Missing Child, but no Amber Alert!?!?

[MScott1851]

I am so furious right now with my local law enforcement, along with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations. A seven year old girl has been missing from her home in North Memphis since Saturday afternoon, and still, no Amber Alert has been issued. They keep saying, "it doesn't meet the criteria" and "we haven't determined that this case warrants an Amber Alert." I thought that the purpose of passing Amber's Law was to get the word out quickly when a child was missing or abducted in order to up the chances of a safe return. The police also advised the family not to call the media on Saturday, and waited until this morning (Monday) to notify them!! I am not a mother yet, but I am a pediatric nurse, and my heart is breaking every time I see that little girl's face on television. I want to do something to help, but when the people who are supposed to be helping us fail, it frustrates me.

So... here's my little alert, I'm posting it on every site I'm a member of.

The child's name is Tyra Knox, she is 7 years old, black female, 3'2", she was last seen on a scooter in her front yard in Frayser. Her cousins went inside for a drink and when they came back out, she was gone. She was wearing flowered capri pants and a blue shirt that said "Call Me When You Get A Job". Here is her pic.

God bless her and her family and can we all say a prayer for her tonight. Every child deserves to be safe at home with their family.

 

[philaround]

Don't know if this applies but Amber alert is for non-custodial abductions. Does it appear that a relative may have taken the little girl? Estranged father maybe?

Amber alert is a great resource when it appears that a child is very likely to come to harm as a result of the abduction. Unfortunately if harm appears to be unlikely the child does not qualify.

 

[Pamlur]

I thought one of the local newscasters said that the Amber Alert WAS issued; I don't even know how they do it here in Memphis.

 

[CarolA]

No, the Amber alert was not issued for either this child or Tabitha Tudors here in Nashville.

They say there must be evidence the child is in danger.

 

[janette]

Part of the use of the Amber Alert is that it be used only in extreme cases. The fear is that if it is overused people won't pay as much attention. The local authorities have to weigh the information they have and decide what to do. Sometimes it may even be information they haven't made public.

A prayer that this little girl gets back to her family safe. It can never be an easy issue.

 

[HauntedMansionGeek]

It happened the same way up here...a little girl disappeared about 6 weeks ago and it took them 5-6 days to get her listed.

She didn't meet the criteria either, but how frustrating for her family. Right now the Amber alerts are great but not implimented soon enough, in my opinion.

Thankyou for your help in getting this alert out. Has anyone started a web page for her? That's another great way to get the message out to folks.
Good luck and I'll keep the little peanut in my prayers.