TEMPLE, Texas — Questions remain after the City of Temple issued a vague emergency alert on Wednesday, Aug. 9 for a missing child.
The alert was not an Amber Alert and did not include information you would typically see with an Amber Alert, such as the age, race or gender of the child.
Megan Price, Public Relations Coordinator for the City of Temple, says Amber Alerts focus on finding kids suspected of being kidnapped or abducted, and emergency alerts cover anything from runaways to severe weather.
With the information Temple Police received in regards to the missing child, Price says an emergency alert was sent out because the verified information required for an Amber Alert was not necessarily there.
"In this incident, with a missing 9-year-old child that had been gone for multiple hours without the parents' knowing their location or destination, Temple Police made a determination that a local alert provided was the best avenue," Price said. "The child was also considered a high-risk juvenile because he was under the age of 13. Also, for this particular incident; weather. With it being, you know, 100-plus degrees outside, that also played a big role in issuing this alert."
A new Texas law known as the "Athena Alert" bill expands the Amber Alert system. However, Price says this case still didn't meet the standards.
The "Athena Alert" law allows local law enforcement to issue regional alerts without needing to prove that a child has been abducted.
"The localized alert that was sent out last night was not linked to the new 'Athena Alert' bill," Price said.
Despite the alert saying to "check local media for more information", Temple Police did not send out a press release to media outlets, including 6 News, prior to the notification being pushed. Price told 6 News the alert had a typo and was supposed to say "check social media for more information" rather than "check local media".
Price says the police department's policy is to post every missing or runaway child on social media because that is the fastest communication medium.
"The ultimate outcome for alerts in general and our social media posts is just for the missing person, child, whoever it may be, to be found safely," Price added.
Price confirmed the missing child was found the same night the alert was issued.
"They had people searching on foot," Price said. "They had drones, canines, they went door-to-door in search of the child. Fire & Rescue also played a role in this case and helping to locate him, so it was a great team effort by all involved."
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