Jacksonville police were searching the Northside on Wednesday morning after 7-year-old Chace Brown left his home off Broward Road near Interstate 95 sometime before 7 a.m. and never returned. Chace stands 4 feet 3 inches tall, weighs about 73 pounds, and has brown eyes with black hair. He was last seen wearing a white tank top, black Super Mario shorts, and blue Crocs.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office posted Chace's description online Wednesday afternoon, urging the public to share the alert and call 904-630-0500 with any information on where he might be. As reported by News4JAX, the boy had not been located as of Wednesday, hours after he left the home near the interstate.
Search Zone Sits Along a Busy Northside Corridor
Broward Road cuts through the Trout River and Highlands neighborhoods, linking U.S. Route 17 near Main Street with Lem Turner Road close to Exit 358B on Interstate 95, according to AARoads. The corridor mixes residential blocks with commercial traffic that feeds directly onto the interstate.
The same stretch was the scene of a homicide investigation just weeks earlier, after News4JAX reported that a man was found shot in an apartment courtyard near Broward Road on July 16. Police have not said whether that case has any connection to Chace's disappearance.
Florida Law Sets a Fast Clock for Missing-Child Reports
Florida law leaves no room for delay once a child is reported missing. Under Florida Statute 937.021, agencies must accept a missing-child report immediately and enter the child's information into state and national crime databases within two hours, without imposing any waiting period, according to the Florida Senate.
Florida also maintains two different emergency broadcasts for children believed to be in danger, per the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. A Missing Child Alert requires that the child be under 18 and that investigators hold a well-founded belief the child's life is in danger based on an active investigation, while a full AMBER Alert requires a well-founded belief that an actual kidnapping or abduction has taken place. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was not clear which threshold, if either, investigators believed applied to Chace's case.
A separate Florida law that took effect on July 1, 2026, changed the statute of limitations for felony charges tied to failing to report child abuse or endangerment, pausing the three-year clock until law enforcement actually learns of the failure, News4JAX reported. Lawmakers introduced the measure after Duval County investigations exposed mandatory-reporting failures that had gone unnoticed for years.
Statewide Scale of Missing-Child Cases in Florida
The state's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse, established in 1983 as the nation's first of its kind, processes reports on more than 2,500 missing children across Florida every year, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, founded in 1984 by the parents of missing Florida child Adam Walsh, also offers a 24-hour hotline at 1-800-843-5678 to support law enforcement in cases like this one.
Community tips have helped resolve similar Jacksonville cases before. In May 2021, News4JAX reported that JSO searched overnight for an 11-year-old boy who left his Northwest side home on foot, later finding him safe the next morning after a citizen spotted him near downtown.
JSO is asking anyone with information on Chace's whereabouts to call or text 911 in addition to the tip line already circulating online. Investigators have not said whether they believe he wandered off on his own or whether the circumstances point to something more serious.
