Call-alert system for missing kids is having results

Text Size: A | A | A

Print this Article Email this Article

January 07, 2009

By Anita Burke

Mail Tribune

When a Medford mother discovered her 9-year-old developmentally delayed son missing from his bedroom Monday night, she called police.

And Medford police called hundreds of neighbors through an automated alert system offered by a Florida nonprofit organization called A Child is Missing.

A recorded message, including a description of the boy and his clothing and where he was last seen, saturated neighborhoods within a mile of the family's home in the 2300 block of Delta Waters Road.

"The officers on the scene noticed a difference immediately because people came out of their houses and looked in their yards," Medford police Detective Sgt. Mike Budreau said.

"We were going door-to-door and that's time-consuming. Ten officers can only do so much, but a thousand neighbors can do so much more."

He said this was the first time the department had used the system, which has helped police search for missing children and endangered adults by disseminating information to business and home phones near where people disappeared since 1997.

The nonprofit organization provides the service free to law enforcement, thanks to grants and donations, said its Web site, www.achildismissing.org. Its system can dial up to 1,000 numbers per minute to spread the word, and technicians at the organization's headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., evaluate satellite images to help guide searchers from afar.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Department was the first agency in Oregon to use the service, signing up in November 2005, Sheriff Mike Winters said.

"It's been a good program," he said. "I'm glad we've got it."

Winters said his department has used it about half a dozen times, and other local agencies, including Rogue River police, also have gotten good results with it.

For example, a Rogue River man who got a call about a missing child went out and found the boy in his yard. In another case, neighbors who had search dogs came to help after they heard about a missing autistic boy.

"We've had great success with it," Winters said.

His department also has learned a few things about using the program over the years, he said.

The first time it tapped the system, responses flooded in, nearly overwhelming dispatchers. Now, the department sets up an emergency operations center to handle the calls, which pour in quickly. Deputies also have learned when to use the system, how to hone the area targeted by calls and what information to gather and provide to the public.

Medford police triggered the system Monday because they didn't have good clues on where the boy might have gone and were concerned about the dangers he might face on a winter's night, Budreau said.

"Every day we have missing-person cases that we have to evaluate for when to ring the alarm like this," he said.

Kathy Wayne, who got a call at about 9:15 p.m. Monday, liked what she saw of the alert system.

"I was impressed," she said. "I thought it was pretty efficient and well executed."

She and neighbors on Springbrook Road combed yards and outbuildings with flashlights.

The boy, who was reported missing at about 8 p.m. when his mother went to check on him at bedtime and discovered he was gone, was found around 9:40 p.m. — but not by neighbors alerted by a call, Budreau said. The lad was found near Tinseltown by someone who recognized he shouldn't be out alone that late and contacted authorities.

Medford police didn't call neighbors back to let them know the boy was safe, but that is an option with the system, Budreau said.

Winters said media reports usually provide that follow-up for the public.

Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com.

Print this Article Email this Article