An 8-year-old boy is missing from East New York, Brooklyn, and police are asking the public for help finding him. Avery DeJesus was reported missing after leaving a residence on Van Siclen Avenue on Monday, and investigators say he was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, black shorts, and black sneakers.
According to PIX11, Avery stands about 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs roughly 100 pounds. The outlet, which credited the NYPD for the image being circulated of the boy, reported that he was last seen at the Van Siclen Avenue address in Brooklyn. Van Siclen Avenue sits within the patrol territory of the NYPD's 75th Precinct, which is headquartered at 1000 Sutter Avenue, according to NYC.gov.
The area is well served by public transit, with the IND Fulton Street Line's C train stopping at Pitkin Avenue and the IRT New Lots Line's 3 train stopping at Livonia Avenue, per Mapcarta — the kind of nearby transit infrastructure that often factors into how investigators canvass a neighborhood during a search like this one.
How to Submit a Tip
Police are asking anyone with information on Avery's whereabouts to come forward. Tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), with Spanish-speaking callers able to reach 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be sent by texting 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577, through the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or by visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org.
Why an Amber Alert Wasn't Issued
The case has not triggered a statewide Amber Alert, and that is by design rather than oversight. Under New York regulations, those emergency broadcasts are legally restricted to confirmed or strongly suspected child abductions involving imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death, according to the New York State Office of Victim Services. Cases like Avery's, where foul play has not been specified, are instead publicized through local precinct bulletins, Missing Child Alerts, and Crime Stoppers appeals.
Families searching for a missing child do not need to wait 24 hours before contacting police, and immediate reporting is considered critical to a fast recovery, per guidance highlighted by NYC City News Service. The vast majority of missing person cases in New York are resolved within 24 to 48 hours, that reporting notes.
State and National Resources
Beyond the NYPD's own hotlines, the New York State Missing Persons Clearinghouse, run by the state's Division of Criminal Justice Services, operates a 24-hour hotline at 1-800-346-3543 and distributes state Missing Child Alerts for endangered youth under 21, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. The clearinghouse works alongside local departments like the 75th Precinct on cases such as this one.
National figures suggest reason for cautious hope. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children assisted law enforcement with 32,167 missing children cases across the country in 2025, with 90 percent of those children successfully recovered, according to statistics the organization released in May, cited via MissingKids.org. In New York State specifically, NCMEC received reports of 3,074 missing children in 2023 and helped resolve 3,204 state missing child cases that year.
Avery's case follows a string of recent Brooklyn searches for missing young people. Earlier this month, NYPD detectives issued a similar public appeal for 13-year-old Nyla Frazer, as Hoodline reported in its piece on the Coney Island teen missing for weeks. Anyone with information on Avery DeJesus's whereabouts is urged to contact police through any of the tip channels listed above.
