JAVIER COLON and KRISTEN BROWN - 17 and 16 yo - Groveland/Orlando FL

Lake County detectives are asking for help in finding two missing teenagers who disappeared earlier this month.
Javier Anthony Colon, 17, of Clermont and Kristen Connor Brown, 16, of Groveland are thought to be traveling together in the Orlando area, according to deputy sheriffs said.
The two were reported missing by their families Sept. 6, and witnesses last reported seeing them Sept. 7.
Brown said she first noticed her daughter didn't come home and called the Colon family. At that point, both families knew the teens must be together. Prior to their disappearance, neither family was well-acquainted but both knew about the teenage romance.
"It was always just Javier and Kristen," Brown said of their almost yearlong relationship.
"He was so infatuated with her," said Javier's mother, Lillian Colon, about her son's devotion to Kristen.
Colon said she last saw her only son on the driveway of their home talking on the phone around 6 p.m., when she went out to pay her insurance.
"I told him. 'Papito, don't go anywhere,'" Colon said because Javier was supposed to help his father in the back yard with lawn work and grilling dinner.
When she returned, the 17-year-old had vanished. She didn't worry until Deborah Brown, Kristen's mother, called.
"My son never ever said anything about running away...they've [her children] never ran away ever," Colon said, adding they moved to Clermont from New York about nine years ago.
Brown was stunned when her daughter didn't appear when her father went to retrieve her from work at Billy's Meat Market in Groveland that evening.
"We never expected this would ever happen. Our whole family is so close," Brown said. "We need her back, her family misses her."Somewhere between 7:30 and 7:45 p.m., the blond, blue-eyed teenager disappeared without a trace.
Brown and Colon said their children took nothing with them. Javier's wallet was in his room. Kristen's clothes were untouched. Neither of the two can drive but both have cell phones they are not answering.
"It's crazy. I don't know how to react, the police have nothing," Colon said between sobs. "I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack.""We haven't gotten a tip or anything," Brown said of the investigation.
The 17-year-old may be using the name "Pito," according to this mother, who said it's a family nickname.
The teens have been entered into a national database as missing and are listed on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's website.
All runaways are classified as "endangered" because their age makes them vulnerable to crime or violence, center officials said.
Anyone with information can call the Lake County Sheriff's Office at 352-343-2101 or local police.

Endangered Runaway

KRISTEN BROWN

DOB: Feb 11, 1994 Missing: Sep 6, 2010 Age Now: 16 Sex: Female Race: White Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue Height: 5'2" (157 cm) Weight: 100 lbs (45 kg) Missing From: GROVELAND FL United States

JAVIER COLON

Companion DOB: Jan 20, 1993 Sex: Male Race: Hispanic Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown Height: 5'10" (178 cm) Weight: 129 lbs (59 kg)

Kristen and Javier are believed to be together. They may still be in the local area. Kristen has scars on her shin and ankle. Her ears are pierced.

ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST) Groveland Police Department (Florida) 1-352-429-4166

A Lake County teenage couple missing for more than a month were located and recovered Friday by the boy's family, Lake County officials confirmed.

Javier Colon's parents jumped out of bed Friday night when their son called crying from Fort Lauderdale Friday, after nearly 31 days away from home. Colon and his girlfriend Kristen Brown ran away together Sept. 6 without a trace.

"They are safe. It's been a terrible nightmare but at least they are safe," said Colon's mother Lillian Carrero. "He told us he was scared and wanted to come back home."

Carrero arranged for one of her daughters to drive to South Florida and pick up the runaways, who were reportedly living on the streets.

Debbie Brown, Kristen's mother, picked up her daughter from the home.

"I was so happy we hugged and cried," she said."They are two children who made a mistake and learned their lesson."

Lake County officials said both teens were in good health and claimed they had not been victimized. They told detectives they took a bus from Orlando to the Miami area but would not talk more about their experience, according to Sgt. Jim Vachon.

Carrero said both teens looked thinner and were filthy when they arrived in her Clermont home. Neither child spoke at length about why they left or where they had been.

"We sat them down and talked to them so they could realize what they did to us," Carrero said.

Brown would not go into details about her daughter's ordeal except for saying Kristen was healthy..

Little after arriving, however, Lake County deputies took Colon into custody on an unrelated "pick up order." In February, Colon allegedly got into a fight in Wal-Mart and running away violated his probation, according to his mother.

Carrero also said her son was scared that his rehabilitative program would separate him from Kristen.

Colon is being detained at the Marion Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Ocala, she said.

Brown, who is safe at home, could also face charges from Groveland police on another unrelated charge, Vachon said.