Pasco Sheriff's deputies are searching for 13-year-old Jaysean Parker, described as a missing or runaway teenager last seen Thursday around 5:10 p.m. in the Westmoreland Court area of New Port Richey. Parker stands 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs around 140 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a cream-colored t-shirt and black shorts.
The search was announced in a post from Pasco Sheriff, which asked the public to report any information about Parker's whereabouts by calling 727-847-8102, option 7, or by using the department's online tip form. The agency noted that its social media account is not monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and urged anyone with an emergency to call 911 instead of relying on a reply through that channel.
Pasco Sheriff's deputies are currently searching for Jaysean Parker, a missing/runaway 13-year-old. Parker is 5’8”, around 140 lbs., with brown hair, and brown eyes. Parker was last seen on Aug. 20, around 5:10 p.m., in the Westmoreland Ct. area of New Port Richey. Parker was… pic.twitter.com/BZjp9FqYlL
— Pasco Sheriff (@PascoSheriff) August 20, 2026
Why Runaway Reports Get Full Search Resources
Under Florida law, any missing person under 18 is automatically classified as both a missing child and a missing endangered person, a designation that guarantees full investigative and search resources regardless of whether the minor is initially suspected of having run away, according to the Florida Senate. That classification lets local sheriffs immediately tap into state clearinghouse support and specialized search assets rather than treating a runaway report as a lower priority.
State law also bars agencies from imposing any waiting period before accepting a missing person report, and requires that missing child case details be entered into state and national crime databases within two hours, per PowerDMS. That statutory timeline is designed to eliminate the old assumption that police must wait 24 or 48 hours before acting on a report involving a minor.
Pasco's Specialized Search Assets
The Pasco Sheriff's Office operates a federally certified Missing and Abducted Child Team, certified through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which can deploy K-9 tracking teams, aviation units, aerial drones and intelligence analysts during active juvenile searches. The office also relies on social media outreach and a dedicated non-emergency tip line under its agency motto “We Fight As One,” using crowdsourced community leads to help locate missing minors.
Nationally, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children assisted law enforcement with more than 32,000 missing child cases in 2025, achieving a 90 percent recovery rate, with endangered runaways accounting for 92 percent of all missing child reports the organization received. The center has also estimated that roughly 1 in 7 runaway children reported to the organization in 2025 were likely victims of child sex trafficking or online enticement while missing, underscoring why child protection experts treat every runaway report as a safety risk rather than a simple disappearance.
Florida consistently ranks among the top three states nationwide for total missing children reports, trailing only California and Texas, with more than 2,600 children reported missing across the state in 2023 alone, according to the Missing Children Global Network. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement also operates the Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse, created by the state legislature in 1983 as the nation's first state-level missing child clearinghouse, coordinating alert networks and analytical research for local agencies like Pasco's.
A Familiar Pattern in Pasco County
Parker's disappearance is the latest in a string of missing-teen cases Pasco deputies have handled this month. Deputies searched for and found 14-year-old Serenity Bell after she vanished from a Wesley Chapel address earlier in August, while 17-year-old Zadock Wao was found safe after a second disappearance in Zephyrhills. Earlier this month, deputies also located Wesley Chapel teen Dakota Rubel after a weeklong search and searched for a missing Land O' Lakes teen, Ceriah Stanley. Last November, deputies conducted a similar search for a 15-year-old, Khloe Bryant, in the same New Port Richey area. Those recent cases show a consistent pattern in which rapid public alerts are followed by safe recoveries within a short timeframe.
Westmoreland Court sits in a suburban residential zone of ZIP code 34655, in a New Port Richey neighborhood made up mostly of townhomes and single-family homes within the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area. As the search for Parker continues, deputies are asking anyone with information to come forward through the tip line or online portal referenced in the sheriff's office's original alert.
