
A Virginia Beach family desperately wants to find their 12-year-old son who disappeared on January 24, 2025. According to his family, Juan Sebastian Mejia Acevedo didn’t have school on Friday due to a snow day. His parents last saw him around 9 a.m.
They permitted him to go to a friend’s home about 2 p.m. His parents believed he had arrived at his friend’s house safely, but it seems Juan never made it to the house at all.
“They thought he was home doing homework. A snow day for students here in the area,” Jody Saunders, chief communications officer with the Virginia Beach Police Department, told WAVY. “He, I think, was seen on a ring camera somewhere around 2 p.m. I think we’ve seen that family believed he was at a friend’s house, and at around 9 p.m., when he didn’t show up back home, they started to become concerned.”
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Juan’s mother, Jenni Acevedo, told WAVY she began to worry when she got home later that evening, and Juan wasn’t there.
“When we got home, he was not home. We told him he could go to his friend’s house from two to four, but we just thought because he wasn’t home, he was probably still at his friend’s house as boys do,” she said. “We went to his friend’s house, spoke to the parents and the parents tell us he never came to their house.”
Terrified, his family called police for help. First, the Virginia Beach Police Department issued a missing person alert. A short time later, Virginia State Police escalated the case and issued an Amber Alert for Juan.
“The child is believed to be in extreme danger and was last seen in the 200 block of Mica Avenue, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Abducted is Juan Sebastian Mejia Acevedo, an Hispanic male, black hair, brown eyes, 12 years old, 5 foot 8 inches tall, weighing 105 pounds,” according to state police. “The abducted child was last seen wearing blue pants, a red hoodie, and black shoes. No scars, marks, or tattoos. The child is believed to have been abducted by an unknown person.”
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Saunders confirmed that the family recently moved to the area, and VBPD will canvas door-to-door to speak to neighbors.
“We also enlisted the help of some of our Hispanic Citizens Police Academy alumni to help be shoulder to shoulder with our officers, knock on doors and assist translating, if necessary,” Saunders said.
VBPD confirmed that personnel contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and they do not have Jaun in custody, per WAVY.
Soon after news of the missing child spread, community members created the Missing Juan Sebastian Mejia Acevedo Discussion And Updates Facebook group in hopes of finding the missing child.
Many shared concerns for the family. Including a person who wrote, “Any news on the family? I can’t help but assume the silence may be because of the current political climate. Does anyone know how we can help in lieu of the family. It’s been 2 days. I am down for a search. Please let us know.”
A post in the morning of January 27 on the page had an ominous message: “No need to search,” the text read. “We are here. I’ll update later.” One commenter shared that the news “said they have put up a black curtain and [are] retrieving something from the water,” referencing one of two ponds near where the boy apparently disappeared.
Anyone with information about Juan should contact the Virginia Beach Police Department.