Pasco Sheriff's deputies are asking for the public's help finding Johnuel Carrasquillo, a 13-year-old reported missing from the Osteen Road area of New Port Richey. He was last seen around 6:20 p.m. on Tuesday, wearing a black shirt, gray pants, black socks, and Nike sandals, standing about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing around 120 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair.
Deputies made the appeal public on Wednesday, according to the Pasco Sheriff
, which described Carrasquillo as a missing and runaway juvenile. The Osteen Road corridor where he was last seen sits in a mixed residential and educational stretch of the 34653 ZIP code that includes the Pepin Academies charter school campus for students with learning disabilities, according to
Pepin Academies
, as well as the Grand Valley manufactured home community, per
Heiler Communities
.
Why Runaway Cases Still Trigger a Full Search
Florida law calls for missing-child cases to be investigated promptly using appropriate resources. Separately, Florida Statute § 937.021 bars police agencies from enforcing any mandatory waiting period before accepting a missing child report and requires entry into the FCIC and NCIC national databases within two hours of the report, per the City of Orlando Police Department's policy manual.
The Pasco Sheriff's Office also has specialized resources to draw on for juvenile cases like this one. The agency's federally certified Missing and Abducted Child (MAC) team deploys dedicated detectives, K-9 units, intelligence analysts, and drone operators for missing-youth investigations, according to the Pasco Sheriff's Office.
No Statewide Alert, But Local Resources Remain Active
Families searching for answers may notice that no AMBER Alert or statewide Missing Child Alert has been issued in Carrasquillo's case. Missing Child Alerts require imminent danger but do not require evidence of abduction, per the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The case has also been publicized through local sheriff's office alerts.
National data suggests reason for cautious optimism. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reports that 92% of the 32,167 missing child cases it supported nationally in 2025 involved runaway youth, and 90% of all supported missing children cases that year were resolved successfully, according to MissingKids.org. The organization treats all runaway youth as endangered given the risks of exploitation they face while missing.
Tampa Bay's Broader Push to Recover Missing Youth
Pasco County has also been part of larger regional efforts to track down missing minors. A joint Tampa Bay task force involving the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Pasco Sheriff's Office recovered 60 critically missing children ages 9 to 17 across Pasco, Hillsborough, and Pinellas counties during a two-week operation, per the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That effort followed a statewide initiative called Operation Statewide Shield, which state officials cited as the largest child recovery effort in Florida history after it located and recovered 163 missing children across the state in August, according to My Florida Legal.
Anyone with information on Carrasquillo's whereabouts is asked to contact the Pasco Sheriff's Office's non-emergency line at 727-847-8102, option 7, or to submit a tip online at pascosheriff.com/tips, according to the Pasco Sheriff's Office. The agency notes that its social media accounts are not monitored around the clock, making the tip line and online portal the most reliable ways to reach deputies directly. Residents are reminded to reserve 911 for active emergencies.
