An Orlando mother and her 5-year-old son have not been seen for more than two weeks, and the Orange County Sheriff's Office is now asking the public for help finding them. Christina Fellows and her son, Josef De Leon Fellows, were last seen on October 5 at a residence near Hibiscus Road and Semoran Boulevard. Deputies issued an urgent public appeal for information this week, more than two weeks after the pair disappeared.
According to WESH 2 News, the Orange County Sheriff's Office reported that Christina Fellows and Josef De Leon Fellows have not been seen since October 5, and family members have expressed concern about the pair's well-being. As reported by WFTV, the sheriff's office was asking for help on October 20, more than two weeks after the family's last confirmed sighting. Anyone who sees Christina Fellows or Josef De Leon Fellows, or who knows their whereabouts, is asked to call 911, per the sheriff's office.
Why the Public Alert Came Two Weeks Later
The gap between the family's disappearance and the public appeal raises an obvious question for anyone following the case. Florida law bars law enforcement agencies from imposing any mandatory waiting period before accepting a missing person report and requires missing-person records to be entered into a database within two hours, under Florida Statute § 937.021. The public notice came more than two weeks after the pair were last seen near Hibiscus Road.
What separates a quiet internal investigation from a public alert comes down to specific criteria set by the state. Law enforcement agencies evaluate factors such as evidence of foul play or imminent danger before issuing a statewide Missing Child Alert or an AMBER Alert through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The Missing Child Alert system, established in 2003, can be activated when a child under 18 is believed to be in life-threatening danger even without the proof of abduction an AMBER Alert requires, per the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's published criteria.
How Florida's Missing Persons Network Operates
Once a report like this one is filed, it does not stay confined to a single patrol sector. Missing person records entered by local agencies must be transmitted to the National Crime Information Center before state-level analytical support can be fully activated, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. From there, the agency's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse, created under Florida Statute § 937.022, serves as the state's central repository for missing minors, young adults ages 18 to 25, and endangered adults.
That clearinghouse does more than log cases. In 2024, it conducted multi-agency operations, including Operation Seminole Saber alongside the U.S. Marshals Service, to track down missing and endangered children across Central Florida, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported. Under updated guidelines, investigators also have the option of an Enhanced Missing Child Alert, which allows Wireless Emergency Alerts to be pushed directly to cellphones within the specific neighborhood where a child was last seen.
Where the Search Is Focused
Where They Were Last Seen Christina Fellows and her son were last seen near Hibiscus Road and Semoran Boulevard, according to the sheriff's office.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911.
The case echoes other Central Florida disappearances Hoodline has followed in recent months, including the resolution of the Land O' Lakes teen's search and the decades-old search tied to Leesburg's Trenton Duckett case. For now, deputies have not released further details on Christina Fellows and Josef De Leon Fellows's disappearance beyond the location and date they were last seen, and the investigation remains active.
