CLEVELAND — After an 11-year-old girl who went missing Monday night was found safe, News 5 spoke to the two police agencies involved for a closer look at the investigation and process of locating missing children.
Around 11 p.m. Monday night, after Cleveland Police was notified that an 11-year-old girl was missing, the department launched a missing persons investigation.
John Majoy, Chief of Police for the Village of Newburgh Heights, says in those moments, police will immediately begin to investigate.
“They’re following up on these leads to see where the child's at, then perhaps we're not going to ring the bell,” said John.
News 5 received video of Cleveland police searching for the girl around 2 a.m. overnight along East 40th Street and Kennard Avenue.
By 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, police released a news release asking for public assistance and providing a physical description of the missing girl. Majoy said it’s important not to put information out too soon.
“If they're pinging cell phones or they're checking different avenues, then before we ring the bell and start creating a public alert, let's make sure we exhausted all of our options,” said Majoy.
They also have to check if the case meets the strict criteria of an Amber Alert or Endangered Child Alert.
“So the first criteria for an Amber Alert is, is that the child has to be under 18 years of age, so 17 years of age or younger. The second is that law enforcement believes that the child is in danger of serious physical harm,” said Majoy.
If the case is an Amber Alert, they have the tools to notify more than 1.2 million people within 20 minutes.
“Since 2014, we've had approximately 34 Amber Alerts issued in the nine-county area that Northeast Ohio Amber Alert represents. And every one of those has been successful,” Majoy said.
The 11-year-old was missing for about 16 hours; her case did not meet the criteria of an Amber Alert. Cleveland police found her around 11 a.m. Tuesday at a friend’s apartment. Police said she was brought to the hospital to be checked on and is safe.
Police officials wanted to remind the public that no matter what, if you see something, say something.
Click here to view the News 5 Cleveland Missing Persons page.
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