Questions Arise After Another Amber Alert Issued
14-Year-Old Found Safe
POSTED: 2:10 p.m. MDT September 20, 2002
UPDATED: 7:50 p.m. MDT September 20, 2002
DENVER -- There are questions arising about the immediacy of an Amber Alert issued early Friday morning in Adams county.
Police were looking for a 14-year-old girl and an older male cousin who recently had been kicked out of the girl's home.
The girl was last seen Thursday afternoon after school in front of Ranum High School.
When the girl telephoned her parents Thursday night, the family says they could hear the man in the background threatening their daughter.
But police didn't issue an Amber Alert until hours later -- at 3:30 a.m.
About three hours later, the girl was found safe when the 29-year-old suspect turned himself into police.
The Amber Alert was called off, but some are wondering why it took so long to put out the alert. Authorities say that they followed the correct procedures, and called Friday's alert a success.
According to 7NEWS, the family didn't decide to call authorities until about 1 a.m. They called the Westminster Police Department, who said that the case wasn't in their jurisdiction.
Westminster officers then transferred the alert to Adams County, who within the hour, alerted the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
The CBI then triggered the alert, who said that it had worked as planned.
The girl's identity was released, but TheDenverChannel and 7NEWS has chosen not to disclose it because she may be a victim of possible sexual abuse.
Police were looking for a 14-year-old girl and an older male cousin who recently had been kicked out of the girl's home.
The girl was last seen Thursday afternoon after school in front of Ranum High School.
When the girl telephoned her parents Thursday night, the family says they could hear the man in the background threatening their daughter.
But police didn't issue an Amber Alert until hours later -- at 3:30 a.m.
About three hours later, the girl was found safe when the 29-year-old suspect turned himself into police.
The Amber Alert was called off, but some are wondering why it took so long to put out the alert. Authorities say that they followed the correct procedures, and called Friday's alert a success.
According to 7NEWS, the family didn't decide to call authorities until about 1 a.m. They called the Westminster Police Department, who said that the case wasn't in their jurisdiction.
Westminster officers then transferred the alert to Adams County, who within the hour, alerted the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
The CBI then triggered the alert, who said that it had worked as planned.
The girl's identity was released, but TheDenverChannel and 7NEWS has chosen not to disclose it because she may be a victim of possible sexual abuse.
Previous Stories:
- September 13, 2002: Amber Alert Cancelled For CU Student
- July 29, 2002: Child Abduction Alert Now In Effect
- April 1, 2002: Child Abduction Alert Now Law
- January 24, 2002: Legislature Considers Missing Child Alert System
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