PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — It was a New Year’s Eve like no other for a Portsmouth father and other loved ones. On the evening of Dec. 10, 19-year-old Daquan Rountree fled his home during an apparent mental health crisis.

“I would have never thought in 2024 that he would not be here. I really want my son back,” said Gabriel Rountree, the last family member to see the teen as he fled into the darkness of night.

Before Daquan suffered a crisis, he decided not to watch Sunday afternoon football with his father. In a pleasant exchange, the father says Daquan decided to get some rest instead.

“He said’ Hey, what’s up, Pops’? I said, What’s up, son? I gave him a hug,” Gabriel Rountree said.

Hours later, Daquan suffered what the family called his first-ever mental health breakdown. It was a breakdown involving a deadly weapon.

“He grabbed one of my weapons and he put it to put it to his head and pulled the trigger,” Gabriel Rountree said. “And once I was able to get the weapon from him, he said he wanted me to kill him.”

The father says the weapon was locked with a safety device.

The father told 10 On Your Side that Daquan was wearing only boxer shorts when he apparently lost control of his bladder.

Regina Mobley: Does your son have a medical condition that could have contributed to that episode?
Gabriel Rountree: When he was younger, he used to have seizures; he would have multiple seizures throughout the week.

Ring camera video captured Daquan in the nude fleeing his home while yelling “I am Hell Boy,” in what is an apparent reference to a Dark Horse Comics character. Nine days later, police were joined by residents for an extensive search of a nearby cemetery and a neighborhood near the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, where two women spotted a nude Daquan an hour after he fled his home.

“I really need the public’s help,” Gabriel Rountree said, “because like I say, I haven’t seen, like if he’s out there somewhere being in the state he left my house, he was not in his right frame of mind, might not even know who he is. He might not even know he is Daquan. He might not know where he is. He might not know where home is.”

The father told 10 On Your Side police reviewed his son’s cell phone, on which they found content associated with suicide. Police said if anyone knows where Daquan can be found to call 911, and if you or someone in your life is suicidal, call 988.