A 17-year-old Newark boy who went missing near NewPark Mall yesterday has been found safe, police announced today. Jonathan Mendez was last seen on foot near the shopping center around 3:15 PM, wearing a white t-shirt with black writing, camouflage pants, and grey, white and black New Balance shoes.
The update came less than 24 hours after the Newark Police Department first asked the public for help locating him. Police had described Mendez as a Black male standing about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing roughly 125 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Police did not disclose where he was found or the circumstances of his disappearance, citing the minor's privacy.
The department's initial appeal followed a now-familiar pattern for Newark police, who have leaned heavily on social media to crowdsource missing person searches. Just a week earlier, last Wednesday, the department issued a similar public alert for 76-year-old Wilfredo Dimas after he went missing near Newark Lake. Dimas, too, was located safely not long after the alert went out.
A Mall at the Center of a Growing Neighborhood
Mendez was last seen near NewPark Mall, a 1.16-million-square-foot super-regional shopping center that opened in 1980 and serves as a retail anchor for the Tri-City area of Newark, Fremont and Union City, according to background compiled on Wikipedia. The mall sits along the Interstate 880 corridor and is immediately adjacent to the Newark campus of Ohlone College and Newark Memorial High School, putting it squarely in the path of local youth foot traffic.
The site is also in the middle of a long-term transformation. The City of Newark and the mall's owners are pursuing the multi-phase NewPark Place Specific Plan, which calls for more than 1,500 residential units and modern retail space to replace aging department store buildings, according to TCA Architects. The redevelopment aims to turn the shopping center into a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood over time.
How California Law Shapes the Response to Missing Youth
Cases like Mendez's move quickly in part because of state law. Under California Penal Code Section 14211, local police are required to accept missing person reports without delay and electronically transmit reports involving minors or at-risk individuals to state databases within two hours, according to FindLaw. That statutory mandate eliminates the waiting periods that once slowed down searches for missing young people.
California has also built out specialized alert systems aimed at missing youth of color. In January 2024, the state became the first in the nation to launch the Ebony Alert system under Senate Bill 673, designed to help law enforcement broadcast emergency notifications for missing Black youth and young women between ages 12 and 25, per CBS Los Angeles. The legislation responded to long-documented gaps in media attention and resources for missing Black youth. Nationally, Black children account for roughly 38% of missing youth cases despite Black Americans making up about 14% of the population, according to the Black and Missing Foundation.
Newark PD's Broader Focus on Youth Safety
Anyone with information in cases like this is asked to contact Newark police, and people facing an emergency should call 911. The department's Communications Division runs a 24/7 dispatch service at (510) 578-4237 and fields more than 60,000 emergency and non-emergency calls a year for the city, according to the City of Newark.
The rapid resolution of Mendez's case also comes amid heightened attention to youth protection efforts in Newark. In May, the department took part in a multi-agency sting operation targeting child exploitation that resulted in the arrests of three adult men who had traveled to the city to meet undercover officers. Together, the recent cases point to a department that has increasingly relied on fast public alerts and interagency coordination to keep young residents safe.
