Queens missing boy's family hasn't lost hope 6 months after disappearance in the Rockaways
A family from Queens is speaking out on National Missing Children's Day after their 15-year-old son, Jafet Jemmott, disappeared in the Rockaways in November.
The family said Monday it's been a nightmare without him for the last six months, but they still believe he's alive.
Jafet Jemmott's disappearance
Jafet disappeared on Nov. 28, the morning after Thanksgiving. According to police, he was last seen leaving his home on Burchell Avenue in the Rockaways at around 6 a.m.
A phone tracking app placed the teen near Beach 73rd Street, outside the Rockaway YMCA, according to his family. His phone battery was almost dead, and it went dark soon after.
The family said surveillance video later showed Jafet boarding a Q52 bus and getting off near Beach 95th Street, but the trail ended after that.
Family noticed a change
Federico Jemmott described his son as a happy kid and good student, who loved soccer and technology. But in the weeks before Jafet's disappearance, the family noticed a change.
"The more I think about him, the much more difficult it is for me to sleep or eat," Jemmott said.
Friends later told the family Jafet may have been communicating with someone online.
"From the beginning and to this day, we have the strong feeling that, maybe someone he had contact, maybe via the internet, maybe through Discord, maybe through Instagram," Jemmott said.
Crucial to track online activity
The New York State Missing Persons Clearinghouse, which supports law enforcement searching for missing people across the state, says online activity now plays a role in many missing child cases.
"Every missing child is, in our mind, an endangered missing child," said Tim Williams, who manages the NYS Missing Persons Clearinghouse.
There are currently over 1,000 New York families with missing children.
Last year, more than 10,000 missing children cases were reported statewide, Williams said. Most were solved quickly, but more than 1,000 remained open at the end of the year.
New risks and tools
Social media, gaming apps, messaging platforms and other forms of digital communication are now looked at in nearly every missing child case.
According to Williams, social media has created new risks for children and new tools for investigators.
"Our ability to find someone's digital footprint or their online presence has actually become easier now in 2026 than ever before," he said.
Still, every day without an answer is painful for the Jemmott family.
"If Jafet himself can hear me right now, I would like him to know that we have not given up on him. We are searching for him every day," his father said.
National Missing Children's Day was created in 1983 in honor of Etan Patz, a 6-year-old boy who vanished on his way to school in Lower Manhattan in 1979.
