Amber Alerts are part of a federal program with specific criteria that must be met in order to issue an alert, WSP says
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Why wasn't an AMBER Alert issued for missing Everett boy? WSP explains
As new details emerge about the case of
4-year-old Ariel Garcia, an Everett boy who was found dead one day after he was reported missing, many people are asking why an Amber Alert was not issued for his disappearance.
In the wake of Ariel's death, many people are asking why an America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) Alert was not issued. Washington State Patrol (WSP) said his case didn't meet the alert standards.
Early Thursday morning, just after midnight, WSP issued an Endangered Missing Person Alert after being contacted by Everett Police, although the Everett Police Department had asked for an Amber Alert to be issued.
“At that point, there was no sense that this was an abduction, and abduction is one of the thresholds,” said Chris Loftis, the communications director for the Washington State Patrol.
He said Amber Alerts are part of a federal program with specific criteria that must be met in order to issue an alert:
- a child must be under 18 and known to have been abducted
- the child is in danger of imminent death or serious injury
- law enforcement must be investigating
- there must be descriptive information to share with the public
“It's not uncommon for us, as soon as an Amber Alert goes out, to just be flooded with information from people,” said Loftis.
Loftis said Ariel did not qualify for the Amber Alert because it was not considered an abduction. But, he said, Ariel did qualify for an Endangered Missing Person Alert.
“It's someone who, for whatever reason, whether it's cognitive, mentally, or physically, there's some situation where they're just not able to take care of themselves. They're not able to assist in their own recovery,” said Loftis.
Endangered Missing Person Alerts do not generally qualify for Wireless Emergency Alerts, which is when your phone notifies you of a missing person in your area.
But Loftis said just after 5 p.m. on Thursday, Everett police requested more help and the State Patrol approved an alert to go out to people's phones.
“Everett Police asked us, ‘Can we, even though it didn't meet the threshold for an AMBER Alert, could we still use that technology? And we did,” said Loftis.
Just around 6 p.m. is when phones across the area alerted people about Ariel being missing and endangered, but within just minutes of that alert being sent out, his body was found.
“Unfortunately, the situation had already evolved, and the tragedy had already occurred and the boy's body was found shortly thereafter,” said Loftis. “And what a heartbreak for everybody involved.”