Hmmm.....
Also, are there ring doorbell cams or security cameras ?
Found Safe FL - Boy, 2, missing while parents slept, Brooksville, Hernando County, Feb 2023
- Thread starter megs1477
- Start date
Also, are there ring doorbell cams or security cameras ?
LavenderLotus
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2013
- Messages
- 435
- Reaction score
- 1,614
LavenderLotus
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2013
- Messages
- 435
- Reaction score
- 1,614
As far as cameras, he said a delivery truck driver might have some footage. But a credible witness who knows of the boy, hasn't had contact with, so it sounds like a neighbor but the witness had a timestamped receipt so it shows exactly when this person saw JJ.
Allabouttrial
Until you've walked a mile in someone else's shoes
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2018
- Messages
- 6,269
- Reaction score
- 53,279
Thank you! I've been searching for the last 10 minutes and coming up empty. It seems like not many MSM's are covering this yet.
steff13
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2011
- Messages
- 1,587
- Reaction score
- 12,505
I can't find the comment you're referring to, but good Lord I get annoyed with people who don't understand the criteria for issuing an Amber Alert.
Hestia's Fire
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2021
- Messages
- 637
- Reaction score
- 8,927
Weather has been in the mid-80s all afternoon today; I hate to think how dehydrated JJ is going to be when he's finally found. Gainesville, FL Weather History | Weather Underground
LavenderLotus
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2013
- Messages
- 435
- Reaction score
- 1,614
I hope this poor baby is found safely before the sun sets. I can't imagine how scared a young child would be in the Florida woods. When I lived down there, I was always scared of "the woods". They're thick and creepy. I just am hoping for good news for JJ very soon.
vereb
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2023
- Messages
- 58
- Reaction score
- 503
Thank you! A "very rambunctious 2-yr-old", according to the sheriff, so he might well have wandered further than one might think. They have no indication of where he might be, so presumably dogs haven't picked up a scent. They have spoken to the RSOs in the area, all of whom have been cooperative and allowed their houses to be checked.
imstilla.grandma
Believer of Miracles
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2018
- Messages
- 30,671
- Reaction score
- 208,441
More than 50 deputies with the sheriff’s office have been out looking for the child, along with K-9s from multiple surrounding counties and drones in the air. The fire department is also asking for volunteers.
www.mysuncoast.com
In a 5 p.m. update, Sheriff Al Nienhuis said the child has yet to be found. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said 2-year-old Joshua Rollin wandered away from his home near Cheever Road and Yontz Road in northern Brooksville while his parents were sleeping.
www.fox13news.com
During a news conference Thursday evening, Sheriff Al Neinhuis explained that 2-year-old Joshua Rowland, who goes by JJ, was reported missing just before noon. A witness reportedly saw the toddler playing with dogs in his front yard at around 10:40 a.m.
Neinhuis says a relative dropped off the toddler, who was sleeping at the time, at the house around 9:45 a.m. His caregiver was still sleeping at the time too.
When JJ's mother woke up from a nap, he was already gone.
“As of right now, we have no indication if he was abducted or just wandered off, we have no clue what happened…," the sheriff said.
www.wtsp.com
Earlier, it was believed little JJ was last seen just before 10 a.m., but a witness later came forward to say they saw the boy playing in the yard around 11 a.m.
Meanwhile, the sheriff said deputies visited sex offenders in the area and did not find any sign of JJ. The sheriff also noted there is no indication the child was abducted at this point in the investigation.
www.fox13news.com
The fire department is lending a helping hand, and the community is asking on Facebook if they can help search.
The area surrounding the homes has high grass, bushes, thick woods, ponds and other bodies of water, according to the spokesperson.
"It’s hot," Moloney said. "That’s a lot for as long as he has been missing."
Missing Brooksville toddler found; former Marine hailed as hero
“I said a prayer about 10 minutes before I found him,” Roy Link said.
In a 5 p.m. update, Sheriff Al Nienhuis said the child has yet to be found. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said 2-year-old Joshua Rollin wandered away from his home near Cheever Road and Yontz Road in northern Brooksville while his parents were sleeping.
Hernando sheriff says missing toddler was seen in yard at 11 a.m.
In a 5 p.m. update, Sheriff Al Nienhuis said the child has yet to be found. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said 2-year-old Joshua Rollin wandered away from his home near Cheever Road and Yontz Road in northern Brooksville while his parents were sleeping.
During a news conference Thursday evening, Sheriff Al Neinhuis explained that 2-year-old Joshua Rowland, who goes by JJ, was reported missing just before noon. A witness reportedly saw the toddler playing with dogs in his front yard at around 10:40 a.m.
Neinhuis says a relative dropped off the toddler, who was sleeping at the time, at the house around 9:45 a.m. His caregiver was still sleeping at the time too.
When JJ's mother woke up from a nap, he was already gone.
“As of right now, we have no indication if he was abducted or just wandered off, we have no clue what happened…," the sheriff said.
Toddler in Brooksville still missing as Hernando deputies continue search
More than 50 deputies with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office have been out looking for the child, along with K-9s from multiple surrounding counties and drones.
www.wtsp.com
Earlier, it was believed little JJ was last seen just before 10 a.m., but a witness later came forward to say they saw the boy playing in the yard around 11 a.m.
Meanwhile, the sheriff said deputies visited sex offenders in the area and did not find any sign of JJ. The sheriff also noted there is no indication the child was abducted at this point in the investigation.
Ground search paused until morning for 2-year-old Brooksville boy who wandered away from home
The ground search has been suspended after nightfall for a Brooksville 2-year-old who went missing Thursday morning, but Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said deputies would continue searching from the air using infrared cameras.
The fire department is lending a helping hand, and the community is asking on Facebook if they can help search.
The area surrounding the homes has high grass, bushes, thick woods, ponds and other bodies of water, according to the spokesperson.
"It’s hot," Moloney said. "That’s a lot for as long as he has been missing."
LavenderLotus
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2013
- Messages
- 435
- Reaction score
- 1,614
I hope there is a good update in this interview!
imstilla.grandma
Believer of Miracles
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2018
- Messages
- 30,671
- Reaction score
- 208,441
Where are the dogs he was playing with?
Two years old is so little. Hopefully, he’s able to pull himself up if he falls.
Two years old is so little. Hopefully, he’s able to pull himself up if he falls.
Last edited:
Bolding mine.More than 50 deputies with the sheriff’s office have been out looking for the child, along with K-9s from multiple surrounding counties and drones in the air. The fire department is also asking for volunteers.
Missing Brooksville toddler found; former Marine hailed as hero
“I said a prayer about 10 minutes before I found him,” Roy Link said.
In a 5 p.m. update, Sheriff Al Nienhuis said the child has yet to be found. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said 2-year-old Joshua Rollin wandered away from his home near Cheever Road and Yontz Road in northern Brooksville while his parents were sleeping.
Hernando sheriff says missing toddler was seen in yard at 11 a.m.
In a 5 p.m. update, Sheriff Al Nienhuis said the child has yet to be found. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said 2-year-old Joshua Rollin wandered away from his home near Cheever Road and Yontz Road in northern Brooksville while his parents were sleeping.
During a news conference Thursday evening, Sheriff Al Neinhuis explained that 2-year-old Joshua Rowland, who goes by JJ, was reported missing just before noon. A witness reportedly saw the toddler playing with dogs in his front yard at around 10:40 a.m.
Neinhuis says a relative dropped off the toddler, who was sleeping at the time, at the house around 9:45 a.m. His caregiver was still sleeping at the time too.
When JJ's mother woke up from a nap, he was already gone.
“As of right now, we have no indication if he was abducted or just wandered off, we have no clue what happened…," the sheriff said.
Toddler in Brooksville still missing as Hernando deputies continue search
More than 50 deputies with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office have been out looking for the child, along with K-9s from multiple surrounding counties and drones.
Earlier, it was believed little JJ was last seen just before 10 a.m., but a witness later came forward to say they saw the boy playing in the yard around 11 a.m.
Meanwhile, the sheriff said deputies visited sex offenders in the area and did not find any sign of JJ. The sheriff also noted there is no indication the child was abducted at this point in the investigation.
Ground search paused until morning for 2-year-old Brooksville boy who wandered away from home
The ground search has been suspended after nightfall for a Brooksville 2-year-old who went missing Thursday morning, but Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said deputies would continue searching from the air using infrared cameras.
The fire department is lending a helping hand, and the community is asking on Facebook if they can help search.
The area surrounding the homes has high grass, bushes, thick woods, ponds and other bodies of water, according to the spokesperson.
"It’s hot," Moloney said. "That’s a lot for as long as he has been missing."
So, both parents were home and sleeping when he was dropped off ?
And JJ was sleeping as well ?
When the relative left the house, JJ was still asleep ?
Is the 'caregiver' a third person ?
If he wandered off, dogs should have found a scent, right ?
So many questions.
Hoping he is found safe, albeit lonely and getting hungry !
Canker sore ?
swanniee11
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 22, 2007
- Messages
- 8,987
- Reaction score
- 42,262
That swollen lip could be from anything at that age. IMO
I'm trying to stay positive for beautiful JJ.
I'm trying to stay positive for beautiful JJ.
swanniee11
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 22, 2007
- Messages
- 8,987
- Reaction score
- 42,262
I actually thought it was a crumb since he's sitting in front of food.
Allabouttrial
Until you've walked a mile in someone else's shoes
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2018
- Messages
- 6,269
- Reaction score
- 53,279
TRANSCRIPTION OF PRESS CONFERENCE
23RD FEB.
Sheriff - My name is Hernando County Sheriff, Al Nienhuis. We're here out at Cheever Rd. in Hernando County, for reference it's just a little bit north of Yontz Rd. between Cobb Rd. and Pastillion. It's in a fairly rural area of Hernando County, the lots are very large and most of them are very wooded, there's some farm animals around and so forth.
Around, almost exactly, at noon today we received a call from this residence, advising that 'JJ' their son was missing. He's about 2 yrs. old, he has blond curly hair and, according to the mother, he had been missing for about an hour at the time she called us. We have done a neighbourhood canvas several times, not only talking to neighbours but also searching homes in the area and we're relatively confident that a witness, a fairly reliable witness, as far as we can tell, saw 'JJ' in the front yard playing with the dogs at about 10:40 a.m. So, we believe that he disappeared somewhere between 10:40 and 11:00, if the mother is accurate at the time she gave us.
Unfortunately, we haven't been able to locate him. We have well over 50 law enforcement personnel from the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, between 50 and 60 of them out here, doing everything you could possibly imagine to find 'JJ'. We have individuals from the Department of Corrections with their bloodhound. We have Pasco Sheriff's Office with a bloodhound, we have the Citrus County Dive Team up here looking at some bodies of water that are very close to the house but, as of right now, we have no indication that he was abducted or he wandered off. We just don't know what happened. Unfortunately, the time delay did not help us any, but we have been scouring the woods with the bloodhound's, with our regular patrol K9s and deputies have been coming back just covered in Sandburs looking for little 'JJ' and calling out for him. We've had the helicopter up with the FLIR and the camera, trying to see any indication of him and unfortunately we have not been able to get any indication at all where he might be. We have also checked any sexual offender or sexual predator in the area. We have checked them all off the list and every single one of them, without exception, was cooperative. Even let us come in and look in their house and search their house, just to rule that out as a possibility.
I can tell you that we're not going home until we find 'JJ'. The family is being very cooperative with us and they know that we're out here working extremely hard to figure out exactly what happened. As I said, it's a challenge because it's a very wooded area and it's very difficult to see from the helicopter. We're thinking, maybe, as the sun goes down the forward-looking infrared cameras might be able to give us some indication where he might be and I'm also told that some of the bloodhounds might work a little better as the sun starts to go down. So, everybody out here, the Hernando County Fire Rescue has been out here, helping us. Everybody is dedicated to finding little 'JJ'.
Now, I do want to tell the audience out there that if you live anywhere near this location to please check your property. He's a 2 yr. old but I'm told he's a very very rambunctious 2 yr. old, probably acts a little older than he actually is, as you might expect. And so, he might have gotten further away than we anticipate and he might be hiding in someone's shed or their garage. So we would certainly appreciate everybody that's probably within a mile or two at least at this to check their property, three or four times, to make sure 'JJ' isn't hiding in a car or in a shed or something like that. Also, if you have a family member, again, we don't have any indication he's been abducted, but if you have a family member that's acting strange, we're going to check out every lead that comes in until we find 'JJ'. So, if anybody is acting weird please give us a call and let us come talk to him or her and see if we can rule that person out as a possible suspect, if, God forbid, 'JJ' was abducted. I can't answer much questions because we don't have many answers, but I'll do my best to answer any questions you might have.
Reporter - Has the K9 picked up any scent or trace of JJ?
Sheriff - There have been some indications. I don't want to go into too much detail, they've had some direction and we've been working really hard in that direction. Of course, in these situations there are a lot of possibilities, that's why we have a lot of different resources here with different abilities and we hope, obviously, that we find him alive and well, that's our hope.
Reporter - Is there any chance the parents aren't being forthcoming?
Sheriff - As of right now, I've been talking to my detectives and, of course, nobody is ruled out as a suspect but I can tell you that my detectives and I.. a couple of my best detectives were interviewing them and they.. at this point in time, we don't have any reason to believe that any family member or any associate of the family appears to have anything to hide at all and they want to find 'JJ' just as much as we do.
.
Reporter - Did the witness notice the toddler in the yard at 10:45, was that his yard or.. ?
Sheriff - That was in his front yard. A neighbour happened to be going by and saw him in the front yard. I think he saw, with some of the dogs, and didn't think anything of it. Unfortunately, the family didn't notice him missing for quite some time and then, again, another thing that anybody who's ever missing a child - call enforcement instantly, don't look for the child for an hour before you call us, because obviously, the quicker... we'd much rather get here and get cancelled on the way or have you find the toddler than have an hour lag time. But, this individual was pretty adamant that he saw... he knows the young boy, hasn't interacted with him but he's seen him in the yard before and he didn't think anything of it, but he had the exact time because he went and got gas and had the gas receipts, so he was able to tell us exactly when he saw the kid.
Reporter - You were asking the public earlier not to come to this area?
Sheriff - Well, I will tell you that, again, it makes it difficult for the dogs and so forth, but I think if people do want to volunteer, particularly on the outskirts, again, we don't think he got past Yontz Rd. or Cobb or 98 but we may have people start checking those areas, just in case. We've been in that block area, it's a lot larger than a city block, but that area, bounded by these three streets, we've been searching frantically in that area. We think it's very unlikely that a 2 yr. old could cross any of those major roads without somebody seeing him, but we'll definitely take that help. Just keep in mind that anybody who comes, we're going to run their background to make sure that they don't have a criminal history and so forth and then you're welcome to check some of the areas and, again, it's a very very difficult area to search because he's very small and some of these woods and the trees make it very difficult to see, sometimes even a few feet because the grass is so high.
Reporter - Was there any surveillance video or ring doorbell.. ?
Sheriff - We've been looking into that and we actually are looking, right now, at a delivery truck driver that we understand may have delivered a package in the area, around that time, and may have some camera footage, but I haven't got that confirmed yet, but unfortunately because the houses are so far apart and set back if there are any with ring cameras it's not going to show a whole lot, but we've been checking and double checking that, but I don't think we've had anything specific come up yet.
Reporter - (inaudible) a race against time. I mean, just how concerned are you that every minute that goes by makes it tougher to find someone?
Sheriff - Right and, again, starting as I said.. I don't blame the parents because I'd probably do the exact same thing, I would spend time looking for my kid because I wouldn't want to bother law enforcement, so I'm not being critical of them, they're dealing with something that's unimaginable to most of us. But, that being said, even that first hour really put us behind and now every hour that goes by, another five hours so far, it certainly doesn't make us more hopeful. If anything, it's less hopeful.
Reporter - Did 'JJ' have any experience around water? Is there any reason to think that he might have gravitated towards water?
Sheriff - Well, I will tell you that anybody who's raised small children know that they tend to gravitate towards water, so that is obviously something that we're looking at. The Citrus County Dive Team is here, searching. I'm happy to report that they haven't found anything yet, because if they find something the news is probably going to be pretty grim, but the body of water they're looking at is fairly large and anybody who's been in this area and seen a pond it's very difficult to search, it's literally inch by inch. So, we're probably going to have additional dive teams come in tomorrow and help search that particular pond, as well as maybe some other bodies of water in the area that are a little further away. Pretty unlikely that he got that far away but we're not ruling anything out, we're going to uncover every stone we can until we find him.
Reporter - Can you re-iterate exactly how the parents thought he got out? They were sleeping?
Sheriff - What I'm being told, and obviously, that isn't our first priority right now while we're trying to find him, but my detectives have been interviewing them to see if they could get any additional information from the parents, but it's my understanding that a relative dropped him off about 9:45 and he was sleeping. The caregiver was also sleeping and he was, apparently, put next to that person or whatever and so that's why they know.. they could only say 9:45 and then didn't call us till noon. But, again, somebody apparently saw him in the yard around 10:40 and, according to the mother, she believes he was discovered missing around 11. So, we think we're talking about a 20 minute window but obviously that's all subject to change as we get more information.
Reporter - Does he have special needs or anything like that?
Sheriff - Other than being a toddler, no, not that I know of.
Reporter - Where are the parents now and how are they doing?
Sheriff - Well, you can... they're down by the command post and, as you can imagine, they are distraught, they're upset, they're frustrated, like we are, they are just holding their breath and they're... I'm sure they're praying hard.
The minute we know anything, hopefully we'll know something sooner rather than later, but we're going to be out here for the duration and we have plans set up for tonight as well as tomorrow for additional resources to come in and as anything breaks we'll certainly get you more information. But again, if the public could keep their eyes open for him and if they know of anything strange, whatsoever, we even.. it's a little bit, I don't want to say humorous, but we even had somebody from out of state call in claiming to be a psychic and gave us an address, so we went and checked it out, it was very specific and it turned out to be nothing but if we'll follow a lead from a psychic, we will certainly follow a lead from a family member that says 'my family member's acting a little strange and we think that person might be involved' so make sure you give us a call.
Reporter - A mounted unit is coming up (inaudible) ?
Sheriff - I didn't say that.. our civilian mounted unit volunteers are out here looking through the woods and they have a very unique advantage when they're sitting up high and they can just go about anywhere, so they're very useful for this type of thing.
Reporter - Can we expect routine updates?
Sheriff- We'll be trying to put out something as often as we can and if we find something we'll definitely let you know.
Reporter - Do you anticipate coming back out here?
Sheriff - If we don't find anything I don't know if there's anything I can really say.
23RD FEB.
Sheriff - My name is Hernando County Sheriff, Al Nienhuis. We're here out at Cheever Rd. in Hernando County, for reference it's just a little bit north of Yontz Rd. between Cobb Rd. and Pastillion. It's in a fairly rural area of Hernando County, the lots are very large and most of them are very wooded, there's some farm animals around and so forth.
Around, almost exactly, at noon today we received a call from this residence, advising that 'JJ' their son was missing. He's about 2 yrs. old, he has blond curly hair and, according to the mother, he had been missing for about an hour at the time she called us. We have done a neighbourhood canvas several times, not only talking to neighbours but also searching homes in the area and we're relatively confident that a witness, a fairly reliable witness, as far as we can tell, saw 'JJ' in the front yard playing with the dogs at about 10:40 a.m. So, we believe that he disappeared somewhere between 10:40 and 11:00, if the mother is accurate at the time she gave us.
Unfortunately, we haven't been able to locate him. We have well over 50 law enforcement personnel from the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, between 50 and 60 of them out here, doing everything you could possibly imagine to find 'JJ'. We have individuals from the Department of Corrections with their bloodhound. We have Pasco Sheriff's Office with a bloodhound, we have the Citrus County Dive Team up here looking at some bodies of water that are very close to the house but, as of right now, we have no indication that he was abducted or he wandered off. We just don't know what happened. Unfortunately, the time delay did not help us any, but we have been scouring the woods with the bloodhound's, with our regular patrol K9s and deputies have been coming back just covered in Sandburs looking for little 'JJ' and calling out for him. We've had the helicopter up with the FLIR and the camera, trying to see any indication of him and unfortunately we have not been able to get any indication at all where he might be. We have also checked any sexual offender or sexual predator in the area. We have checked them all off the list and every single one of them, without exception, was cooperative. Even let us come in and look in their house and search their house, just to rule that out as a possibility.
I can tell you that we're not going home until we find 'JJ'. The family is being very cooperative with us and they know that we're out here working extremely hard to figure out exactly what happened. As I said, it's a challenge because it's a very wooded area and it's very difficult to see from the helicopter. We're thinking, maybe, as the sun goes down the forward-looking infrared cameras might be able to give us some indication where he might be and I'm also told that some of the bloodhounds might work a little better as the sun starts to go down. So, everybody out here, the Hernando County Fire Rescue has been out here, helping us. Everybody is dedicated to finding little 'JJ'.
Now, I do want to tell the audience out there that if you live anywhere near this location to please check your property. He's a 2 yr. old but I'm told he's a very very rambunctious 2 yr. old, probably acts a little older than he actually is, as you might expect. And so, he might have gotten further away than we anticipate and he might be hiding in someone's shed or their garage. So we would certainly appreciate everybody that's probably within a mile or two at least at this to check their property, three or four times, to make sure 'JJ' isn't hiding in a car or in a shed or something like that. Also, if you have a family member, again, we don't have any indication he's been abducted, but if you have a family member that's acting strange, we're going to check out every lead that comes in until we find 'JJ'. So, if anybody is acting weird please give us a call and let us come talk to him or her and see if we can rule that person out as a possible suspect, if, God forbid, 'JJ' was abducted. I can't answer much questions because we don't have many answers, but I'll do my best to answer any questions you might have.
Reporter - Has the K9 picked up any scent or trace of JJ?
Sheriff - There have been some indications. I don't want to go into too much detail, they've had some direction and we've been working really hard in that direction. Of course, in these situations there are a lot of possibilities, that's why we have a lot of different resources here with different abilities and we hope, obviously, that we find him alive and well, that's our hope.
Reporter - Is there any chance the parents aren't being forthcoming?
Sheriff - As of right now, I've been talking to my detectives and, of course, nobody is ruled out as a suspect but I can tell you that my detectives and I.. a couple of my best detectives were interviewing them and they.. at this point in time, we don't have any reason to believe that any family member or any associate of the family appears to have anything to hide at all and they want to find 'JJ' just as much as we do.
.
Reporter - Did the witness notice the toddler in the yard at 10:45, was that his yard or.. ?
Sheriff - That was in his front yard. A neighbour happened to be going by and saw him in the front yard. I think he saw, with some of the dogs, and didn't think anything of it. Unfortunately, the family didn't notice him missing for quite some time and then, again, another thing that anybody who's ever missing a child - call enforcement instantly, don't look for the child for an hour before you call us, because obviously, the quicker... we'd much rather get here and get cancelled on the way or have you find the toddler than have an hour lag time. But, this individual was pretty adamant that he saw... he knows the young boy, hasn't interacted with him but he's seen him in the yard before and he didn't think anything of it, but he had the exact time because he went and got gas and had the gas receipts, so he was able to tell us exactly when he saw the kid.
Reporter - You were asking the public earlier not to come to this area?
Sheriff - Well, I will tell you that, again, it makes it difficult for the dogs and so forth, but I think if people do want to volunteer, particularly on the outskirts, again, we don't think he got past Yontz Rd. or Cobb or 98 but we may have people start checking those areas, just in case. We've been in that block area, it's a lot larger than a city block, but that area, bounded by these three streets, we've been searching frantically in that area. We think it's very unlikely that a 2 yr. old could cross any of those major roads without somebody seeing him, but we'll definitely take that help. Just keep in mind that anybody who comes, we're going to run their background to make sure that they don't have a criminal history and so forth and then you're welcome to check some of the areas and, again, it's a very very difficult area to search because he's very small and some of these woods and the trees make it very difficult to see, sometimes even a few feet because the grass is so high.
Reporter - Was there any surveillance video or ring doorbell.. ?
Sheriff - We've been looking into that and we actually are looking, right now, at a delivery truck driver that we understand may have delivered a package in the area, around that time, and may have some camera footage, but I haven't got that confirmed yet, but unfortunately because the houses are so far apart and set back if there are any with ring cameras it's not going to show a whole lot, but we've been checking and double checking that, but I don't think we've had anything specific come up yet.
Reporter - (inaudible) a race against time. I mean, just how concerned are you that every minute that goes by makes it tougher to find someone?
Sheriff - Right and, again, starting as I said.. I don't blame the parents because I'd probably do the exact same thing, I would spend time looking for my kid because I wouldn't want to bother law enforcement, so I'm not being critical of them, they're dealing with something that's unimaginable to most of us. But, that being said, even that first hour really put us behind and now every hour that goes by, another five hours so far, it certainly doesn't make us more hopeful. If anything, it's less hopeful.
Reporter - Did 'JJ' have any experience around water? Is there any reason to think that he might have gravitated towards water?
Sheriff - Well, I will tell you that anybody who's raised small children know that they tend to gravitate towards water, so that is obviously something that we're looking at. The Citrus County Dive Team is here, searching. I'm happy to report that they haven't found anything yet, because if they find something the news is probably going to be pretty grim, but the body of water they're looking at is fairly large and anybody who's been in this area and seen a pond it's very difficult to search, it's literally inch by inch. So, we're probably going to have additional dive teams come in tomorrow and help search that particular pond, as well as maybe some other bodies of water in the area that are a little further away. Pretty unlikely that he got that far away but we're not ruling anything out, we're going to uncover every stone we can until we find him.
Reporter - Can you re-iterate exactly how the parents thought he got out? They were sleeping?
Sheriff - What I'm being told, and obviously, that isn't our first priority right now while we're trying to find him, but my detectives have been interviewing them to see if they could get any additional information from the parents, but it's my understanding that a relative dropped him off about 9:45 and he was sleeping. The caregiver was also sleeping and he was, apparently, put next to that person or whatever and so that's why they know.. they could only say 9:45 and then didn't call us till noon. But, again, somebody apparently saw him in the yard around 10:40 and, according to the mother, she believes he was discovered missing around 11. So, we think we're talking about a 20 minute window but obviously that's all subject to change as we get more information.
Reporter - Does he have special needs or anything like that?
Sheriff - Other than being a toddler, no, not that I know of.
Reporter - Where are the parents now and how are they doing?
Sheriff - Well, you can... they're down by the command post and, as you can imagine, they are distraught, they're upset, they're frustrated, like we are, they are just holding their breath and they're... I'm sure they're praying hard.
The minute we know anything, hopefully we'll know something sooner rather than later, but we're going to be out here for the duration and we have plans set up for tonight as well as tomorrow for additional resources to come in and as anything breaks we'll certainly get you more information. But again, if the public could keep their eyes open for him and if they know of anything strange, whatsoever, we even.. it's a little bit, I don't want to say humorous, but we even had somebody from out of state call in claiming to be a psychic and gave us an address, so we went and checked it out, it was very specific and it turned out to be nothing but if we'll follow a lead from a psychic, we will certainly follow a lead from a family member that says 'my family member's acting a little strange and we think that person might be involved' so make sure you give us a call.
Reporter - A mounted unit is coming up (inaudible) ?
Sheriff - I didn't say that.. our civilian mounted unit volunteers are out here looking through the woods and they have a very unique advantage when they're sitting up high and they can just go about anywhere, so they're very useful for this type of thing.
Reporter - Can we expect routine updates?
Sheriff- We'll be trying to put out something as often as we can and if we find something we'll definitely let you know.
Reporter - Do you anticipate coming back out here?
Sheriff - If we don't find anything I don't know if there's anything I can really say.
Last edited:
DNASolves
Online statistics
- Members online
- 184
- Guests online
- 4,346
- Total visitors
- 4,530