North Carolina Amber Alert

[Predator Prevention]

AMBER Alert: North Carolina
The Rockingham County Sheriff`s Office is searching for a missing child: William Alexander Benitez. William Alexander Benitez is a 17-year-old Hispanic male, approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 162 pounds. He has black hair, and brown eyes. Benetiz was last seen wearing a blue-striped shirt and jeans. Benetiz was abducted by force. Allegedly, there is 1 abductor: Antonio Granado. Antonio Granado is described as 18 years old, Hispanic, male, 0 inches long, William Allen Benitez was abducted from 151 Stephanie Lane, Madison, NC, about 1 p.m. Victim and abductors were last seen traveling on US 220 S. in a Honda Accord. They are believed to be headed to Houston, Texas. If you have any information regarding this abduction, call the Rockingham County Sheriff`s Office immediately at (336) 634-3030, 336-634-7370 or call 911 or *HP.



information copy/pasted from AMW.COM

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Here's the trail of announcements about this one: http://helpfindthemissing.org/forum/...hp/t-5845.html

(June 24, 2008)--Authorities say a teenager who was abducted from his North Carolina home at knifepoint last week has been found in Texas.

Rockingham County Sheriff's spokesman Dean Venable said Tuesday that 17-year-old William Alexander Benitez was found in Galveston after a deputy there pulled over a vehicle. Venable said the occupants fled and Benitez was the only one taken into custody. The sheriff's office said last week Benitez was taken from his home at knifepoint by a group of people in two vehicles.

Authorities had said they thought the cars were heading to Texas. Venable said he doesn't know of a motive for the abduction and named only one suspect. Benitez wasn't unhurt and authorities are trying reunite him with his parents and to determine his legal status.

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/20824239.html

"Benitez wasn't unhurt"? Nobody quite wants to say "Benitez wasn't taken against his will", do they. There's a bunch of unruly kids headed to Texas, one of them's still only 17 so the Sheriff's office issues an Amber Alert?

"The sheriff's office also said language barriers have impeded the investigation"? I bet they did, it's called back-pedalling.

What's North Carolinian for "bullshit"?

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I've been keeping my eye on this with a Google Alert and, do you know, there's no news reports at all ever since "William Alexander Benitez was found in Galveston after a deputy there pulled over a vehicle". That's it. No court case for any kidnappers, no announcement of arrests, no wanted posters, absolutely bugger all.

If anyone - and I include non-members who happen on the page some time in the future - can explain what this particular alert was all about I'd love to know.

I'm convinced that Amber Alerts are a confidence trick on the American public to make it look as though something constructive is being done about kidnaps. Something constructive certainly should be done about kidnaps. The implication is that these publicity alerts invariably have a legitimate basis. I think on the contrary that it's undeniable the majority of the declared alerts are escalations of domestic disputes. This one - William Alexander Benitez - is just plain odd.

When an ambitious enforcement officer decides to press the Amber Alert panic button the newsrooms go into overload, millions of TV viewers get their thrill for the evening and the Internet's flooded for years after with a mix of out-of-date inaccuracies and uncountable mindless knee-jerk prayers.