Want to put your investigative tools to good use?

Become a partner in the Project Alert program through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The team is comprised of nearly 200 professionals and former investigators who want to lend their expertise and knowledge to help communities across the country.

According to the NCMEC’s website:

Project ALERT members also represent NCMEC at law enforcement conferences, provide law enforcement training, and address community awareness initiatives. They can integrate NCMEC resources such as age progression, facial reconstruction, poster distribution, DNA protocol, search experts, and database searches into the investigation.

This consulting service is supplied at no cost to the requesting agencies. All travel arrangements and expenses associated with travel and resource materials are coordinated and paid for by NCMEC.

Contact Project ALERT if you are in need of

• seasoned investigators, critical resources, and additional manpower to resolve long-term, missing-child cases
• training on various aspects of missing child cases
• community outreach assistance for presentations on child-safety issues and prevention strategies

If your agency would benefit from the assistance of a Project ALERT Representative, please contact the Project ALERT Program Manager at rharp@ncmec.org or call 1-800-THE-LOST.

Become a Project ALERT Representative

If you are interested in becoming a Project ALERT Representative, please complete the application below and return it to:

Project ALERT
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Charles B. Wang International Children’s Building
699 Prince Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3175

Tiffany Tehan (family photo)

10:00 a.m.

BACKGROUND: Police in Xenia, Ohio are still searching for Tiffany Tehan who vanished over the weekend. Earlier this week investigators released surveillance video photos of a mystery man with Tiffany two weeks ago. That man has been identified as Tre B. Hutcherson, 42, who authorities say has also been missing for days.

Captain Scott Anger of the Xenia Police told me Tiffany’s family does not know who Tre B. Hutcherson is, and they have never met him. Police say Hutcherson is known to drive a red Volkswagen Beetle, and sometimes a German Shepherd will travel with him in the front seat.

Police say Tiffany was supposed to attend a cookout around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 17, 2010 with her husband and friends. Tiffany’s husband, David Tehan, called police around 9 p.m. when she didn’t come home. Police say Tiffany left her home early Saturday morning to attend garage sales, and was expected to return around 2 p.m. Tiffany was last seen at The Greene Shopping Center in Beavercreek around 11 a.m., and her Ford Explorer was found early Sunday morning at a state park off Stroop Road in Xenia. The vehicle had a flat tire, and her keys were locked inside. Tiffany’s dad, Chuck Tabor, told me, “This is one giant jigsaw puzzle, and every piece, every little piece

Tre B. Hutcherson

counts, I think it is important to keep that going too.”

Tiffany’s family recently launched a websitechocked full of information about her. You can also join the Facebook group Help Find Tiffany for updates.

I spoke with Joe Godwin, pastor at the Patterson Park Church where Tiffany and her husband attend services. He says they’ve launched large groups of volunteers into the area where Tiffany’s car was found. Searchers have been out every day since Sunday, and they are scheduled to go back out today at 10 a.m. this morning. Godwin says their church has printed off 3,000 – 4,000 fliers with Tiffany’s face and information on them. Tiffany and David have been married for more than eight years. She is an Agent with Nationwide Insurance, loves to play board games and enjoys finding clothes at a discount for her daughter.

Tiffany's Ford Explorer

If you have any information, please contact Xenia police: (937) 376-7200

Aveion Lewis (family photo)

The search is back on today to find Aveion Lewis, yesterday searchers were forced to stop looking for the toddlers body due to inclement weather in Roanoke, Virginia.  According to the Roanoke Police Department, teams will focus on the 2100 block of King Charles Avenue and a wooded area along the river today.  Aisha Johnson, a Spokesperson for the police department says, “(we) have utilized the assistance of trained search teams from across Virginia and other states… the department thanks the community for its overwhelming support during this investigation… additional assistance from citizens is not requested at this time.”  Investigators charged Aveion’s step-father, Brandon Lockett, with improper disposal of a human body, obstruction of justice, and felony child neglect after a false report was filed that Aveion was abducted.  Police canceled an Amber Alert for the child after Lockett admitted Aveion was dead before the bogus abduction took place.  Authorities say they were able to get this information and come to this conclusion after conflicting statements were given to authorities early on.  Although police say Lockett admitted Aveion was dead before the Amber Alert was issued, investigators do not know exactly where the child’s body could be. 

Brandon Lockett (booking photo)

According to an unsealed search warrant from the Roanoke City Circuit Court I obtained this morning, the information paints a clearer picture into Aveion’s life before his death, “Aveion Lewis was removed from the custody of his biological mother and stepfather, Morgan and Brandon Lockett, in May 2008 due to a “failure to thrive.”  Aveion was 14 months old, weighed less than 9 pounds, and the parents were not complying with the medical instructions for his care.  After approximately 45 days in foster care, Aveion doubled his weight.  Investigation has indicated Aveion recently sustained contact burns on both legs, which resulted in blistering from a home heater.  Aveion was described as having a “high threshold for pain” and medical attention was not sought for the burns due to a prior history with DSS.  Aveion Lewis was removed from the home by authorities in May 2008 and returned in September 2009, sixteen months later.  A significant change in the Lockett’s family structure occurred in September 2009, when Aveion was returned to the home.  This was approximately 4 months prior to Aveion’s disappearance.  Investigative interviews determined that upon Aveion’s return to the home 4 months ago, the Locketts had begun toilet training.  Research in child homicide has reflected that toilet training accidents are often the provocation for physical punishments, sometimes resulting in death.  Aveion Lewis was born with a medical condition which resulted in surgery to remove a portion of his intestines and thereafter he required a strict schedule of feeding and proper medication.  Failure of the parents to comply with this schedule resulted in his removal of the home.  The Locketts have four children, including Aveion, all under the age of four.  The family also experienced financial hardships (cable was disconnected) prior to Aveion’s disappearance.  The stepfather was unemployed at the time of Aveion’s disappearance and the mother was employed at a minimum wage job.  The investigation has uncovered instances of illegal drug activity by the stepfather prior to the incident.  Brandon Lockett has a prior drug conviction from Georgia as well as two arrests involving family violence in 2006 and 2007.  Aveion Lewis is 2 years of age and will be 3 years old on January 26^th.  According to a 2006 study by the Department of Health and Human Services, children younger than 4 years of age are at greatest risk of severe injury or death by their parents or caregivers.”

Yesterday afternoon, I spoke with Robin Haldiman, CEO of the Child Health Investment Partnership (CHIP) of Roanoke Valley.  She told me their agency was involved with Aveion and his family from an early age.  CHIPS makes monthly visits to families to help teach them parenting skills, coordinate health care, and to make sure the child is developing appropriately for their age.  They currently have a waiting list, and are helping about 1,100 children per year.  The agency staff are mandated reporters who are required to report abuse and child neglect to Child Protective Services (CPS) if they see issues in the home.  If a report is made, CPS will conduct a separate investigation, and if it is necessary they will remove the child.  Sadly, this is exactly what the agency had to do with Aveion.  Robin says the child was taken out of his home with his mother and placed with a loving foster family in May 2008.  Robin says the court system put Aveion back with his mother, not CPS, and when the CHIP organization came back to the home to do monthly visits, Robin says they were turned away and his mother would not sign a consent form to enter the home again.  This is probably due to the fact that the CHIP organization filed the original complaint with CPS about Aveion’s welfare.  The CHIP service is voluntary, not mandatory, and they work hard to ensure children are safe. Robin confirms that when Aveion was 15-months-old he was underweight, only eight pounds, and when he was placed with his foster family, he began to become healthy again.  Robin and the members of her staff who worked with Aveion from early on are heartbroken about the loss of this child, and as you can imagine, they grew close with the toddler since he was born.

BACKGROUND: Police initially said Aveion was snatched from his home on January 14, 2009 when three men allegedly broke into his apartment, assaulted Aveion’s step-father Brandon Lockett, and abducted the toddler.  Investigators say not only was the child taken, but his 4-year-old sister was tied up and gagged in a corner.  Investigators said early on they believed the suspects could be traveling in an early 1990’s model white SUV, and they collected surveillance from nearby businesses.  The FBI along with local law enforcement have been searching for the child by air, on the ground, and going door-to-door seeking answers.

If you have any information as to the whereabouts of  where Aveion Malik Lewis body could be, please call Roanoke City Police Department at (540) 853-2211 or Virginia State Police at (800) 822-4453.