The Ford F-150 recovered from the Big Black River Friday. (The Vicksburg Post/MELANIE DUNCAN)

[04/09/01] Warren County authorities recovered a vehicle from the Big Black River Friday connected to a Crystal Springs man missing since March 10.

Sheriff Martin Pace said that a red Ford F-150 was pulled out of the Big Black River from under the Mississippi Highway 27 bridge. The truck was identified around noon as belonging to the missing man, 51-year-old Mack Wicker.

The missing man was not recovered with the vehicle and authorities are continuing to search for Wicker, Pace said.

“(The truck) has extensive damage consistent with a crash into the bridge,” he said.

Wicker was last seen in Vicksburg at Beechwood Restaurant & Lounge. Relatives of Wicker filed a missing persons report with the Sheriff’s Department four days later after he did not return home.

Authorities have been searching for the man missing for nearly a month and fliers have been posted in Vicksburg and Crystal Springs.

Wicker reportedly left Vicksburg around midnight and headed south on Highway 27 to Crystal Springs. Authorities are speculating that the truck crashed into the bridge and then went over the railing into the water.

“The vehicle had just been under water until this morning,” Pace said.

Pace said that it appeared that the truck had hit the bridge multiple times before going into the river. Both the windshield and passengers windows were knocked out, he said.

“As the water recedes, we are going to go back into the area and search for a body,” Pace said.

Wicker has a heart condition, diabetes and suffers from manic depression and schizophrenia. He was last seen wearing a green shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information should call the Sheriff’s Department at 636-1761.