean Forest Road that house horses, spokeswoman Bianca Johnson wrote in an email to the Savannah Morning News. A search of the property and a helicopter could not locate him.
Johnson also wrote that while the Savannah police are in charge of the investigation while the Garden City police are in charge of the investigation, they are again searching their property on horseback and K-9 units on Monday. Chatham County Police Department also assisted in areas near the property that are under their jurisdiction, Johnson wrote.
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Kennedy, a soccer star at Benedictine Military School, was the 2016 Savannah Morning News Soccer Player of the Year and the Finocchiaro Award winner for Chatham County’s best player among numerous local, regional, and state awards.
He played running back and slotback as well as return punts in Georgia Southern, where the 5-foot-10, 180-pounder led the all-purpose yards and all-sun belt conference in 2018 and 2019.
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Kennedy had another impressive season as a senior in 2020 when he was one of four Georgia Southern players to play from Jan.
Players were banned from the team, with two – nose tackle CJ Wright and cornerback Emphraim Kitchen Jr. – returning later in the season. Linebackers Chris Harris Jr. and Kennedy, both Savannah and Benedictine alumni, did not return to the team.
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Kennedy’s original indictment was reduced to two cases of possession of a controlled substance, one case of possession of marijuana less than 1 ounce, one case of possession of drug-related items, and one case of possession of a firearm or knife while on-site or on November 24th attempting to commit certain crimes, according to prison records.
Kennedy’s mother said Monday her son was excited after meeting with his lawyer to get on with his life.
Georgia Southern interim football coach Kevin Whitley got involved on social media to try to find Kennedy.
“Hopefully he is found, he will be safe and return to his family,” said Whitely, coach of the cornerbacks since 2019, on Monday. “I know his mother and family are really worried about him. The Georgia Southern family is also worried about him.
The Garden City Police are asking anyone with information about Kennedy’s whereabouts to immediately call 9-1-1 or Det. Chad Wierenga at 912-944-7451.
Nathan Dominitz is the sports content editor for Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Send him an email at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz
