Pasco Sheriff's deputies are asking for the public's help finding Cameron Jinks, a 17-year-old reported missing or as a possible runaway out of Wesley Chapel. Jinks was last seen around noon on Thursday in the Thames Place area, wearing a black shirt, light blue joggers, and black slides. He's described as 5-foot-6, around 130 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
The Pasco Sheriff's Office shared Jinks' description and last-known location Thursday evening, asking anyone with information about his whereabouts to come forward. Tips can be submitted online at pascosheriff.com/tips or by calling the agency's non-emergency line at 727-847-8102 and selecting option 7. Anyone with an emergency should call 911.
Notably, NCMEC alert records indicate Jinks was previously reported missing out of nearby Tampa on August 20, just eight days before Thursday's Wesley Chapel report, according to MostFreebies.com's tracking of NCMEC alert logs. The overlapping reports point to possible movement between Hillsborough and Pasco counties in the days before he was last seen near Thames Place.
A Busy August for Missing-Teen Alerts in Wesley Chapel
Jinks' disappearance is the latest in a string of missing-teen searches to hit the same suburban Pasco County community this month. Wesley Chapel has seen law enforcement search appeals for 14-year-old Julian Shepherd, also reported missing on Thursday, for 14-year-old Serenity Bell on August 17, and for 16-year-old Dakota Rubel earlier in August, according to prior Hoodline reporting on the local pattern of runaway alerts.
The frequency of these cases is partly a function of geography. The Pasco Sheriff's Office patrols an eastern division spanning roughly 490 square miles broken into 11 zones averaging 44 square miles apiece, covering fast-growing suburbs like Wesley Chapel and Land O' Lakes, as detailed in Hoodline's coverage of a recent search for Land O' Lakes teen Zanieyah Brown. That expanse means deputies lean heavily on public tips and social media bulletins to track down teens who wander beyond a single patrol zone.
Why Deputies Move Fast on Every Missing-Minor Report
Florida law leaves little room for delay in cases like Jinks'. Under Florida Statute § 937.021, agencies cannot enforce any mandatory waiting period before accepting a missing child report, and must log the case into state and national databases within two hours of receiving credible information. Separately, Florida Statute § 937.0201 classifies anyone under 18 reported missing as both a “missing child” and a “missing endangered person,” a designation that ensures full agency resources are deployed regardless of whether the teen is believed to have left voluntarily.
There are also legal consequences for adults who might shelter a runaway without notifying parents or police. Florida Statute § 984.085 makes it a first-degree misdemeanor for an unauthorized adult to knowingly house or assist an unmarried runaway minor for more than 24 hours without parental consent or law enforcement notification.
Florida's Missing-Child Caseload Runs High, But So Do Recovery Rates
Nationally, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children supported 32,167 missing child cases in 2025, with endangered runaways accounting for 92% of those reports and a 90% overall recovery rate, per MissingKids.org. Florida consistently ranks among the states with the heaviest missing-children caseloads; NCMEC assisted with 2,646 cases originating in the state in 2023 and reported resolving 2,740 cases statewide that year.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement also maintains the Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse, or MEPIC, as the state's central repository for missing-person data under Florida Statute § 937.022. The agency runs a toll-free tip line at 1-888-FL-MISSING (1-888-356-4774) for the public to report information separate from local sheriff's office dispatch lines. Statewide Missing Child Alerts require additional criteria, including an active law enforcement finding that a minor is in danger of death or serious injury, along with a formal activation request from the investigating agency.
Several recent Wesley Chapel cases have ended with the teen located safe. Deputies found 16-year-old Dakota Rubel after a weeklong search and 13-year-old Amiyah Johnson within hours of an alert, while a 14-year-old, Serenity Bell, prompted a separate search on Aug. 17. For now, Jinks remains missing, and the Pasco Sheriff's Office is continuing to ask anyone with information about his whereabouts to contact them.
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