Paul Womachka was last seen early on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

LAKE COUNTY – Authorities are asking the public for information about a man who has been missing since early Wednesday morning.

Lt. Cecil Brown of the Lake County Sheriff's Office reported that the agency received a missing persons report on Wednesday regarding Paul Joseph “Joe” Womachka, 39, of Nice.

Womachka drives a Hey Taxi taxicab in Lake County. He was last seen operating the taxi just after midnight on Wednesday morning, according to Brown's report. Attempts to contact Womachka have not been successful.

Brown reports that the vehicle Womachka was driving is a white, 2000 Chevrolet Venture minivan, license plate number 8H96815. The sides of the van are marked, “Hey Taxi” in highly visible red letters.

The van Womachka operates has the number “19” in black letters on the back, said Brown, which differentiates it from other Hey Taxi vans operating in the county.

Anyone who has seen Womachka or the van since the early morning hours of June 27 is asked to call Detective Nicole Costanza at 262-4236.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Hey Taxi minivan that Womachka drives has the license plate number 8H96815 and the number