With LC out of commision and being a ex-Utahan I thought I should add to this story.
It is kind of a sketchy case:
Amber Alert stays in effect, but no crime is confirmed
Child taken? Police track leads after a witness said a girl, 8, was forced into a van in Sugar House
By Michael N. Westley
The Salt Lake Tribune
Investigators on Wednesday were tracking down a "few dozen" leads received in response to an Amber Alert issued by Salt Lake City police Tuesday evening.
Authorities kept the alert in effect on Wednesday despite not having verified that a young girl had been kidnapped from a Sugar House street.
The alert was issued about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday after a witness reported seeing a girl, described as about 8 years old, being scooped into a van about 5 p.m.
As of Wednesday night, police had not received any reports of missing children, did not know the identity of the girl or the relationship between her and the man driving the van.
Still, they felt confident that there was sufficient cause to issue the alert and keep it in effect, said police spokesman Dwayne Baird.
"The best case scenario is that we'd have a father call up and say, 'That was me and she is my daughter,' " said Baird.
A Walgreen employee observed the girl walking east across the parking lot of a strip mall on the corner of 900 East and 2100 South. As the girl stepped onto the sidewalk, a southbound van pulled to the side of the road. The driver jumped out, placed the girl in the van and drove off quickly, the witness told police. No other witnesses reported the incident, Baird said.
Officers from police agencies throughout the state looked for a light blue or gray full-size van with tinted windows and a partial license plate listing of MWC. The van's driver was described by the witness, who was standing on the opposite side of 900 East, as a Caucasian male in his mid-30s with a slim build and a mullet haircut.
The girl was wearing baggy green pants and a white tank top. She stands about 4 feet tall and weighs about 80 pounds, the witness told police.
Under the guidelines for Utah's Amber Alert plan, the following questions must be answered affirmatively by police:
l Is this believed to be a child abduction?
l Was this child 17 years of age or younger or an individual with proven mental or physical disability?
* Is there reason to believe the victim is in imminent danger or serious bodily injury or death?
* Is there information to send to the public which could assist in the safe recovery of the victim or apprehension of a suspect?
To ensure the Amber Alert system remains credible with the public, the form on which these questions appear states: "Please do NOT send Amber Alert if the answer is no to any of these questions. The alert is not to be used for cases involving custodial disputes or runaways unless they meet the criteria."
Attorney General's Office spokesman Paul Murphy, who helps oversee Utah's Amber Alert program, said the plan is designed to put the decision to issue an alert in the hands of the police agency handling the case.
"Sometimes you don't have all the information, so you have to make a difficult decision based on the evidence you have on hand," he said.
Tuesday's Amber Alert was a case of erring on the side of caution, police said.
"In the case that we have an abducted 8-year-old, we want to be ahead of the game," Baird said.
mwestley@sltrib.com