It's not appearing on the Amber Alert ticker, but 9-year old Jessica Lundsford is missing from her Citrus Country, Florida home. BayNews9 isn't showing a picture, but if I find one, I will post it here. Remember, this is a 9-year old. She needs to be found quickly. Update: Thanks to FOXNews, I found a picture.
Jessica is described as four-feet-ten-inches tall, weighing about 70 pounds with light brown shoulder length hair and brown eyes.
She was last seen wearing a pink nightgown and white silk shorts. If you see Jessica or know anything about her disappearance, call the sheriff's office at 352-726-1121 or call 911.
Call your own local law enforcement agency if you can't remember the Citrus County number.
Update: Jessica is still missing. Reader Doyle explained why an Amber Alert has not been issued (I disagree, not with Doyle, but with not issuing the alert, but that's another story). Jessica is listed on the Amber Alert website (click on the banner above) as an endangered child, the very reason I think an alert should be issued, but as I said, that's another story.
6 comments:
According to a blip in the local paper, no Amber Alert has been requested (yet) because there is no information on/description of who might have taken Jessica or if a vehicle was even involved.
hmmm....I thought that an Amber Alert was issued when a child was missing/endangered. I didn't know that they had to have an idea of who took the child or vehicle description. Of course, having that information is just that much better. It seems to me that a missing child is reason enough to put out the alert. And in this case, there is information that a child, maybe Jessica (even though the father and grandparents don't think it's her), has been seen at a convenience store.
I would think that to err on the side of caution would be prime consideration in the case of a missing child.
I clicked on the ticker you have displayed (codeamber.org) and they provide the following:
- law enforcement confirms a child has been abducted
- law enforcement believes the circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate that the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death
- there is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect’s vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help.If these criteria are met, alert information must be put together for public distribution.There's a bit more but that's the bulk of it.
Hmmm...apparently, the child must have been abducted in order for an Amber Alert to be issued. I understand this, but we have a missing child. The more eyes out there looking for her, the better the odds of finding her. I can understand waiting until we know the child hasn't just wandered or run away, but why not utilize all tools at our disposal? As I said, the more eyes....
Thanks for your input, Doyle! The more we know, the better off we all are.
Deborah: I didn't know that they had to have an idea of who took the child or vehicle description.If I'm reading it correctly, no matter how vague a description of and/or information on the possible abductor and/or a possibly-involved vehicle is what's required.
(Is that an absolutely horrid sentence or whut?)
That's the sole basis for upping it to an Amber Alert. That way, people have something else besides the child to be on the watch for.
I haven't heard anything more about the convenience store tape. Makes me wonder if the guy in it stepped forward and it just hasn't been reported.
I'm of the opinion that since we have a missing child, an Amber Alert should be issued. The more information available about the disappearance, who/what/when/where/
descriptions and so on are, always of course, most helpful. I just can't help but believe that once a determination has been made that the child is missing, the alert should be issued. We are talking about a nine year old, not a sixteen year old who might have run away and who I believe might be more adept at concealing her whereabouts.
The man in the convenience tape has been cleared and has no connection with this case. I heard that the other day.
Post a Comment