I'm confused about these Code Amber alerts.

Recently there was a "code amber", which I know is a missing child, and this was for a young'un named Nevaeh in Michigan.  The day she was reported missing, there were alerts everywhere, including a few off the electronic billboards throughout my city in Ohio.

She was in every newspaper, every day, and it was the talk of the area until they finally found her body under concrete near the river.  We all knew what she looked like, where she was last seen and when, and it seemed like everyone you bumped in to was chattering about her.

So why is it she got so much coverage but not another child who went missing immediately after her?  I didn't even know about this second one until a few days ago, when a co-worker mentioned this kid still hasn't been found.  I have yet to see any mention of it in the newspaper, on a billboard, or heard anything floating throughout the hospital.

Do they pick kids names out of a hat to see who gets the most media coverage?  Was Nevaeh possibly related to someone who had enough money or influence on the media to get her name and picture put out almost instantly?  Or is it as my co-workers say, because Nevaeh was a pretty white girl, and the other girl who went missing was "just another black girl"?

I'm afraid you got it with your last sentence.. Newspapers report the news, yes, but commercially they thrive on interesting/unusual stories, not the commonplace. 

There were two prominent missing children stories in the UK recently.  Madeleine McCann went missing from a portuguese holiday resort and has never been found.  Her parents started a massive campaign to find her, raised a lot of funds and her face was never off the front pages.  A few months later a little kid called Shannon Matthews went missing from near her home and the coverage was not as widespread despite tearful appeals for her return.  Her family angrily accused the press of bias.... Shannon was from a poor background and not photogenic, Madeleine was from a wealthier background and had lots of visual appeal.  (Bit like your two missing children)  Ironically, after Shannon was found alive and well, it turned out that her own mother had arranged to have her kidnapped... thinking she'd get showered with cash and donations. 

For media agenda, you have the right idea.

As for amber alerts, my understanding of them is different. It depends on if they have enough (make and model of vehicle, general direction its heading), and they only air 'relevant' places (city kidnap took place, city in area the person might be heading.) Now if you heard one that seemed to far away it might be because they thought they would come your way, though its certainly also possible the parents padded some pockets.

Here in GA, especially when I lived in atlanta, there were amber alerts all the time, and there seemed to be no discrepancy between those in different SES bands or of different ethnicities. Granted trying to follow-up on one of thise was difficult, since it still got no press coverage.

To digress, in atlanta it seems as though there is always an amber alert, and they put the alert and make/model of vehicle on the big traffic boards. Every now and then the make/model/color would match MY car (since I drive a common gold nissan sentra), and it would just be 'oh crap,' suddenly everyone is eyeballing my car, I'll come out of the gas station to someone peeking through the windows, and spend the rest of the day concerned that I'll be mistakenly arrested : )

lots of red tape re:amber alerts

(i.e. if they disappear with their costodial parent or if there is no vehicle description then there is no alert)

bottom line: they need to be redefined to be less stringent. definnitely a problem!

There are even more involved as well

Consider little Tori Stafford just in April left school holding the hand of what appeared to be someone she knew.  We later learn thru much anguish that she was taken by this woman whom she was acquainted with and murdered by her and her boyfriend.

If Tori had been taken from her bed then that would have been considered an Abduction and an Amber Alert would have been issued immediately not 1 week later

It all depends on the info given to the police. I know here in Texas we have a missing baby and they did do a amber alert right away beacuse they were getting conflicting stories from the parents. They have since issued one but I think it was a day or two later.

I think it depends on the circumstances. If nobody saw who took the missing child, then they won't have a description to give to the public.

In GA, we do have a lot of Amber Alerts and Levi's Calls (the state's version of Amber Alert.) but sometimes they are not handled well (lack of description or none at all).

I have recently heard about a few children who went missing months and months  ago, but the authorities never issued an alert. I'm not sure of the circumstances, but i think they were taken by a family friend or distant relative.I've only heard about it now b/c they have a lead in the case.

Sometimes the circumstances don't warrant an Amber Alert (parent takes them, etc.) but a mention on the news and in a paper would help tremendously in finding missing kids.

Original Post by spuckine1:

There are even more involved as well

Consider little Tori Stafford just in April left school holding the hand of what appeared to be someone she knew.  We later learn thru much anguish that she was taken by this woman whom she was acquainted with and murdered by her and her boyfriend.

 

If Tori had been taken from her bed then that would have been considered an Abduction and an Amber Alert would have been issued immediately not 1 week later

i'm pretty sure there was no amber alert for tori because the police decided her mother killed her.

But I do raise the question, how come we always see little white girls on the news/media but never hear of anyone of color, when it happens all the time? I think it's sad...............and wrong......................and it does happen

it's very true, booster.  i think it reflects prejudice that's inherent in the police culture.  here in canada, it's mostly directed at aboriginal people.  recently a friend of mine (who is aboriginal) told me that she'd called the RCMP to report a domestic violence situation, and the person who took the report asked if the people involved were aboriginal.  claimed it was policy to ask, for identification purposes, but guess what?  nobody showed up to investigate.

that's awful...and I'm guessing nothing could be done--legal wise?

nope.  it's policy, and it's for identification.

never mind that the question wasn't "what are they wearing?" or even "what is their skin colour?" 

never mind that there are millions of aboriginal people who look white, hispanic, asian....

I'm really not sure how much it has to do with color.  The last 2 amber alerts that I remember seeing were black children.  I think the news can decide how much they want to cover it, but an amber alert is put out regardless.  At least, that's been my experience and I live in the Kansas City area.

So I'm not so sure it's a police thing.  I think it's more of a media thing.

peaches, amber alerts are issued by the police, not by the media.  theoretically, it's decided by two things: evidence of foul play and identifying information (license plate, description or identity of the abductor, etc) to give to the public.  if they have both, they go ahead; if not, they don't.

edit: at least that's the way they do it in canada {shrug}.

Right.  But the media kind of has a choice on how much they want to publicise it.  That's all I'm saying.  Sure, it goes on the little tickers at the bottom of the screen, and here it also goes on those electronic road signs.  But after that, I was under the impression that it's up to the stations whether they want to spend more time reporting on it.

Still, it's sad if they were to decide air time based on color.  I sincerely hope they don't.

I have no idea what the circumstances of our little black girl who is missing is..  But I do know that Nevaeh was last seen riding her scooter around her apartment complex around 8 PM, and that's when the amber alert spread to Toledo.  The extent of the coverage for a little girl who just vanished, nobody saw her leave with anyone, nobody saw a mysterious looking vehicle roaming around, she just vanished, was insane.  They posted kids names who may have been in a school parking lot playing to see if anyone knew them so they could be found and questioned in the disappearance.  They talked about the 700-something tips they received a week later after.  They posted about a vehicle that may have driven through the area, pleading with it to call the police and say if they saw anything or not.

But about this other girl? I know nothing.  Just that there's an amber alert out on her, but hell, the news has yet to show us a face.

woah! that is an awful lot of information. i'm glad there so enthusiastic (not the right word, but you know what i mean.. i hope) about fiding her, but that same intensity needs to be shown for the other missing child as well.

i hate that the media/police show such variations in coverage/ recovery efforts. :(