The eight hours it took Prince George’s County police to issue a regionwide alert for a boy’s abduction could have cost the 4-year-old his life, child advocates told The Examiner.
Jose Benjamin Mejia was snatched from his Fort Washington home around 11 p.m. Wednesday, his mother was tied up, and his father, who was tending to his gas station business, received a call from Mejia’s captors demanding money.
The boy was found 12 hours later wandering the streets in Takoma Park. A note attached to his shirt had his father’s number, and he was soon reunited with his parents.
County police waited until 8 a.m. to issue an Amber Alert, a wide-reaching notification system that posts the child’s description and that of any suspects on roadway signs, television and radio.
Police spokeswoman Sharon Taylor said, “We were following leads that we thought would get us to the suspects and child without them becoming aware that the police was involved, and when that was exhausted, we put out the Amber Alert.”
But child advocates weren’t convinced the delay was worthwhile, and Eileen King, regional director for Justice for Children, described Mejia’s discovery as “lucky.”
“The first hours of an abduction are important because of the likelihood that the abductors may be fairly close by,” King said. “Unless you have a really good reason to delay an alert, this window of opportunity should be taken advantage of immediately.”
U.S. Department of Justice guidelines for Amber Alerts suggest they should be used as soon as police verify the abduction and have suspect descriptions, all of which Prince George’s police said they had as of Wednesday night.
However, there could be mitigating factors, and it’s up to the investigators to decide when it’s best to issue an alert, said Bob Hoever of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“Time is of the essence,” Hoever said. “But an Amber Alert is just one tool for law enforcement, and they need to decide whether that tool should bedeployed.” Acting too quickly and too frequently could lead to crying-wolf situations or place the child in danger, he added.
King remained concerned. “Imagine you’re the parent,” she said. “Put yourself in the child’s place. What kind of excuse would be acceptable?”
