VIRGINIA BEACH — The temperature had risen well above freezing, but ice still covered much of the pond at the entrance of the Cambria at Cornerstone apartment complex.
On Monday, authorities found the body of 12-year-old Juan Sebastian Mejia Acevedo in the small body of water, almost three days after his panicked family began looking for him, and two days after police issued an Amber Alert. The pond is only a couple blocks from his family’s apartment in the Kempsville section of the city, not far from Town Center.
The boy’s parents reported him missing after he didn’t come home from a friend’s house Friday night. Police began investigating the case as a possible kidnapping after the family received ransom demands over messaging apps.
Several officers gathered on one side of the pond Monday afternoon, where they held up privacy panels and sheets as the boy’s body was pulled from a police boat. One officer called for reporters and photographers standing nearby to stop recording.
After the body was recovered, police Chief Paul Neudigate said it resembled Juan. Public information officer Jackie Savage confirmed it was him a few hours later. Savage said the cause of death is still under investigation.
Juan’s parents last saw him around 9 a.m. Friday. After they were unable to locate him, they called police about 9 p.m., they called police. An Amber Alert was issued early Saturday, then canceled after the body was recovered.
Police said Juan was last known to be alive around 2 p.m. Friday. That’s when a Ring doorbell camera captured him playing with friends not far from his home, according to Courtney Rivera and Jason Lopez, who own the camera that recorded the incident.
“You could tell he was having a good time,” Rivera said as she stood with Lopez by the pond Monday night. “They were throwing snowballs at each other, laughing, and having a good time. They were just being kids.”
Rivera said that when she realized Juan lived in the apartments next to her condominium complex, she decided to check her doorbell camera footage. When she saw a boy on it who matched Juan’s description, she sent the footage to police. A detective later called and confirmed it was him, she said.
“It just breaks my heart,” Rivera said of learning the boy had died. “I can’t imagine what his parents must be going through.”
The family started a Facebook Live feed to ask other family and friends for help while police were searching for him. During the livestream, they received multiple “ransom requests” through the messaging app WhatsApp, according to police.
Kaleb Herreda, 20, said he knew Juan and his parents. When he heard the boy’s body had been found, he was stunned. He drove to the pond immediately afterward and walked slowly around the perimeter, his head lowered.
“I thought they were going to find him” alive, Herreda said. “Something like this. I can’t believe it. It’s crazy because he was like a very happy kid. His parents are my friends. They’re good people.”
Juan was an only child, Herreda said, and he was a good student.
Staff writer Eliza Noe contributed to this report.
Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, [email protected]
Jane Harper, [email protected]
