E AMBER H T SUMMER 2017 Volume 10 Issue 3 IN THIS ISSUE: FACES OF THE AMBER ALERT NETWORK PAGE 6 AMBER ALERT IN INDIAN COUNTRY PAGE 10 2017 AMBER ALERT SYMPOSIUM RECAP PAGE 3 SUMMER 2017 | HEAMBER T WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE OF: HEAMBER T 2017 AMBER ALERT SYMPOSIUM ................ PAGE 3 FACES OF THE AMBER ALERT NETWORK ................ PAGE 6 AMBER ALERT IN INDIAN COUNTRY ................ PAGE 10 ON THE FRONT LINES ................ PAGE 12 AMBER ALERT INTERNATIONAL ................ PAGE 14 AMBER ALERT BRIEFS ................ PAGE 16 This publication was prepared under Cooperative Agreement number 2013-MU-MU-K011 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice. Your story ideas and pictures are welcome. AMBER Alert INFO: For AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance, EDITORS: contact: Paul Murphy, [email protected] Bonnie Davis, [email protected] Jim Walters, Program Administrator AMBER Alert Training & GRAPHIC LAYOUT: Technical Assistance Program Whitecap Interactive whitecap.io 877-71-AMBER [email protected] [email protected] Training & Technical Assistance Information: https://ncjtc.fvtc.edu https://tribaldatabase.org 2 SUMMER 2017 | HEAMBER T 2017 AMBER ALERT SYMPOSIUM GATHERS AMBER ALERT COORDINATORS AND MISSING PERSONS CLEARINGHOUSE MANAGERS PATTY WETTERLING CHALLENGES AMBER ALERT PARTNERS TO NEVER GIVE UP HOPE Patty Wetterling fought back tears while describing how she learned her son’s body had been found after nearly three decades of searching and hoping he was still alive. On October 22, 1989, her eleven-year old son Jacob was riding his bike when he was taken by a masked gunman in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Wetterling shared her story with nearly 100 AMBER Alert Coordinators and Missing Person Clearinghouse Managers from the U.S., Canada and Mexico at the 2017 AMBER Alert Symposium held June 27-29, 2017, in Bloomington, Minnesota. “We were alone,” she said. “I knew nothing about law enforcement. I knew nothing about your world.” Wetterling was a stay-at-home mom when her son was abducted but soon became one of the nation’s fiercest advocates for missing and abducted children, all the while continuing to search tirelessly for her son. Soft-spoken, yet amazingly strong, Patty shared with symposium participants important lessons learned in the 27 years through which she and her family persevered in the search for Jacob. Continued on page 4 SUMMER 2017 | HEAMBER 3 T 2017 AMBER ALERT SYMPOSIUM Continued from page 3 Of the many lessons and insights shared, On September 1, 2016, Danny James Hein- she explained how important it is to have rich led investigators to the burial site of a family spokesperson to talk to reporters, Jacob Wetterling and admitted to sexually squelch rumors, keep the story alive and assaulting and killing him. “You search for make sure all media outlets are treated 27 years and eight days and it was over,” fairly. said Wetterling. “I did not know where to go for what was next.” Wetterling emphasized that the victim’s family needs to be asked the hard questions Wetterling plans to continue talking to law from the beginning to help with the inves- enforcement groups and others involved tigation and build trust for the long term. with missing and abducted child cases to She added that a multi-jurisdictional task help increase understanding about these force is critical when a child is abducted, and cases and improve preparation for effective officers should leave their egos at the door response; all in an effort to make things bet- when working on the task force. ter the next time a child is taken. “There is a problem of silos in law en- She said Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard, forcement,” said Wetterling. As she spoke Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck should about this issue and how law enforcement give every parent hope their missing child through training and preparedness, can may come home. “Never give up. Ever. You overcome this dangerous barrier to swift cannot give up on these cases,” said Wet- and effective response in child abduction terling. cases she emphasized, “It is not about you. It is about the child.” 4 SUMMER 2017 | HEAMBER T FIVE YEAR REUNION ing together, noting the symposium was James Walters, AMBER Alert Training and designed to bring key AMBER Alert program Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) partners together to foster coordination and Administrator, welcomed new and familiar collaboration. “We really do rely on you, the faces to the first AMBER Alert Symposium in boots on the ground, who eat and breathe five years. The symposium was presented this every day,” she said. “There is no is- by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of sue stronger in my heart than the return of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice missing and abducted children.” and Delinquency Prevention, and the AM- BER Alert Training and Technical Assistance NEW IN 2017 Program in partnership with the National Dan Mills, NCMEC Training Program Manag- Center for Missing and Exploited Children er, noted that 60 percent of all AMBER Alerts (NCMEC). involve suspects who are family members. “Even though they are with a family mem- Walters encouraged participants to take ber, this does not mean they are safe,” said advantage of the more than 130 AATTAP Mills. “You never stop searching until the classes that can be requested at no cost child comes home.” for customized delivery in their areas, as well as those training courses which can be NCMEC tracks all attempted abductions in completed online anytime 24/7. “There is no the U.S. “A lot of abduction attempts are not reason not to get AMBER Alert training,” said successful on the first try,” said Mills. “We Walters. “We need to go forward. We cannot can look for trends and patterns when a go backwards.” child is missing.” Eileen Garry, Acting Administrator with Mills explained that NCMEC offers a wealth OJJDP, remarked on the importance of com- of resources to help law enforcement, fami- Continued on page 9 SUMMER 2017 | HEAMBER 5 T FACES OF THE AMBER ALERT NETWORK MASSACHUSETTS AMBER ALERT COORDINATOR WORKS HARD TO MAKE SURE EVERY ABDUCTED CHILD IS FOUND SAFE Nicole Morell has worked for the Massachusetts State Police for 21 years and became the state’s AMBER Alert coordinator in 2007. Sergeant Morell also worked with the Missing Persons Clearinghouse for three years. She previously worked as a detective for the Worcester County State Police Detective Unit and investigated ma- jor crimes, including the disappearance and murder of Molly Bish. Sergeant Morrell also worked as an under- cover narcotics detective. WHAT IS UNIQUE TO YOUR AMBER ALERT tion. As a result of the communication and AND CLEARINGHOUSE PROGRAM, AND understanding built from that effort, the WHAT DO YOU THINK HELPS MAKE YOUR media has not prematurely announced an PROGRAMS SUCCESSFUL? One of the alert and waits for our office to send them unique aspects of our program is the cohe- a press release advising them an alert has sive partnership between the New England been activated. states and the importance these states place on holding annual meetings to build Since the passing of the Missing Person/ and maintain strong relationships among AMBER Alert legislation, I have been a sitting the coordinators. They allow each agency member of the Missing Persons Task Force to gain knowledge and experience through Committee. The task force discusses ways past issued alerts and review of AMBER to improve missing person (juvenile) investi- Alert plans and criteria. gations. Due to the cohesiveness of the Northeast- WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU FACE IN ern states; all states agreed that when an MAINTAINING THE EFFECTIVENESS AND alert is confirmed or credible evidence ex- STRENGTH OF YOUR AMBER ALERT AND ists that a suspect has crossed into another CLEARINGHOUSE PROGRAMS? Funding state, there will be no time delay in issuing and lack of manpower. the alert. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE HAP- In terms of our partnership with media, PEN WITH YOUR AMBER ALERT AND our program met with the Massachusetts CLEARINGHOUSE PROGRAMS IN THE Broadcasters Association a few years ago FUTURE? WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE to discuss best practices for an activa- PROGRAMS? Combine all AMBER Alert and Continued on page 8 6 SUMMER 2017 | HEAMBER T We are excited to continue this new feature in the AMBER Advocate Newsletter! With each issue, we will talk with AMBER Alert Partners, learning more about the men and women who work tirelessly to admin- ister and continuously strengthen the AMBER Alert programs in their states. This quarter we talked with AMBER ALERT NETWORK the AMBER Alert Coordinators for Massachusetts and Indiana. INDIANA CLEARINGHOUSE MANAGER IS MOTIVATED TO BRING MISSING CHILDREN HOME Shea Reliford has overseen the Indiana Clear- inghouse for Missing Children & Missing Endan- gered Adults since September 2016. He is also a First Sergeant with the Office of Intelligence and Investigative Technologies and serves as the Administrative Officer for the Indiana Intel- ligence Fusion Center. He began his career with the Indiana State Police in 2006. Previous duties include serving as a state trooper, police acad- emy counselor and instructor, human resources sergeant, field training officer, recruiter, emer- gency vehicle operations instructor and back- ground investigator. WHAT IS UNIQUE TO YOUR AMBER ALERT WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU FACE IN AND CLEARINGHOUSE PROGRAM, AND MAINTAINING THE EFFECTIVENESS AND WHAT DO YOU THINK HELPS MAKE YOUR STRENGTH OF YOUR CLEARINGHOUSE PROGRAM(S) SUCCESSFUL? The Indiana PROGRAM? Our number one issue is miss- Clearinghouse is a section of our Fusion ing persons not being entered into NCIC Center. When an AMBER Alert is request- immediately. Because AMBER Alerts do ed, all resources necessary are deployed not occur frequently, agencies, officers and whether or not an AMBER Alert is actually dispatchers are likely finding themselves activated. This includes analytical support involved with an alert for the first time; this from the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center, inexperience with AMBER Alerts can some- Public Information Office, Cybercrime & times cause a delay. We prefer agencies Investigative Technologies Section, Indiana call us as soon as possible so we can assist Crimes against Children, K-9 and additional them from the start to speed up the pro- investigators and officers. cess. Our success is due to close relationships WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN between the personnel involved with the WITH YOUR AMBER ALERT AND CLEAR- decision making around an AMBER Alert. INGHOUSE PROGRAMS IN THE FUTURE? Our procedures and request forms are on I would like to see a nationwide platform our website for quick access. We educate where other states can communicate with law enforcement to call the clearinghouse each other, and with a push of a few but- as soon as possible and we can assist them tons all processes needed for an AMBER with an AMBER Alert or any missing person Alert to happen can be performed at the situation. same time. Currently we use about five Continued on page 8 SUMMER 2017 | HEAMBER 7 T FACES OF THE AMBER ALERT NETWORK NICOLE MORELL, Continued from page 6 Clearinghouse programs. When the agencies being harmed or murdered is heightened; are unified, they have so much more poten- and the child is considered to be in danger tial in helping to resolve missing children due to the police search, which could result in cases. a motor vehicle pursuit or violence when the suspect is located. PLEASE SHARE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR MOST MEMORABLE SUCCESS STORY IN HOW HAVE YOUR CAREER AND LIFE EXPE- WORKING A MISSING CHILD CASE. HOW RIENCES, INCLUDING YOUR WORK AS AN DID THE AMBER ALERT AND OPERATIONS AMBER ALERT COORDINATOR AND CLEAR- OF THE CLEARINGHOUSE SUPPORT THE INGHOUSE MANAGER, STRENGTHENED OUTCOMES? WHAT WERE THE MOST IM- YOUR COMMITMENT TO HELPING ENDAN- PORTANT LESSONS LEARNED? A homicide GERED, MISSING AND ABDUCTED CHIL- occurred in July 2011 in upstate New York. DREN? Since the Massachusetts AMBER Alert The New York State Police did not activate im- program’s inception in 2002, we have main- mediately but requested Massachusetts, New tained a 100 percent success rate. I credit this Hampshire and Connecticut to activate, which to the investigative knowledge of our team, they did. During the after-action meeting, we which consists of one full-time and two part- discussed the importance of the requesting time coordinators with 30 years of collective agency agreeing to activate as well. While investigative experience. Our team also has an alert is not normally activated to locate seven detective captains and majors from our a suspect wanted for fleeing from a crime Division of Investigative Services. Our team scene, the requesting agency should issue an understands the importance of acting quickly alert for several reasons: the abductor is the but effectively to recover our most vulnerable suspect in a homicide; the chance of a child population. SHEA RELIFORD, Continued from page 7 different entities to carry out all of the func- such as whether it is necessary to activate tions, including emails, phone calls and other AMBER Alerts statewide or in the middle of software programs. the night. However, our goal is to bring miss- ing children home safely and we have better PLEASE SHARE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR success if we notify the public by all means MOST MEMORABLE SUCCESS STORY IN available. WORKING A MISSING CHILD CASE. HOW DID THE AMBER ALERT AND OPERATIONS HOW HAVE YOUR CAREER AND LIFE EXPE- OF THE CLEARINGHOUSE SUPPORT THE RIENCES, INCLUDING YOUR WORK AS A OUTCOMES? WHAT WERE THE MOST IM- CLEARINGHOUSE MANAGER, STRENGTH- PORTANT LESSONS LEARNED? We activated ENED YOUR COMMITMENT TO HELPING the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) for the ENDANGERED, MISSING AND ABDUCTED first time in September 2016, and law en- CHILDREN? With the first AMBER Alert in forcement and the public were energized and which I was involved, both of the children very supportive in finding missing children. were killed. I am committed to doing every- We also learned there would be backlash no thing within my power to prevent that from matter what you do. We received questions happening again. 8 SUMMER 2017 | HEAMBER T 2017 AMBER ALERT AMBER ALERT NETWORK SYMPOSIUM Continued from page 5 lies and community members with missing operation of IPAWS and related systems will and abducted child cases. promote stronger readiness the next time • A video to help searchers find missing a child is taken. “Test, train, exercise and children with autism make mistakes,” he said. • Age progression photos that can be used when a child has been missing for an THE BIG PICTURE extended period of time Drew Evans, Superintendent of the Minne- • Advanced forensic techniques to pro- sota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, en- duce pictures of victims who are recov- couraged participants to review and refresh ered deceased their AMBER Alert programs. “There is not • Team HOPE, a support group of volun- one AMBER Alert call that I am not on pins teers who have experienced having a and needles until l know what happened,” missing child said Evans. “It is hard to make incremental • Team Adam, a group of retired law changes. I urge you to make your programs enforcement officers who can provide better.” expertise during a missing child case Tracy Perzel, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Updates were provided on the Integrated District of Minnesota, also challenged ev- Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), eryone to do more to bring children home the national warning system used to dis- safely. “Our job is to pursue those who hurt seminate Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). our children,” she said. “It says a lot about On January 1, 2013, IPAWS began distribut- our country if we do not protect our chil- ing AMBER Alerts to all cell phones in the dren.” geographical area of the abducted child. “The AMBER Alert system is a crucial tool to Mark Lucero, IPAWS Engineering Chief, quickly, loudly and wisely alert the public shared information on upcoming improve- about the need for help. There is no other ments for WEA. way to bring the power of observation from • A fourth type of alert for public safety law enforcement and people going about will now be issued in addition to AMBER their business,” noted Perzel. Alerts and other alerts for national and extreme weather emergencies Louisiana Missing Persons • Hyperlinks to website addresses and Clearinghouse Man- phone numbers will be added in Novem- ager and AMBER Alert ber 2017 Coordinator Stacey • Messages will be available in Spanish in Pearson summed November 2018 up the symposium • Message length will increase from 90 to with these words: 360 characters in May 2019 “The contacts we made these last In discussing the composition of these mes- three days and sages and how IPAWS and WEA support the relationships them, Lucero noted how vital license plate we have made will numbers and vehicle descriptions are for save more children.” issuing AMBER Alerts. He also emphasized how training which includes testing and SUMMER 2017 | HEAMBER 9 T AMBER ALERT IN INDIAN COUNTRY NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH ILLUMINATES THE PATH TO PROTECTING CHILDREN IN INDIAN COUNTRY It took only a few minutes for 10-year old Mike and to plead for all parents to watch Ashton Fish to express for everyone at the over their children. 2017 AMBER Alert Symposium, through both word and dance, why everything pos- “I have been called by the Spirits to come sible must be done to protect missing and around here and dance for Ashlynne Mike abducted children in Indian Country. and all the other stolen kids,” said Fish on the video. “I dedicate this song for all the “I want to be the voice for all the Indian children, the aunts who are sad. Aho!” children,” said Fish. “I want the AMBER Alert to be on the reservation so none of our Fish is a member of the Assiniboine Na- children can go missing, no one can steal tion and traveled from Blackfoot, Idaho, our children and we won’t be afraid to walk to speak and dance at the symposium. His in the dark.” grandmother, Kristen Lowdog, said her grandson’s dancing is a good way for Native The young man then performed a tradi- Americans to combat this problem because tional dance for all missing children. Fish it involves their own culture and ways. first became aware of the issue of for Native American children when he heard about the “He is very spiritually mature and voices his abduction and murder of 11-year-old Ash- opinion out,” said Lowdog. “He has a big lynne Mike on the Navajo Reserva- heart and he wants to do what he can to tion in May 2016. Fish created help.” a YouTube video (https:// youtu.be/vStdaD1zq_g) The artistry of Ashton’s ex- to perform a dance in pression of dance, com- honor of Ashlynne bined with the wisdom of his words and vision for AMBER Alert’s protec- tion of children on tribal lands, left symposium participants eager to meet this young man and shake his hand following the presentation. Ashton and his grandmother presented AATTAP Program Administrator Jim Walters with a hand- made ceremonial quilt in honor of his work with AMBER Alert and Child Protection in Indian Country. 10 SUMMER 2017 | HEAMBER T