Chicago Baptist church pastor missing, last seen on July 2

As a family and church community plea for answers, police are asking the public for help locating a Chicago pastor who disappeared one week ago.

Warren Beard, 53, was last seen on July 2 and remained missing Tuesday, a Chicago Police Department spokesperson told USA TODAY on Tuesday.

According to police, Beard, who lives on East 89th Street near the city's South Side, was last seen in Joliet, a city about 30 miles southwest of his home.

Beard, a pastor assistant and Sunday school teacher at the New Israelite Missionary Baptist Church, has been with the congregation for nearly two decades, church officials told local WMAQ-TV.

The church is several blocks northwest of Beard's home.

"We are all hurting right now," Beard's Aunt Theresa Boss-French told the outlet. "We all know Reverend Warren Beard is not someone who would just disappear without saying a word to his family.”

It was not immediately known if foul play was suspected in his disappearance.

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Description of missing Chicago Pastor Warren Beard

Police described Beard as a Black man with brown eyes and a bald head.

He stands 6 feet tall, weighs 200 pounds, and officials said he has tattoos on both of his arms and his back.

Beard may be traveling in a black Honda HRV, with an Illinois license plate that reads DY20511 and has this VIN number: 3CZRZ2H51PM736035.

Anyone with information about Beard's whereabouts is asked to call 911 or contact Chicago police.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.