PORTSMOUTH Va. (WAVY) — A search party filled with dozens of family members, friends and law enforcement officers all joined an effort Tuesday to locate missing 19-year-old Daquan Rountree.
“There is hope,” Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen Jenkins said.
It started around noon at the last place his father saw him on Pulaski Street. Crews meteorically went in different directions in the area.
“We are combing through the wooded area that’s nearby and the cemetery that is right over there,” said his father, Gabriel Rountree. “This is the last location that I saw him at.”
Portsmouth Police joined the search. Jenkins said this is the department’s fifth or sixth search.
“We want to be able to bring this young man home to his family,” Jenkins said. “The more eyes, the more people that are out knock on door and look for information, the better.”
Police used special equipment high in the sky to find the teen.
“We have drones in the air,” Jenkins said. “We had a couple of our hounds out. The dog actually tracked him. Lost the scent and regained it.”
On the ground, searchers kept their eyes on the ground.
“I am looking for anything that is reflective,” said one searcher, Chuma. “I was looking for something that is reflective, that isn’t natural.”
The search party then moved to 5th and Madison street on Portsmouth’s Southside. That’s where two young ladies spotted the teen on the 10th.
“We believe there was a sighting an hour or so later,” Jenkins said. “They saw him … and that individual was still naked.”
There was a sense of urgency because of the cold temperatures.
“These nights have been cold,” Rountree said. “Could he be passed out with hypothermia.”
Jenkins added: “Every day we don’t find him brings out a little more challenges for us. We are keeping out hope that we are going to be able to find him and he is well.”
Rountree’s family and police are concerned about his well-being due to a possible mental episode.
“The mindset he was in, he was suicidal,” Gabriel Rountree said. “He didn’t have any clothes on. He wasn’t in his right mind. He is vulnerable right know. That’s what bothers me. That’s why I want to find him as soon as possible.”
With every ticking second, his father worries for his son.
“It’s been very very hard,” Gabriel Rountree said. “My mind is going a million miles an hour. Not knowing where my son is at. Not knowing the conditions could be in.”
That’s why he hired a private investigator and put a cash reward out.
“I got $1,000 award money for anybody that has information that leads to finding my son,” Gabriel Rountree said. “We not playing out here. We are very serious about it. I love him. I won’t stop looking for you.”
Police issued a Public Safety Alert after the search Tuesday to help the search.
If you have an idea of where Rountree may be, call 757-393-8814.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.