The Amber Alert for an abducted Blue Springs 12-year-old worked how it should, according to police.
“This was super. It was. The news media, the citizens. Everybody came together and worked [including] law enforcement. All contributed to this successfully. I can’t thank everybody enough,” said Lt. John Kingsolver of the Blue Springs Police Department.
Law enforcement issued the alert around 12:30 p.m. Sunday after parents of the 12-year-old discovered she was missing late Saturday night.
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Sgt. Bill Lowe of the Missouri Highway Patrol, the agency tasked with pushing out the alert, said police were looking for the victim before there was enough information to issue the alert.
“In any investigation the movement from a family perspective is slow. You want some immediate action,” said Lowe. “That process may look like it’s not gaining a lot of traction, but behind the scenes it’s gaining traction.”
Before an alert can be issued in Kansas and Missouri, certain criteria must be met.
- Child is abducted
- Child is 17 years old or younger
- Child is in danger
- Sufficient information for public to assist: victim description, suspect description, vehicle description, license plate, etc.
“I do know that once that information gets put out, it’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing. In this case it worked just like it’s supposed to. People were paying attention and alert to what they were to be looking for,” said Lowe.
Approximately two hours after the alert went out statewide, police found the victim and one of the suspects in Wentzville, Missouri, a roughly 2 hour and 45 minute drive from Blue Springs.
One potential factor that could have concluded the alert sooner was the color description of the vehicle. The Amber Alert described a silver Nissan sedan with Maryland license plates, but an image issued in the news release of the alert showed a car with matching plates that looked to be black.
Lowe said misinformation could be troubling, but the vehicle’s color was just one small factor of the alert.
"The simple fact is if people are paying attention to the totality of the incident. Does the plate match? Does it have all the markings that we’re looking for? If it’s just the wrong color, notify us anyway and we will check it out,” said Lowe.
Wentzville Police Chief Kurt Frisz confirmed the alert was essential to the recovery of the victim and the arrest of one of the suspects.
"Our officers received additional calls from other citizens saying they’re walking up towards the 6 North Cafe,” said Frisz. "When the officers arrived it all panned out. Certainly the lesson for everybody is when you get an Amber Alert, take it serious. No one thinks it’s going to end up right in your backyard, but here in fact we’re in Wentzville and we found these individuals."
