NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. – With her insulin-dependent 15-year-old son going without medicine for at least three days, the mother of a missing Sandalwood High School student said it's critical that he be found as soon as possible.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a missing child alert for Logan Mott, who's believed to be with 53-year-old grandmother, Kristina French.
The boy's father came in from out of town Wednesday and found an empty, ransacked house and guns missing, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
The two were last seen on Seagate Avenue in Neptune Beach.
“It’s awful. It’s awful as a mother. You’re so helpless,” said Carrie Campbell-Mott, Logan's mother. “This is something that Kristina or Logan would normally never do. There’s something really wrong. It’s hard. Your hands are tied. We don’t know what to do or what to think at this point.”
Desperate for answers
Campbell-Mott, who lives in Missouri, said Logan's loved ones have called every hospital, every friend and every person they could think of, trying to get the word out.
She posted on Facebook that the family had been in contact with the Neptune Beach detective assigned to the case and that he had been working leads all night and day, but that police had no new information for them.
The last time anyone heard from Logan was when he spoke with his mother about 5 p.m. Sunday.
“He was absolutely normal. We had a good conversation,” Campbell-Mott said. “We spoke for quite some time.”
The first indication anyone had that something was wrong was when Logan and French didn't show up Wednesday at the airport to pick up Logan's father and his father's girlfriend, Campbell-Mott said. She said French was watching Logan at his father's house while the couple was out of town.
“Kristina would never do that -- ever,” Campbell-Mott said of not showing up at the airport. “She didn't answer her phone, and Logan wasn't answering his phone either, and they would never do that.”
She said the couple took an Uber ride home, and that's when Logan's father, who sources said is a JSO corrections lieutenant, found the front door ajar and the house “a complete mess.” His dog was still there.
“It had been ransacked,” Campbell-Mott said. “And the guns he had in the safe were missing.”
Police have not said if any of those are service weapons.
Campbell-Mott said that her son has Type I diabetes and isn't wearing an insulin pump.
“That means he's having to do everything manually, and we don't know how much insulin he'll have on him,” Campbell-Mott said. “We don't know when the last time it was he had insulin. His very life depends on insulin, so it's really important we find him and get him home."
She said she was told by Sandalwood High School officials that Logan missed school Monday and Tuesday, which worries her even more.
“He doesn’t skip class or do anything like that. He’s a really good kid. He’s in the early college program. He wouldn’t typically not show up to school,” Campbell-Mott said.
His mother also said French did not show up for work Monday and Tuesday.
Campbell-Mott said it's difficult because she and her ex-husband don't have family in the Jacksonville area.
She said they served in the Navy and were stationed in the area, but she has since moved back to Missouri, where she has three children under the age of 5.
“We’re waiting to find out what’s going on,” she said. “Right now, we have no idea.”
What to look for
Logan is described as being 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds and having brown hair and brown eyes.
French is described as being 5 feet 4 inches tall with blond hair and light-colored eyes. She is employed by May Institute in Orange Park. The facility would not comment on her disappearance.
Police said Logan and French might be in a silver, four-door 2015 Dodge Dart with Florida tag DLLT42.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said that as police establish a timeline of when Logan and French might have disappeared, it's important for anyone who's seen anything in the last three days connected to the two to call that tip in to police.
Because firearms are missing from a home associated with the two, police ask people to not approach them or the car if encountered.
Anyone who sees them or has information about their whereabouts is asked to call 911 or JSO at 904-630-0500. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
2 scenes investigated
Neighbors said officers and K-9s began investigating at a home on South Nipigon Avenue in Mayport at about 3 p.m. Public records show French recently moved into a home on that street.
Neighbor Josh Moon said he hasn't met French but saw her moving in and is hoping for the best.
“I hope they find them, and everything is OK -- that somehow it’s a misunderstanding or they left for Thanksgiving and didn’t tell anybody or ... something positive,” Moon said.
French lives two doors down from Dorothy Colquitt.
“Twenty-five years I've been in this neighborhood, and I never had anything like that happen, so it was kind of scary to me,” Colquitt said, adding that she hadn't yet met French. “My prayers are with the remainder of the family, whoever they are. I'm quite sure they need a whole lot of prayer and love and everything.”
Wednesday night, a large number of police, including crime scene units, were at a home owned by Logan's father off Seagate Avenue, between Third and Fourth streets, near Fletcher Middle School and the Jacksonville Beach line. Streets in the area were blocked much of the evening.
Police tape still surrounded the Seagate Avenue home Thursday, and an officer was stationed outside.
Police asked news crews to move further down Seagate Avenue about 1 p.m. Thursday as they blocked off a small portion of the road again, but they did not release any new information. A tent was placed in the front yard, but police did not say what it was for.
"Police have thoroughly investigated the crime scene. They're getting all the physical evidence that they can. They also want to determine if there is some type of struggle where the entry occurred," Smith said. "Hopefully, they have physical evidence that was there, either being fingerprints, it could be shoe impressions. It could be something like tire impressions in the yard, if they were left. They're looking for anything that can determine how or why this crime occurred."
At about 9 p.m. Thursday, police reopened Seagate Avenue, but crime scene tape remained surrounding the Neptune Beach home.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Neptune Beach Police Department are investigating.