DUNEDIN, FLORIDA — A missing 17-year-old from Palm Harbor has been found safe after a massive community search effort that stretched across the Tampa Bay area.
The teen's family received the news Wednesday evening during an emotional FaceTime call, reuniting the family after nearly three days apart.
"Hi bud, I love you," his mother, Mercedes Santana said, during the call, as family members learned he had been located safely.
The reunion came after hundreds of volunteers spent days searching for the teenager. Community members took to the streets, waterways and neighborhoods on foot, bicycles, cars and boats, hoping to bring him home safely.
Wednesday's search effort drew a large crowd of supporters from across the area, motivated to help.
"So I have two boys that are 20 and 22. This boy is 17, and it just hit me hard," said community member Tiffany Lubke. "We have mutual friends with the family, and I felt that there was not enough visibility on this, so I decided to put it together."
Volunteers distributed flyers and searched throughout the community, determined to keep attention focused on the missing teen.
Throughout the ordeal, family members remained hopeful he would return home safely and continued encouraging people to share information and spread awareness.
"Any bit of help is greatly appreciated, especially just getting the word out, getting eyes everywhere, flyers everywhere," said Santana said during the search. "Maybe he'll see it himself and realize, 'What am I doing?' and snap back into place to come back home."
According to the Tampa Police Department, officers located the teen shortly after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Authorities confirmed he is safe.
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