NFL player’s dad missing since Monday has returned safely, OCSO says

Reporter: Taylor Smith Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
(Center) NFL player Mackensie Alexander walks away from Collier County jail after posting bond Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. He is accused of hitting a man Collier County Sheriff’s Office say is the last person to see Alexander’s father, who is missing out of Okeechobee County. Credit: WINK News.

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Jean Alexandre is safe, according to the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office.

Alexandre, missing since Monday, walked up to a ranger’s station at the Kissimmee River State Park at 7:15 a.m. Thursday. He is in good health and will return to his family, the sheriff’s office said.

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EARLIER REPORT:

NFL player Mackensie Alexander bonded out of Collier County jail Wednesday night after he was arrested for a fight connected to the disappearance of his father, who is missing in Okeechobee County.

Alexander, a cornerback the Cincinnati Bengals and an Immokalee native, was silent as he walked out of the jail. We asked him if he had anything to say and he chose not to respond.

Mackensie’s former football coach told us he’s worried for his father.

”He’s worried,” said Rodelin Anthony, a former Immokalee High School coach. “The kid always put his family first.”

Alexander’s arrest report says he punched the last man to see his father. They went to Okeechobee County Monday to pick palmetto berries.

”When they go back to finish picking the berries, Mackensies’s dad wasn’t showing up,” Mowendy Etienne said over the phone. “They couldn’t find him.”

Alexander went back to his home town of Immokalee to look for his missing father.

”I think, I mean, when you’re young, and you’re very passionate about your family, you can’t really think, and I’m sure he was definitely upset,” Anthony said.

Alexander’s attorney told us his father missing could be the reason for the actions he is accused of.

“What I can tell you is this in knowing Mackensie, his concern is his father,” attorney Brian Pakett said. “He is a loving son, who loves his father more than anything.”

And finding his father is Alexander’s main focus.

We asked the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office for an update on its investigation, but it did not give us one.

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