NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark — Around midnight on Sunday, 30-year year old Patrick Larry was officially reported missing by his wife and friends. Hours earlier, around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, he was noticed missing by friends he was with near a Murray Park boat dock.
Those friends say they were enjoying a night out near the water when Patrick told them he'd be right back. He walked in to the woods behind them and never returned.
He use to be a firefighter for Stuttgart, he's Red Cross trained and certified in life guarding and serves with the Arkansas National Guard, according to his family.
They also say it's not like Larry to just get up and walk away.
Lamont Larry is Patrick's father. He said Patrick's wife Nicki Dailey-Larry informed him Sunday that his son was missing and he drove in to Little Rock from Texas.
"It's tough, because you don't know. It's so many questions to be answered. We don't know. We're just praying that he comes back safe," Lamont Larry said.
He spoke with friends who were last seen with him and out in the boat searching for him. He also went out on a search group with his motorcycle friends to try and find him.
Liz Conway has known Patrick for over 12 years. They were in the National Guard together and she thought of him like family. She said he had a smile and laugh that was contagious.
"I'm shocked. My heart breaks for his best friend who has been searching non-stop, his wife, his family. For something so tragic and unexpected to happen, there are really no words that can express how you feel," Conway said.
Nicki Dailey-Larry, Patrick's wife, said his friend called her Saturday night to report him missing.
"He just told me that he walked off, said he'd be back and Adam was continuing to load up the boat and he realized about 20-25 minutes later that Pat hadn't come back. So he started looking for him," Nicki said.
She started contacted other family members to let them know.
"When he had walked off he left his phone sitting on the sandbar with Adam. Like he left everything like he was coming right back," she told us.
We will update this article with more information as it becomes available.