Wilson Bauer, 34, is an accomplished Chicago chef and a father of two young boys. But police say he may be in a depressed state and they need the public’s help in trying to find him.
By all accounts Bauer was the last person people expected to mysteriously disappear.
“It’s extremely out of character for him to leave home and not come back," his partner Alice Richter said.
He's well-known on the Chicago food scene and is a doting father of a 7-year-old and a 3-month-old.
“Wilson was a great guy," Allen Epley, a former colleague at Longman & Eagle, said. "Very steady, always easy-going."
Police say Bauer went missing Thursday around 11 a.m.
Richter says he left the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood near his home on Hermitage without his cell phone or wallet.
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“It would be scary if it was just me and him cause it’s out of character," she said. "But for him to leave these two boys, it’s absolutely out of character and that’s why we’re treating this as seriously as we can."
In 2017 Bauer won the Jean Banchet Award for best chef-de-cuisine for his culinary work at Schwa in Wicker Park. Prior to that he worked for several years at Longman & Eagle.
“Very well-rounded chef," Epley said. "Knows his stuff. Tall, kind of goofy guy very funny.”
Bauer is described as six-foot-one, weighing 210 pounds and has a full beard. He has tattoos on both arms and on his calf.
He was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans and possibly grayish-brown boots.
“He’s a really loved man," Richter said. "A great dad and everyone is really worried and we’re really wanting him home."
Police say Bauer is also known to frequent the Pilsen neighborhood.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact Area Central detectives.
