A 12-year-old St. Lucie County boy who had been missing since Thursday was found safe late Friday night in Polk County after an Amber Alert statewide search, and his father was arrested on child custody charges, police said Saturday.
Tracey Scarborough, 54, of suburban Vero Beach, was arrested by Polk County sheriff’s deputies at about 11:30 p.m. in the River Ranch area of Polk County and charged with interference of child custody, St. Lucie County sheriff’s deputies said.
His son Leon was found unharmed and has been turned over to the Florida Department of Children and Families, deputies said.
A judge ordered the elder Scarborough on June 22 to have no contact with his son. St. Lucie County deputies said Tracey Scarborough had a “violent criminal history,” and had recently made violent threats related to the custody case.
Leon Scarborough was declared missing from the Spanish Lakes Fairways area of northern St. Lucie County, where he has lived with a grandparent since December, deputies said in a social media post. In December 2022, his mother was also granted supervised visitation, according to the agency’s post.
The agency first announced Leon was missing and considered the subject of a possible parental abduction around 10 a.m. Friday, at which time the Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an Amber Alert. The alert was canceled at 2 a.m. Saturday after Leon was found unharmed.
According to the FDLE, five criteria must be met to activate an Amber Alert, which only can be requested by law enforcement agencies:
- The child must be younger than 18
- Investigators have “a well-founded belief” a kidnapping has occurred
- Investigators have “a well-founded belief” a child is in danger of death or serious injury
- A detailed description of the child and/or abductor/vehicle is available to broadcast
- The law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the case recommends it be activated