A search continues today for a young Texas girl has been missing for more than a week, and the search to find the teen is intensifying. Today’s search will continue to focus on an area near the Colorado River. Hailey Dunn, 13, was last seen before the New Year on Dec. 27. Authorities say she told her mother’s boyfriend she was going to a friend’s house to spend the night.
There is specific criteria in each state to issue an Amber Alert and in most cases you need to have a confirmed abduction and in some cases a vehicle and tag description is helpful. There is not an Amber Alert issued in this case.
Hailey is a white female, 5’1, 120 pounds, brown hair, and hazel eyes.
If you have any information, please call the Colorado City Police: (325) 728-5294
Brittany Mae Smith (left) personal photo - Jeffrey Easley (right) booking photo
1) Brittany Mae Smith vanished a little over a week ago from Roanoke, Virginia. Investigators said the 12-year-old was taken by 32-year-old Jeffrey Scott Easley. Easley met Brittany’s mother on the Internet.
2) Brittany’s mom, Tina Smith, was found dead inside her home on December 6 when she didn’t show up for work. Last week the Medical Examiner released the autopsy and ruled the case an official homicide. An Amber Alert was issued for Brittany.
3) Jeffrey Easley was charged with abduction and credit card fraud, and a nationwide manhunt ensued.
4) On Friday, December 10, a Good Samaritan recognized Brittany and Easley in San Francisco, California. The pair was panhandling in front of the store. The tipster said she remembered Brittany from HLN’s Nancy Grace show. Authorities say the tipster ran into the Safeway and asked the clerk to call police.
Just like an Amber Alert is issued for a missing child, a Silver Alert is sent out for a missing elderly person. It works as an emergency system, decided by law enforcement, to broadcast a statewide alert for missing seniors. In most cases, the alerts are sent out for persons 60 or older, and most victims are mentally impaired and suffer from dementia. About 5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s.
This is a great program to protect the senior citizens of our nation who can no longer take care of themselves. Maryland State police used the system for the first time in November 2009 to help locate an elderly man, and it worked. The victim was found safely by a BGE worker on a street corner. The alerts are generally displayed on highway billboards and over local television and radio stations. Please consider registering your family member or friend on line, it provides a safe and secure place to store vital medical information that can be easily accessed in case of an emergency.
Stranger abductions are not as common as we think, but when they happen it feels like the entire nation knows about it through the news and social media. If there is a car description, an Amber Alert is usually attached to the announcement along with a suspect description. That was the case with little Alisa Maier from Missouri. She is only 4-years-old and investigators say she was snatched from her front yard two days ago by a stranger. Alisa was playing in her front yard with her brother when the abduction occurred, and their mother jumped into her vehicle and tried to chase the abductor down. The FBI from St. Louis and investigators from surrounding counties quickly joined forces to create a command post and follow up with every lead to help find Alisa. Members of the community met at the local Elk’s Lodge and volunteered their time going door-to-door passing out fliers with Alisa’s face and information on them. The first 48 hours in an abduction arethe most crucial. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, since 1997 the Amber Alert program is credited with the safe recovery of 502 children. There are 120 active amber plans in check across the country.
This swift effort by the community and the authorities in and around Louisiana, Missouri should be commended, because their efforts worked. I received an e-mail around 3:45 a.m. this morning from FBI S.A. Rebecca Wu that said Alisa was found late last night wandering around a car wash in Fenton, Missouri. Someone saw a small child, they believed to be a boy, and made contact with “him.”
3:52 a.m. - Great news this morning…. I just received word from the FBI that Alisa was found alive a few hours ago. The child was wandering alone at a car wash in Fenton, Missouri. She was reuinted with her family a short time after midnight. There is still a manhunt to find the suspect who snatched Alisa from her home… more to come later this morning on this case.
I spoke with S.A. Billy Cox with the St. Louis FBI, and he confirms that the Amber Alert to find 4-year-old Alisa Maier is still active. He said the child was playing with her brother in the front yard of her Louisiana, Missouri home when she was snatched around 8 p.m. last night. Right now the FBI has a command post set up to assist the police department with fielding important leads. I spoke with Sally Hunt who lives in the area and is volunteering at the local Elk’s Lodge in Louisiana, Missouri. She said there are 130 volunteers in the field searching and passing out fliers right now. “There is a tremendous outpouring of support,” said Sally. Many of the volunteers are also going door-to-door.
I spoke with S.A. Billy Cox with the St. Louis FBI, and he confirms that the Amber Alert to find 4-year-old Alisa Maier is still active. He said the child was playing with her brother in the front yard of her Louisiana, Missouri home when she was snatched around 8 p.m. last night. Right now the FBI has a command post set up to assist the police department with fielding important leads. I spoke with Sally Hunt who lives in the area and is volunteering at the local Elk’s Lodge in Louisiana, Missouri. She said there are 130 volunteers in the field searching and passing out fliers right now. “There is a tremendous outpouring of support,” said Sally. Many of the volunteers are also going door-to-door.
The official autopsy report for 7-year-old Aja Johnson was hand delivered to her biological father J.J. Johnson on Friday. Six months after the little girl went missing, the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s office lists the child’s official cause of death as “violent death with possible neck injury.” The bodies of Aja Johnson and Lester Hobbs were located in a rural area in Norman, Oklahoma nine weeks after he abducted her. A law enforcement source on the ground told me that because of the decomposition, Hobbs and Aja most likely died about a week after the initial murder of Tonya Hobbs in January. “He got in that area, probably to lay low for a few days, got in there with the storm and maybe got trapped. One thing led to another, couldn’t get the vehicle out, and would have to walk out on foot… he chose to stay.” My source says Aja’s body was found outside the vehicle and Hobbs was found inside the car. The medical examiner’s report indicates Hobbs died from drinking antifreeze, and there were not any signs of antifreeze in Aja Johnson.
Police in Austin, Texas say Karen Anastacio, 13, was abducted last week by a man she knew. Authorities say Angel Rojas, 25, was seen taking the teen in his brown 1997 GMC Jimmy from the Bedichek Middle School around 8 a.m. on May 6, 2010.
Investigators say Karen’s family was about to file criminal charges against Rojas for a previous attack onthe teen, but he was able to get to her first. Those assault charges were filed on Friday, and there is a warrant out forRojas’ arrest.
Over the weekend police announced that the Amber Alert had been canceled, and that they believe Rojas and Karen are already over the border into Mexico. Austin police are working with the Mexican authorities. Karen weighs 115 pounds, and she is 5’2”. She was last seen wearing a black shirt and pants and carrying a pink back pack. Rojas is only 135 pounds, and short at only 5’3”. Police say his license plate number is: 84TFL4.
If you have any information, please call: 512-974-0911
There is an active Amber Alert in Austin, Texas for a teen abducted by a man. Police say Angel Rojas, 25, was seen taking Karen Anastacio, 13, in his brown Ford Expedition or Explorer from her school. The alleged abduction took place at the Bedichek Middle School in South Austin. Investigators say Karen’s family was about to file criminal charges against Rojas for a previous attack onthe teen, but he was able to get to her first. The fear is that Rojas will take Karen over the border into Mexico, and then itwill be extremely difficult to find her.
Karen weighs 115 pounds, and she is 5’2.” She was last seen wearing a black shirt and pants and carrying a pink back pack. Rojas is only 135 pounds, and short at only 5’3.” If you have any information, please call: 512-974-0911
Do you want to be alerted when a child is abducted? I encourage you to sign up for free via wireless Internet. It is easy, all you have to do is text the word AMBER followed by a space and your 5-digit zipcode to 26237. If you don’t feel comfortable texting, you can sign up on-line.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited children, the first three hours a child is abducted are the most critical to recovery efforts. This is a fantastic initiative to reach 200 million wireless subscribers. About 200-250 Amber Alerts are activated each year, and more than 400 children have been safely recovered because of the program.
Michelle Sigona is a crime fighting, victims advocate extraordinaire, but for Michelle -- the good fight doesn't stop there. In her spare time, she is a volunteer firefighter -- and now, she is tackling the issues and cases that mean the most to her....
A search continues today for a young Texas girl has been missing for more than a week, and the search to find the teen is intensifying. Today’s search will continue to focus on an area near the Colorado River. Hailey Dunn, 13, was last seen before the New Year on Dec. 27. Authorities say she told her mother’s boyfriend she was going to a friend’s house to spend the night. 
Just like an Amber Alert is issued for a missing child, a 
Do you want to be alerted when a child is abducted? I encourage you to 
