Zoey Northrup, the 15-year-old Land O' Lakes girl who vanished from the Voyager Blvd. area earlier this week, has been found safe, according to the Pasco Sheriff's Office. The confirmation ends a search that began after she was last seen Saturday night wearing a brown wig, a black tank top, and gray sweatpants.
According to a post from Pasco Sheriff
According to a post from Pasco Sheriff, deputies had been searching for Northrup after she was reported missing from the Voyager Blvd. area of Land O' Lakes. She was last seen late Saturday, September 26, at around 11:30 pm. She was described as 5 feet 6 inches tall and roughly 135 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. The agency's brief update Tuesday simply read that Northrup was found and is safe, without additional detail on where or how she was located.
Northrup was previously the subject of a missing-person search and was found safe. The earlier case was dated March 29.
A Pattern Across Land O' Lakes
Northrup's case follows another missing-teen search in Pasco County. Hoodline has previously reported on a missing-teen case in the county, including a search for a missing 16-year-old just weeks earlier.
Under Florida law, every missing minor triggers the same rapid response regardless of circumstances. Florida Statute § 937.021 prohibits law enforcement agencies from imposing any mandatory waiting period before accepting a missing person report and requires credible details to be entered into state and national databases within two hours of receipt. That statute explains why Pasco deputies mobilize immediately whenever a minor disappears, without waiting to see if the teen returns on their own.
Why Runaway Reports Get Full Resources
Separately, Florida Statute § 937.0201 automatically classifies any missing person under 18 as both a missing child and a missing endangered person, guaranteeing full investigative resource deployment even when the minor is believed to be a runaway. That designation applies to missing persons under 18 and clarifies that a runaway classification does not lower the level of resources deputies commit to a case.
The recovery also fits into a broader statewide and national picture. According to NCMEC, endangered runaways accounted for more than 90 percent of the 32,167 missing-child cases it supported in 2025. NCMEC assisted with 2,646 missing-child cases originating in Florida in 2023.
How To Report Tips
The Pasco Sheriff's Office asks anyone with information about missing persons to call its non-emergency line at 727-847-8102, option 7, or submit tips through pascosheriff.com/tips. The agency's account is not monitored 24/7, and residents should always call 911 for emergencies. The sheriff's office has also directed tipsters exclusively to those non-emergency channels rather than social media comments since January 2022, when Sheriff Chris Nocco disabled public comments on the agency's social posts after high comment volumes risked burying time-sensitive investigative tips, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
