AMBER ALERT FL - Caden Speight, 17, kidnapped by 4 unknown men in light-colored van, do not approach, last seen 12800 block SW Hwy 484, Dunellon, 25 Sep 2025

[detective.moon]

i’m surprised this case got an amber alert, i remember other cases where parents said their child was abducted and the police wouldn’t give out an amber alert when there was no clear evidence of abduction! i guess it must vary from state to state, or from case to case.

it also reminds me of that guy who tried to fake his own death in a lake, rode to the airport on his electric bike iirc and flew to central asia or eastern europe. i wonder what this boy was planning to do - if he had thought that far ahead.

 

[moniii455]

His mom's FB has a lot of pics of him shooting guns from a fairly young age.
IMO.

As European i found this horrific… sorry. Like why would young boy need guns in his life?

 

[MelmothTheLost]

And IF he made this story up he should be charged IMO.

Is there any specific relevance to his claim that his abductors were hispanic rather than, say, Caucasian or black? I'm conscious that Sherri Papini claimed that her supposed abductors were hispanic - which turned out to be a complete fabrication.

ETA that I see several other posters have noticed the Papini parallel. Sorry - I got a bit behind with reading the thread.

 

[Quill]

As European i found this horrific… sorry. Like why would young boy need guns in his life?

Shooting/marksmanship is actually a sport and many schools have teams. Shooting is even an Olympic sport. Beyond sports, such as target shooting and clay shooting, guns have traditionally been seen as a necessary tool if you live in the rural United States, as well as other places. There was a time when young men and women were taught how to properly handle guns with responsibility and respect. Many still do. Just one perspective on why a 17 year old boy who obviously lives on a farm might have access.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

As European i found this horrific… sorry. Like why would young boy need guns in his life?

As a Brit I don't find this "horrific". It has traditionally been quite normal for the children of landowning and farming families here to be introduced to the safe handling and use of air rifles at a fairly young age and graduate to shotguns in their teens. All under close supervision, of course.

 

[justtrish]

His mom's FB has a lot of pics of him shooting guns from a fairly young age.
IMO.

I'm looking at her FB and the only pictures I see of him with a gun are hunting photos and all of them show adults also. Looks like waterfowl hunting, which I would imagine is big in Florida. I think it's good to put those photos in context. This is a very normal thing for dads and children to do together. There are even youth hunts in many locations.

I see a lot of him playing sports, family vacations, birthdays and normal family things. Looks like he has 3 younger brothers and big sister.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Imagine the mix of emotions his parents must be feeling. Thank goodness he's okay.

17 is old enough to know not to do this. I hope they find a good therapist for him, someone who can really help him dig deep and heal everything that led to this. And maybe quite a few hours serving back the community, but hopefully people will go easy on this family.

 

[PayrollNerd]

As European i found this horrific… sorry. Like why would young boy need guns in his life?

It’s not unusual for his family’s business. A lot of people with land need guns for snakes, wild boar, bears, destructive rodents and of course gators.

 

[kuromiiiilove]

His mom's FB has a lot of pics of him shooting guns from a fairly young age.
IMO.

Welp, that makes sense.

I’m born and raised in Florida, and we have a huge gun culture here - I actually believe we have the most firearms per person in the country, if I am recalling that correctly!

I have such mixed feelings about guns. My great-uncle was a competitive shooter, and as a little girl, there was nothing more exciting than him teaching us to hit a target a hundred yards away (literal ‘child’s play’ for him, he won ELR competitions with targets beyond 1,000 yards!). I am a gun owner, and I practice on a range regularly, as well as shoot clays. I think that it’s a form of sportsmanship, getting outdoors, and even community. But I also think parents need to do WAY better at locking up their weapons or finding a way to prevent their underaged children from being able to access those weapons. They can be fun, but they are certainly not toys. There are two recent cases in my area where boys ended up shooting each other thinking the weapon was unloaded, and that hurts my heart.

I will say I am very glad this young man did not use this weapon to hurt himself.

MOO

 

[ChatteringBirds]

This is a very normal thing for dads and children to do together.

And years later, this kid wasn't responsible with his gun.

We see terrible cases of teenagers + guns here all the time, so personally I am very against normalizing it and wouldn't call it normal.

 

[DS2021]

a 17 yo boy having access to guns in rural florida is the least shocking part of this whole situation lol

 

[kuromiiiilove]

a 17 yo boy having access to guns in rural florida is the least shocking part of this whole situation lol

That is a very good point

 

[Little Jack]

I guess its terrible but im glad that whatever his issue is this is what he did rather than shoot up his school.

 

[Inthedetails]

One word came to mind yesterday but I didn't want to post it and risk a TO, but I'll say it now:

Papini.

jmopinion

 

[Valiant]

As European i found this horrific… sorry. Like why would young boy need guns in his life?

And as someone who grew up in rural America, if find this quite normal. When I was in school other kids drove to school in pickup trucks with gun racks (often containing shotguns or rifles) in the back window.

 

[wvmoonangel]

Found Safe.

Marion County teen found safe following Amber Alert

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office says the missing teenager they were looking for has been found safe.

www.wftv.com

 

[TMich6811]

IMO guns for sport isn’t a problem- hunting isn’t a problem - guns in general probably not- normal functioning folks are able to handle these primarily without issue and safely.

Unfortunately we are humans so this isn’t reality. Humans experience trauma, pain, fear, sadness, depression, rage and we don’t really have appropriate ways to support humans through those things so as a result we get really unfortunate situations related to guns.

Until we care enough to fix humans we have to care a lot less about sport and hunting with guns etc

Just my 2 cents and all that jazz

 

[Serononin]

As a Brit I don't find this "horrific". It has traditionally been quite normal for the children of landowning and farming families here to be introduced to the safe handling and use of air rifles at a fairly young age and graduate to shotguns in their teens. All under close supervision, of course.

Fellow Brit here - IIRC the youngest current holder of a shotgun certificate here is 8, so I definitely think a 17-year-old can handle a gun responsibly (maybe not the 17-year-old this thread is about though lol)

 

[Leilei]

I'm looking at her FB and the only pictures I see of him with a gun are hunting photos and all of them show adults also. Looks like waterfowl hunting, which I would imagine is big in Florida. I think it's good to put those photos in context. This is a very normal thing for dads and children to do together. There are even youth hunts in many locations.

I see a lot of him playing sports, family vacations, birthdays and normal family things. Looks like he has 3 younger brothers and big sister.

I don't believe that I put the pics out of context. I simply answered a question and didn't offer anything further, aside from my usual "IMO".
I live in the rural south and am very familiar with families teaching their kids how to shoot guns, bows, fish, etc...
Thanks and IMO.

 

[Eli9]

I'm wondering at the age of 17 what type of penalties he will face. It reminds me a bit of Carlee Russell but she was older.