Pasco Sheriff's deputies are searching for David Neff, a 53-year-old man classified as missing and endangered, who was last seen Saturday around 6:45 p.m. in the Teak Street area of New Port Richey. Neff is described as 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a red tie-dye shirt and jean shorts. He may be driving a white Ford E-350 van bearing Florida tag AK90TP.
The alert was issued in a Pasco Sheriff post Saturday afternoon, which asked anyone with information about Neff's whereabouts to come forward. Teak Street sits in the Griffin Park subdivision of eastern New Port Richey, a residential pocket near State Road 52 and Little Road, according to Compass Real Estate. New Port Richey itself is a suburban city of more than 16,000 residents along Florida's Gulf Coast, part of the broader Tampa Bay metropolitan area, per World Population Review.
The Ford E-350 Econoline that Neff may be driving is a heavy-duty full-size van historically built in both cargo and passenger versions, with passenger models capable of seating up to 15 people, according to Carvana. Anyone who spots the vehicle or has information on Neff's location is asked to call the Pasco Sheriff's Office non-emergency line at 727-847-8102, option 7, or submit a tip online at pascosheriff.com/tips.
How Florida Law Requires Deputies to Act Fast
Because Neff has been classified as missing and endangered, state law obligates deputies to move without delay. Under Florida Statute § 937.021, law enforcement agencies are barred from imposing any mandatory waiting period before accepting a missing person report and must enter credible case details into state and national databases within two hours, according to the state's own case-review materials on file with The Florida Senate. Those same statutes require that missing person records entered into the Florida Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center undergo monthly reviews, and they prohibit removing an entry from those databases based solely on the missing person's age.
The Pasco Sheriff's Office, which is investigating Neff's disappearance, operates its headquarters at 8661 Citizens Drive in New Port Richey under Sheriff Chris Nocco, who has led the department since 2011, the agency notes on its own site. It is the same department that has led several recent searches across the county, including for Rose Beede in New Port Richey, Kahlani Hunter in Wesley Chapel, and Paul Coban in Dade City, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting.
Purple Alerts, Silver Alerts, and the State's Missing Persons Hub
Florida maintains more than one category of public alert for endangered adults, and which one applies depends on the person's specific condition. The state's Purple Alert system, defined under Florida Statute § 937.0205 and enacted in July 2022, broadcasts emergency notifications for missing adults 18 or older who have intellectual, developmental, or cognitive disabilities — excluding Alzheimer's disease or dementia — whose disappearance poses a credible threat of immediate harm, per the same Senate documentation. A Silver Alert, by contrast, is reserved for people 60 or older, or adults 18 to 59 who lack legal capacity to consent, who suffer from an irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties such as Alzheimer's or dementia, according to guidelines from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Behind both alert types sits the state's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse, known as MEPIC, which the FDLE operates around the clock under Florida Statute § 937.022 to provide analytical support and coordinate statewide public alerts. Florida was the first state in the nation to establish a dedicated missing persons clearinghouse, launching the infrastructure in 1984 — a system that has since helped recover more than 1,600 missing individuals over four decades, according to a video shared by the Citrus County Sheriff's Office on Facebook.
No further details on Neff's condition or the circumstances of his disappearance have been released. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Pasco Sheriff's Office through the tip line or non-emergency number listed above.
