Juan Sebastian Mejia Acevedo Death; – A 12-year-old boy who had been reported missing has been discovered deceased in Virginia Beach three days after he vanished while en route to a friend’s residence. An AMBER Alert for Juan Sebastian Mejia Acevedo was issued early on Saturday, January 25, as reported by Virginia State Police.
According to the Virginia Beach Police Department, Juan was last seen by his parents at approximately 9 a.m. local time on Friday, January 24, in the vicinity of the 200 block of Mica Avenue. His parents contacted law enforcement around 9 p.m. local time on Friday when he failed to return home from his friend’s house.
The boy’s body was recovered from a pond adjacent to the Cambria at Cornerstone apartments off South Independence Boulevard in Virginia Beach around 1 p.m. on Monday, January 27, as reported by CBS affiliate WTVR.
This pond is reportedly located near the last known sighting of Juan by his parents. Jenni Acevedo, Juan’s mother, informed NBC affiliate WAVY-TV that she permitted her son to visit a friend from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for homework, but he never arrived.
Juan was last confirmed to be alive around 2 p.m. on Friday, when he was observed playing in the snow with friends on a Ring doorbell camera at a condominium close to his residence, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
Authorities initially treated the case as a potential abduction after it was revealed that Juan’s parents may have received ransom notes. Juan’s mother recounted to WAVY-TV that she received these messages while broadcasting live on Facebook, appealing for assistance in locating her only child.
“They instructed me to go to a nearby Walmart and requested money,” Jenni recalled, mentioning that she paid $500. “I did not provide the full amount, only a portion of it.” Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate stated that there was no further communication following the initial payment, as reported by WTVR and ABC affiliate WVEC.
“One of our theories is that it was possibly a scam perpetrated against the family… but we would be remiss if we did not treat it as a genuine threat, an actual kidnapping, until we ascertain otherwise,” Neudigate remarked, according to WVEC.
