A missing Oklahoma infant that was the subject of an Amber Alert issued on Wednesday, June 12, after being forcibly taken from his mother, has now been found safe.
The child is said to be unharmed.
Earlier, an Amber Alert had been issued for the infant, according to a Wednesday statement from the Carter County Sheriff’s Office, via KFOR.
Police cited in the report said the suspect, Danny Gordon, snatched the child away from the mother before trying to run her over with his car.
Gordon remains at large. The report notes he may be armed and dangerous.
Missing 3-Year-Old Found, Suspect in Custody
In related news, Oakland Police have announced that a 3-year-old girl abducted in a carjacking in May has been found and the suspect is in custody.“OPD located missing 3-year-old child who was reported taken during a carjacking. Child is safe. The suspect in the carjacking has been taken into custody.”
Earlier, California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert in connection with the child’s disappearance with an urgent request for anyone with information to call 911.
Missing Children
There were 424,066 missing children reported in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center in 2018, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Under federal law, when a child is reported missing to law enforcement they must be entered into the database. In 2017, there were 464,324 entries.“Unfortunately, since many children are never reported missing, there is no reliable way to determine the total number of children who are actually missing in the U.S.,” NCMEC (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children) added.
In 2018, the center said it assisted officers and families with the cases of more than 25,000 missing children. In those cases, 92 percent were endangered runaways, and 4 percent were family abductions.
The center said that it participates in the Amber Alert Program, which is a voluntary partnership between numerous entities including broadcasters, transportation agencies, and law enforcement agencies. The Amber Alert Program issues urgent bulletins in the most serious child abduction cases.
According to the NCMEC, to date, 941 children have been successfully recovered as a result of the Amber Alert Program.
The center notes that of the more than 23,500 runaways reported in 2018, about one in seven were likely victims of child sex trafficking.