By The Huffington Post News Editors
NEW YORK — Authorities say a 4 a.m. Amber Alert that startled many New Yorkers is part of a new national wireless emergency alert system.
The alert went out early Wednesday morning for a baby boy who was taken from a Manhattan child welfare facility without permission by his mother. She’s been taken into custody.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
A suburban Chicago woman who reported that her 1-year-old son had been kidnapped is now being accused of killing the boy in a savage beating and concocting the abduction story as a cover-up.
Cook County prosecutors said Saturday that Lakeshia Baker of Maywood beat her son to death with a belt as her boyfriend restrained the child and placed his hand over the boy’s mouth to muffle his screams. Both are charged with first-degree murder.
The toddler, Bryeon Hunter, has been missing since Tuesday and is now presumed dead, though authorities have yet to find a body. The report of his kidnapping prompted an Amber Alert and set off a search of abandoned buildings, trash bins and industrial areas by authorities and volunteers. Canine units were brought in, and a search of the Des Plaines River was carried out with divers and sonar equipment.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office says that under police questioning, Baker admitted beating the child on Monday so severely that he died the next day. Baker’s attorney, Irv Frazin, did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment Saturday.
A judge on Saturday ordered Baker, 22, held without bond, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Her boyfriend, Michael Scott, 21, who is not the child’s biological father, was ordered held in lieu of $750,000 bail, the newspaper reported.
According to prosecutors, both defendants said the boy’s body was placed in a backpack, but they each accused the other of disposing of it in the river.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/kvlPd-4LSyk/
An infant from East San Jose became the subject of an Amber Alert on Monday after a woman allegedly stole an SUV with the baby inside, but authorities located the missing child inside the abandoned vehicle several hours later.
San Jose police said 11-month-old Gabriela Quintero was seated but not strapped into her car seat when her mother, Graciella Quintero, saw someone driving away in the SUV at about 6:45 a.m. The Jeep Liberty had been parked in the family’s driveway with the keys in the ignition, and Quintero had gone into the house briefly to grab some things she wanted to bring with her.
More than four hours into the search that briefly shut down Highway 101 and involved a police airplane and a Santa Clara County auto theft unit, a man reported seeing a Jeep parked in the alleyway of an apartment complex about six miles from where Gabriela lived and said he heard a baby crying. Officers found the child there uninjured, although she was taken to a hospital for a checkup and to be reunited with her mother.
“In a critical event like this, we don’t spare any resources,” Officer Albert Morales said.
Authorities were searching for the child’s abductor. They didn’t know if the baby was taken intentionally or if she was taken accidentally with the car as the target.
Both Quintero and a neighbor told police they saw a woman standing near the SUV before it was driven away.
Authorities have issued an Amber Alert for a 1-year-old girl that they say was inside an SUV that was stolen in San Jose.
The suspect stole the white 2006 Jeep Liberty from in front of a residence around 6:43 a.m. Monday. San Jose police Sgt. Albert Morales tells the San Jose Mercury News the baby was inside, not yet strapped to her baby seat.
The mom had apparently just left the vehicle for a moment. The child has been identified as Gabriela Quintero.
Authorities have not identified the suspect, but describe her as a Hispanic woman.
The vehicle’s license plate is 6BWK440. It has a spare tire in the back.
A Connecticut woman and her two young grandchildren were found dead Tuesday night, hours after she allegedly took the boys from their daycare, authorities said.
State police say Ashton and Alton Perry and their grandmother, 47-year-old Debra Denison, were found dead Tuesday night in a parked vehicle in Preston.
Authorities say Denison had picked up 6-month-old Ashton and 2-year-old Alton from their daycare in Danielson at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and could not be located.
State police then issued an Amber Alert.
CTNow.com reports that at about 9:30 p.m., police received a report of a suspicious vehicle parked near Lake of Isles with three injured people inside, two of whom appeared to be children.
The two boys and their grandmother were pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy will be performed to determine the manner and cause of death.
State police continue to investigate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The next time a child is abducted near you, your cell phone may shriek to life with an alert message.
A new national Amber Alert system officially rolled out earlier this month to millions of cell phones. The alerts are automatically active on most newer phones.
And they’ve already taken tens of thousands of people by surprise.
The newly-expanded emergency alert system is one way FEMA is trying to update how it reaches people with new technology. But local officials and others worry that poor execution may undermine its ultimate purpose, especially when people are startled and annoyed and choose to opt out.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Authorities have issued an Amber Alert for a Philadelphia 5-year-old who was taken from her elementary school by an unknown woman Monday morning.
MyFoxPhilly.com reports the mayor has announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of Nailla Robinson, who was taken out of her classroom by a woman who told the teacher she had signed the girl out for the day.
An official told the Philadelphia Daily News that the woman introduced herself as “Tiffany,” but her signature in the school visitor log was illegible.
Police discovered that the girl was missing later that afternoon, when a caretaker from the child’s after-school program came to pick her up.
Nailla’s mother appeared on local media, tearfully pleading for her safe return.
School district spokesman Francisco Gallard told the newspaper that allowing the girl to leave school with an unknown adult was a “serious break in procedure.” Gallard said the woman didn’t wait at the school’s front office as is district policy but went to a classroom and told a teacher that the child had been “checked out” of school.
“That is completely against our protocol,” Gallard said. “An adult is not allowed to go to any classrooms to check children out. They’re supposed to go to the administrative office, their ID is supposed to be checked, and they are supposed to be checked to see if they are the guardian of record or parent. If they are, then they call (the) classroom for the child to be brought down, because we don’t want adults roaming the building.”
Walker said surveillance video of Nailla leaving school with the woman showed that the girl didn’t appear to believe she was in any danger. Police said Nailla was often picked up by different people from the after-school program.
State police told MyFoxPhilly.com the woman who took the girl was wearing Muslim-style clothing and appeared to be pregnant.
Nailla is described as 40 inches tall, 35 pounds, with medium skin tone, brown eyes and black curly hair.
Officials said the girl, who wears glasses, was wearing a light-blue shirt, navy-blue pants and black-and-pink sneakers.
Click for more from MyFoxPhilly.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
A Bristol man has been accused of stealing a car in Hartford with a 2-year-old boy in the back seat.
The New Britain Herald reports that Devon Mills was held on $750,000 bond following his arraignment Friday on charges of kidnapping, risk of injury and larceny.
The 24-year-old Mills is accused of stealing the car on Thursday as it idled outside a fast food store. He was caught when bystanders called in his location. Hartford police issued an Amber Alert notifying other agencies, the media and public.
Police say Mills left the child with an acquaintance so he could bring a friend to Bristol Hospital.
Mills told police he took the car with the child inside because he was upset that the boy’s father left him alone in the car.
Source: Fox US News