Glenwood South nightclub bouncer missing days after minor crash on Wade Avenue

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- If you're a regular to Glenwood South nightlife, you've probably met Robert Richardson along the way.

He's big, tall and talkative, and on a normal night he's working security at the door at The Village. But he's been missing for nearly six days now. Friends are worried sick and desperately trying to find him.

"A lot of people know him," said Kensley Perry, one of the friends plastering poles and walls with missing persons posters of Richardson's face. They've called every hospital and filed a missing person report with Raleigh Police Department, but after five days there's still no sign of Richardson.

Perry tells ABC11, they're not giving up hope.

"No, absolutely not" he said. "He's out there somewhere. Somebody knows something."

Perry is head of security at The Village Entertainment Complex on Glenwood. Richardson is a bouncer at the popular club. The 41-year-old was not working last Wednesday night, instead he was eating out with friends on Glenwood.

"He ended up, we assume, going home at 11:30. He takes Wade Avenue to go home because he lives in Sanford," Perry explained.

They know along the way Richardson was in a minor car crash at Wade Avenue and Ridge Road. Both drivers stopped and exchanged information. Police were called and the cars were towed.

But that's when things turn unusual. Richardson left his laptop and both cell phones inside his vehicle and for some reason started walking. Someone spotted him on Glenwood Avenue early Thursday morning, just after 7.

"They saw him walking down the side of the road going toward downtown from Glenwood and Wade Avenue," Perry said. "Since last Thursday, nobody's seen him or heard from him at all."

Richardson moved to Raleigh from western Pennsylvania a year ago. He has a close circle of friends in Raleigh that are worried about him.

"A nice fun-loving social dude. Always got a smile on his face," said Perry describing his friend.

ABC11 asked if Richardson had ever disappeared like this before and if there was any known history of substance abuse or addiction.

"No," Perry replied. "He's not that type of guy. No history of that, to our knowledge, whatsoever."

Richardson's friends are certain something's wrong. But not sure what. They're combing for clues from the streets to social media.

"Somebody's seen him. We feel like somewhere someone has seen something. But they may not even realize it until maybe they see a flyer or a post on Instagram," Perry said.

On Wednesday at The Village, 616 Glenwood Avenue, Perry and friends are staging a search party for Richardson. They've been working with the Center for Missing Persons to draw a search zone map of the area. The search effort gets underway outside the club 10:00 a.m. Wednesday. Volunteers are welcome.