Florida Amber Alert

The AMBER Alert System began in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to help find abducted children. AMBER stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and was created as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnaped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, and then brutally murdered. Other states and communities soon set up their own AMBER plans as the idea was adopted across the nation.
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Peg
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Florida Amber Alert

Post by Peg »

Amber Alert Issued for 15 Year Old Florida Girl

Posted: Tuesday October 2, 2007: 3:29 AM CDT



The state of Florida issued the AMBER Alert on Tuesday morning after the girl was apparently abducted in Bartow on Monday evening by the suspect, a registered sex offender, in Polk County.

Alyssa Frank is a 15 year old white female, 5'' 9" and 200 pounds with naturally curly brown hair with blonde streaks at the top.. She was last seen wearing a pink or black Tinkerbell shirt, jeans, and black tennis shoes with gray and black checkered shoelaces.

The suspect is William Joe Mitchell, a white male, 46 years old, 5'10" tall, 158 lbs., with brown hair and blue eyes.

The suspect vehicle is a black Chevrolet Lumina with Florida tag G025EL.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 863-533-0344, Crimestoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS, or 911.

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Peg
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Post by Peg »

The state of Florida issued the AMBER Alert on Tuesday morning after the girl was apparently abducted in Bartow on Monday evening by the suspect, a registered sex offender, in Polk County.
These cases don't usually have a happy ending. :(
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Lisa
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Post by Lisa »

No, sadly they don't.

I feel so sorry for her mama and daddy. That would have to be one of the worst things in the world,not knowing where your child is.



.
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spot
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Post by spot »

Peg;703260 wrote: These cases don't usually have a happy ending. :(


I have a strong suspicion that, unless you're using "usually" in a very strange sense, you're mistaken.
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Peg
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Post by Peg »

Let me rephrase it then. I just feel that when previous offenders go far enough to abduct a victim, they usually kill them in the end.
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spot
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Post by spot »

Then, as I said, I think you're wrong. I'd be interested to know why you think it.

The majority of Amber Alerts are "abduction" by relatives, usually the partner of the complainant. It takes a lot of mental juggling by law enforcement officers to decide that "the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death" in such circumstances but by crikey, they manage it somehow.

I think you'll find that one alert in 20 ends in the reported death of the abductee.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
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Post by Peg »

spot;703326 wrote: Then, as I said, I think you're wrong. I'd be interested to know why you think it.

The majority of Amber Alerts are "abduction" by relatives, usually the partner of the complainant. It takes a lot of mental juggling by law enforcement officers to decide that "the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death" in such circumstances but by crikey, they manage it somehow.

I think you'll find that one alert in 20 ends in the reported death of the abductee.


In this case, I am assuming the abductor is not a relative. I don't even bother posting most of the abducted by relatives ones any more because most of them end up okay. It's the fact that he is a known sex offender, and it no where stated that he is a relative that worries me for this child's safety.
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Post by spot »

Peg;703331 wrote: In this case, I am assuming the abductor is not a relative. I don't even bother posting most of the abducted by relatives ones any more because most of them end up okay. It's the fact that he is a known sex offender, and it no where stated that he is a relative that worries me for this child's safety.


So "These cases" in "These cases don't usually have a happy ending" aren't actually all Amber Alerts, then? You're restricting your "don't usually have a happy ending" to Amber Alerts triggered by the actions of known sex offenders?

I have huge reservations about the entire program, I think it causes far more problems than it solves. As with practically everything else in the USA there are no easily-accessed statistics at a national level relating to the program, just gooey feel-good instances covering a tiny fraction of the alerts raised.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
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Post by Pheasy »

Lets hope that the outcome is good - eventually safe and back home. :-6

As she has been abducted by a known sex offender, the thought of what she might be going through right now can only be described as horrific, and my heart goes out to her. :-1

:-4
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Post by spot »

ThePheasant;703372 wrote: As she has been abducted by a known sex offender, the thought of what she might be going through right now can only be described as horrific, and my heart goes out to her. :-1

:-4
Here's the story: http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/a ... ryid=64439

It's the "apparently abducted" in the OP that I take exception to.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
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Post by Lisa »

MSNBC Says they found the girl.The man is still on the run.
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Post by spot »

Perhaps Peg can support "when previous offenders go far enough to abduct a victim, they usually kill them in the end", because I don't believe it's even remotely true.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
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Post by Peg »

You know what Spot? I am happy as hell to admit I was wrong. I am happy this child is okay. You have made it clear you do not believe in the Amber Alert System. As a mother, I do. If it were my child missing, I'd want his/her picture out there everywhere possible so the chances of a safe return are, I feel, greater. The outcome was not so happy when Jessica Lunsford was abducted by John Couey. I admit I was wrong in this case Spot and I'm sure that makes you as happy as it does me.
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Post by spot »

Peg;703765 wrote: You know what Spot? I am happy as hell to admit I was wrong. I am happy this child is okay. You have made it clear you do not believe in the Amber Alert System. As a mother, I do. If it were my child missing, I'd want his/her picture out there everywhere possible so the chances of a safe return are, I feel, greater. The outcome was not so happy when Jessica Lunsford was abducted by John Couey. I admit I was wrong in this case Spot and I'm sure that makes you as happy as it does me.


I wasn't criticizing this particular Amber Alert, Peg, I'm trying to get you to consider the plan as a whole. This isn't about protecting children, this is about spreading fear throughout America and in my opinion it's deliberate policy. As a means of protecting children it's hopelessly inadequate. It deflects public attention from the truth about dangers to children and it pretends that the government is doing something adequate in response.

The Amber Alert national website FAQ is at http://www.amberalert.gov/about/faqs.htm

I quote from it: "AMBER Alert has been very effective. AMBER Alert programs have helped save the lives of over 200 children nationwide."

Doesn't that number, 200, give any rise at all to a suspicion in your mind that they're running a public confidence trick? "200 children nationwide" in the entire lifetime of the program? That's just pathetic.

It gets far worse if you look at their case-by-case bragging under "Success Stories". They list 198 cases in detail.

Would you like a breakdown of these accounts? Go on, just to see what they're actually doing? I ran the data through a text analyser for you...

86 were listed as Biological parent, Custododial parent, Relation, Babysitter, Grandparent or Estranged Partner

23 Ex-partners

23 Fathers

16 Car thefts

5 Mothers

4 Other relatives

4 Acquaintances with initial permission

2 Carers

...totalling 163 of the 198 cases. That leaves 35 cases, nationwide, year after year after year, from all fifty State Amber Alert systems combined since they started, which fall outside those categories. This is in a nation of 300 million people.

And what does the public think of Amber Alerts? They're marvellous, of course, they keep the kiddies safe, thank God for good government ceaselessly watching our backs night and day. Oh look, the news bulletin on TV just flashed another Amber Alert at us, isn't crime terrible.

Now, if you want to, we could go on to discuss genuine numbers of child abductees in the US who never get an Amber Alert called for them, shall we do that?
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
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Post by Peg »

If the Amber Alert system only had 1 success story since 1996, I still would think that is great news for the 1 family it helped. I would imagine the numbers are huge for the amount of missing children who don't meet the Amber Alert criteria. We're looking at this from 2 completely different angles. You are worried about numbers and statistics which, to be honest, I don't give a hoot about. I'm looking at it as a mother who would want to do anything and everything to increase the chance of getting my child back safely. I will continue to post Amber Alerts. I just hope every time it doesn't turn into battle over wording.
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Post by spot »

Peg;703950 wrote: I would imagine the numbers are huge for the amount of missing children who don't meet the Amber Alert criteria.That, surely, is the point. There's a huge crisis being left unaddressed year after year because this surface gloss of the Amber Alerts is assumed to be dealing adequately with the problem. Refusing to look at the statistics is the reason the issue of abductions can be left festering, and thousands of real children die each year as a consequence. It's flim-flam, Peg. It's dust in the eyes.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
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Post by spot »

Just to wind this thread up, the chap was sentenced to 30 years this February and quite right too. Why it took over two years to bring the case to a conclusion I can't imagine, the wheels of justice seem to grind slowly in the States.

Convicted Offender Gets 30 Years for Sex With Polk Girl, 15 | TheLedger.com
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
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