Amber Alerts

I'm not alleging anything by posting this, but I found this interesting that for an amber alert to be issued that it has to be confirmed that kids are abducted. This actually makes sense to me because every amber alert I've seen there is usually a suspect.

do you think that is a fair criteria? I guess amber alerts are issued in cases where there is a good chance to catch the suspect, my problem with this logic is that a lot of these alerts I've seen tend to be domestic disputes.

link



FBI joins effort to find children, 7 and 3 years old


By DALE LEZON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle


As local police and the FBI continued their search today for two children who vanished from a Pasadena apartment complex two days ago, the youngsters' mother questioned why an Amber Alert has not been issued.

"I think if an Amber Alert had been issued, my children would have been found already," said Jerilynn St. Cyr.

Police persisted through the night in the search for 7-year-old Randy Sylvester Jr. and his 3-year-old sister, Denim Sylvester, but no new leads were uncovered, a Pasadena police spokesman said.

Capt. Bud Corbett said an Amber Alert has not been issued because criteria required to initiate an alert have not been met.

Corbett said investigators can't confirm, for instance, that the children have been abducted or that they are in danger.

He said police rely on the public to provide information when Amber Alerts are issued.

If police agencies issue the alerts without meeting the guidelines developed by the Justice Department, Corbett said, the public may begin to discount the urgency of them because of instances when the children are found not to have been abducted or in danger.

Police and volunteers began searching for the children Sunday after they were reported missing about 9:15 p.m.

They scoured the area around the Sandridge Apartment Homes, 4025 Burke Road, with search dogs and helicopters.

Searchers distributed fliers with the children's photographs and descriptions in the neighborhood where St. Cyr said she last saw her children Sunday afternoon.

Investigators searched the apartments of St. Cyr and the children's father, Randy Sylvester Sr., as well as Sylvester's car. Nothing has suggested foul play so far, said Pasadena police spokesman Vance Mitchell.

Police requested help from the FBI soon after the investigation began, Corbett said.

"It's not normal to seek assistance of the FBI every time we have a missing person," he said. "But there's some urgency because of the ages of the children."

He said an FBI helicopter helped search near the apartment complex and an FBI agent assisted Pasadena investigators.

Corbett said the federal agency also helped in retrieving some records, but he would not discuss what the records were about or why they were needed.

Police said the children are not believed to be with other relatives.

Investigators found some inconsistencies in the parents' accounts of the disappearance, Corbett said, but he added that he could not discuss details because the investigation is ongoing.

"The investigators were troubled over the inconsistencies," he said. "They are trying to reconcile the differences."

St. Cyr, who said she moved here with her family from New Orleans about two years ago, said she last saw the children between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday.

They were playing on the complex tennis courts, which are about 20 yards from her apartment, she said.

She said when she realized they were no longer at the tennis courts, she first thought they were with their father. After he told her they were not with him, St. Cyr said, she and friends canvassed the apartment complex, knocking on doors and showing the children's photos to neighbors.

Their disappearance was reported to police at 9:15 p.m., Mitchell said.

The boy, who is 4 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 55 pounds, was wearing a blue-and-orange University of Florida Gators shirt, blue denim shorts and blue-and-white tennis shoes.

The 3-year-old is about 2 feet, 5 inches tall and was wearing pink shorts, pink flip-flop sandals and a pink T-shirt with brown trim. Her hair was braided and pulled back in a ponytail, police said.

Staff at the apartment complex declined to comment.

Family, friends and neighbors Monday placed flowers, balloons and small teddy bears at the foot of the stairs leading to the apartment the children share with St. Cyr.

"I'm very concerned that this could happen here," said Laura Hammond, who has three children, ages 17, 15 and 10.

Anyone with information about the children is asked to call the Pasadena Police Department at 713-477-1221.