LUIS MARTINEZ - 2 yo - Tallahassee/Valrico FL

Florida authorities are searching for a missing 2-year-old Hillsborough County boy.Police said the boy was last seen in the area of the 400 block of Silver Lane in Valrico, Fla.Martinez is described as a white/Hispanic male weighing about 30 pounds, with
black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a red T-shirt.An Amber Alert has not been issued for the child, police said.Anyone
with information about the child's whereabouts is asked to contact 911
or the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at 813-247-8200.

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Deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
, dogs, horses and a helicopter are involved in a massive search for a
missing 2-year-old boy in eastern Hillsborough County. Luis Martinez
was reported missing by his parents around 3:30 p.m. Friday. Luis
was last seen playing at a neighbor's home on Silver Lane, south of
State Road 60 and off Mulrennan Road. Luis was last seen wearing a blue
and white striped shirt and red pants. Deputies have established
a command post in the mobile home park where the family lives, and we
are utilizing K9 teams, horses, our helicopter and deputies to search
the area. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Luis is asked to call 911 or the Sheriff's Office at 813- 247-8000.

Dozens of volunteers and deputies on foot, horseback and in the air were searching late Friday for a missing 2-year-old boy.
Luis Martinez
was reported missing by his parents about 3 p.m. He was last seen
playing at a neighbor's home on Silver Lane, south of State Road 60 and
off Mulrennan Road.

In addition to deputies on the ground and mounted patrols, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office was using police dogs and a helicopter to search for Luis.
Deputies set up a roadblock at Silver Lane
and Mulrennan and were searching all vehicles coming or going into the
neighborhood. Along with an estimated 50 deputies, dozens of volunteers
with flashlights were searching nearby dense woods and other areas.

The sheriff's office conducted a reverse-911 call to alert neighbors in a 5-mile radius about the missing child and began contacting all registered sexual offenders in the area.

Spanish-speaking deputies were brought in to interview the parents, who were cooperating with investigators, the sheriff's office said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a missing child alert about 7:30 p.m.

Luis was last seen wearing a blue-and-white striped shirt with a tiger logo, red pants and sandals.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Luis is asked to call 911 or the sheriff's office at (813) 247-8200.

Hundreds of volunteers spent hours searching for a missing
2-year-old Valrico boy. Some scoured country roads until 3 a.m.
Saturday and returned after daybreak, armed with coffee, mittens and
walking canes.So when Sheriff David Gee announced early Saturday
afternoon that the toddler was found dead in a septic tank near his
family's trailer home, the crowd gasped. Many started sobbing. People
who had just met Saturday clutched each other, their hand trembling and
mouths quivering."To know he's still down there..." Brenda Heisler, 62, said, wiping away tears.Though
they had never met Luis Martinez, the news devastated the crowd that
gathered on the corner of State Road 60 and Mulrennan Road."He was just a baby," said Heisler, of Seffner. "We had our chance to live. He didn't."Luis
was located at about 2 p.m. after someone who lives in the area called
authorities and suggested that they check the septic tank, Gee said.
The tank is located a short distance from a neighbor's home where Luis
was last seen asking for ice cream Friday afternoon.The mobile
home is located in the 4100 block of Silver Lane, off Mulrennan Road.
The boy's parents, Juan Martinez, 30, and Rosalina Ramirez, 20,
declined to speak with reporters Saturday afternoon."By all indications, it looks like the child fell into the septic tank," Gee said.The
tank has an 11-inch hole in its concrete lid that had been open for
some time, Gee said. Authorities searched the area where Luis was found
earlier Saturday and saw a small hole, but it was unclear that it led
to a septic tank. The hole had been covered by overgrown grass that may
have been there for months, Gee said.After the tip, authorities
called a septic service company, which started emptying the
sewage-filled tank. That's when they found the boy.After hearing
the news, volunteer searcher Clarice Frye, 51, started sobbing. She had
searched for Luis on Friday night and Saturday."I don't regret coming out," said Frye, a retired teacher. "What I do regret is that we didn't find him last night."The Sheriff's Office has not released a time of death yet because the Medical Examiner's Office is still investigating.Earlier Saturday, about 400 volunteers and deputies fanned out to continue the search for Luis.By
late Saturday morning, the search area had grown to a 1.5-mile radius
around the boy's mobile home park, sheriff's Col. Greg Brown said.
Volunteer searchers were being turned away from the site because there
were no more deputies to guide them.The search Saturday was
methodical. Deputies carried detailed maps to mark their progress, but
the search parties were sometimes hindered by fences and retention
ponds. Groups scoured areas along State Road 60 and areas off Mulrennan
Road as well as the Strawberry Ridge Mobile Home Park.Civilian
volunteers were kept away from the area closest to the family's mobile
home as a routine precaution because it was considered a potential
crime scene. The septic tank was in that area.A dive team was en
route because there are number of ponds and retention basins. Mounted
deputies and K-9 units also searched nearby.Pete Feuerlein was
walking his dog early Saturday morning when he saw a neighbor leaving.
The neighbor remarked that he was going to search for the little boy,
and Feuerlein didn't hesitate to join.By mid-morning Saturday,
he was with a group of about 20 searchers being led by Deputy Ray
Sheppard. His eyes scanned the thicket along Mulrennan Road as he
walked toward a retention pond."A 2-year-old would fit into about anything," said Feuerlein, who is retired from the Navy and has an 8-year-old grandson.Deputies
interviewed the boy's parents Friday but have not released their names.
Brown could not say if Luis was being supervised by an adult when he
disappeared.He said the boy was known to wander the neighborhood.Luis
has a 2-month-old sister and often plays in a grassy area in front of
the mobile home, his uncle, José Manuel Martinez, said Saturday. The
family's home sits amid a cluster of a dozen mobile and manufactured
homes along Silver Lane.

Funeral services for a 2-year-old boy who fell into an uncapped
septic tank near his home on Friday are scheduled for later this week.

Friends, family and supporters may attend a wake for Luis Martinez
from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday in the sanctuary of Nativity Catholic Church
in Brandon. A memorial Mass is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Friday.

From there, the child's remains will be sent to Oaxaca, Mexico, the family's home, for burial.

The child went missing from the Silver Lane Mobile Home Park in
Valrico on Friday afternoon. After an intensive search by deputies and
about 400 volunteers Friday night and Saturday, the toddler's body was
found in a septic tank not far from the home he shared with his mom,
dad and little sister.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies are still looking into the
matter, but have said the death appears to be accidental, that the
child wandered too close to the uncapped, 11-inch wide hole over the
tank, which was covered by grass and concealed and simply fell about 5
feet into the tank.

Nativity Catholic Church is located at 705 E. Brandon Blvd., in Brandon.

The funeral for a 2-year-old boy who fell into an uncapped septic tank near his Valrico home Friday is scheduled for this week.

Friends, family and supporters may attend a wake for Luis Martinez
from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday in the sanctuary of Nativity Catholic Church
in Brandon. A memorial Mass is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Friday.

From there, the child's remains will be sent to Oaxaca, Mexico, the family's home, for burial.

The child went missing from Silver Lane Mobile Home Park in Valrico
on Friday afternoon. After an extensive search by deputies and about
400 volunteers Friday night and Saturday, the body of the toddler was
found in a septic tank not far from the home he shared with his mom,
dad and little sister.

On Monday, a handful of Hillsborough County code enforcement
officers converged on the park, searching for code violations. They
found another septic tank improperly capped. Notice was given to the
property manager, who had 24 hours to fix that and other minor
problems, officers said.

Code enforcement was expected to visit the site again today to see whether the violations were remedied.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies are still looking into the
matter but have said the death appears to be accidental, that the child
wandered too close to the uncapped, 11-inch-wide hole over the tank,
which was covered by grass, and simply fell about 5 feet into the tank.

Nativity Catholic Church is at 705 E. Brandon Blvd. in Brandon.

Authorities have decided not to file
charges in the case of a 2-year-old boy who was found dead in a septic
tank near his central Florida home.Luis
Martinez was reported missing by his mother on Nov. 27. His body was
found the following day inside an underground septic tank.Investigators believe the child fell through an uncovered hole in the tank.


The Hillsborough County medical examiner's office determined Martinez had drowned and that his death was accidental.On
Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said it had
concluded its investigation. After conferring with the state attorney's
office, authorities have decided not to press charges.