Amber Alerts & Oklahoma

Pearls and Dreams Amber Alert ... the warning system put in place to protect children who've been kidnapped. I'm sitting here again, wondering if Oklahoma's Amber Alert law was even worth the time, money and energy worth passing as once again ...another child is missing and Oklahoma is refusing to sound the alert because of a technicality.

This time ... the technicality, the child ... a Kansas resident.
A 16 year old girl kidnapped, at gunpoint, from her driveway in Independence Kansas. She called 911 from the van and told them she'd been kidnapped. Was able to tell them the type of van she was in.

The van was identified driving south on I-75 headed toward Oklahoma. Common sense says ... Oklahoma Amber Alert should kick in ... give the make of the van and all the amber alert information to catch this person, to protect the life of this precious girl ASAP.

Kansas officials were shocked to find out that (in the words of Channel 8 reporter) "politcal posturing from Oklahoma Capitol" refusal to run an Amber Alert because the child is not an Oklahoma Resident!

Our Amber alert signs are off ... no official hunt by police or law inforcment ...she could be being driven through the middle of our state right now ... like Timothy McVeigh after the bombing ... and yet ... this idiot will get away with it ...because someone has to show that politics are more important than lives.

Our Amber Alert laws are absurd here ... if the child is taken, they have to KNOW the child is kidnapped (not a run away ... a child in our neighborhood was missing for 6 hours ... 5 years old... no amber alert called why? The police said they had to make sure she wasn't a run away, we have a convicted offender living IN our mobile home park!)
They have to KNOW the child has been taken by someone WHO DOES NOT KNOW THE CHILD!

A babysitter, a parent, a relative takes your child in Oklahoma ..and no amber alert will be called.

The only time I've seen an amber alert actually called ...it turned out to be a false alarm for a woman who's van had been stolen and she lied about having a child in the vehicle thinking the police would work harder to get her car back if they thought a kid had been kidnapped!

ARGH! here's news articles:
Mother of Murdered Girl Says Amber Alert Criteria Needs Re-Thinking
Tuesday April 11, 2006 9:55pm Posted By: Kevin King

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___ Related Stories ___FBI Joins Investigation Into Teen's Abduction
Why Wasn't An Amber Alert Issued In Oklahoma?
Reward Offered For Safe Return Of Abducted Teenager
Tulsa - Possibly no one knows how the parents of Kelsey Lynn Stelting feel better than Rebecca DeMauro. DeMauro's 12-year-old daughter, Andi Brewer, was abducted and killed in 1999. She says it's wrong that Oklahoma did not issue an amber alert despite the pleas of authorities in Kansas. Stetler was abducted at gunpoint from her home in Independence, Kansas, just 15 miles north of the Oklahoma-Kansas border. The white van she was forced into was believed to be heading southbound on Highway 75, which would take her into Oklahoma. An amber alert was issued early Tuesday morning. But, in Oklahoma, the highway signs that are to be used to alert motorists to be on the lookout for her were blank. We contacted the police department in Independence. They told us they asked the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to issue an amber alert, but were told the case did not meet the criteria, that Kelsey wasn't from Oklahoma and an amber alert would not be issued. An Oklahoma Department of Transportation official we spoke with says that's not the case and that authorities in Kansas must have spoken to the wrong person. But, as of Tuesday evening, there was still no amber alert in place in Oklahoma. "What would you feel like if your 16-year-old daughter was kidnapped at gunpoint and the neighboring state (where she was allegedly reported to have been taken) refused to issue an alert that could very possibly bring her home," DeMauro said. Oklahoma Amber Alert Coordinator Gene Baston did not immediately return NewsChannel 8's phone calls on the issue. We notified the governor's office, who said they were unaware of the situation and would look into the matter. "The 'committee' who decided this needs to be reviewed by our state leaders and perhaps the governor's office needs to address this issue," DeMauro said. Perhaps they should place parents of missing or abducted and murdered children on that committee because we know this issue." "If a child is kidnapped at gunpoint in Alaska or anywhere and calls law enforcement and says 'I have been kidnapped and am passing a sign that says 'Welcome to Oklahoma'', an Amber Alert should be issued no questions asked," DeMauro said. Karl Roberts, the man who abducted and killed DeMauro's daughter, was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to death. He remains in an Arkansas prison.
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Why Wasn't An Amber Alert Issued In Oklahoma?
Tuesday April 11, 2006 5:21pm Reporter: Burt Mummolo Posted By: Kevin King

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___ Related Stories ___Reward Offered For Safe Return Of Abducted Teenager
Tulsa - We've received several calls and e-mails, asking why there was no amber alert issued in Oklahoma after a Kansas teenager was abducted at gunpoint and last seen heading here. The search for 16-year-old Kelsey Stelting had been going on for more than eight hours, but the highway signs that are to be used to alert motorists to be on the lookout for her were blank. We contacted the police department in Independence, Kansas. They tell us they asked the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to issue an amber alert, but were told the case did not meet the criteria, that Kelsey wasn't from Oklahoma, and an amber alert would not be issued. An Oklahoma Department of Transportation officer we spoke with says that's not the case and that authorities in Kansas must have spoken to the wrong person.Amber Alert coordinator Gene Baston did not return NewsChannel 8's phone calls on the issue. Meanwhile, we have notified the governor's office, who said they were unaware of the situation and would look into the matter.Meanwhile, the search continues for Kelsey, who was taken at gunpoint from her front yard and forced into a white van that was last seen heading south toward Oklahoma on Highway 75. Anyone with information on the case is urged to call 911, the Independence Police Department at (620)-332-1700 or the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-KS-CRIME.
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