In thinking about LE establishing some type of an alert system, not an Amber Alert; an alert system for missing children. IMO, it’s next to impossible. As a society, we would become complacent to the alerts. When Amber Alerts were first established, they created the criteria for fear that we would become complacent, fear that LE would use it for all missing children and the system would be abused.
How many children are reported missing each day, only to be “found” at Johnny’s house instead of Jimmy’s house? There are too many factors that would have to be taken in to consideration:
Did the parents check with friends and family?
Do the parents know the friends of the child?
What areas have been searched? School? Playground? Favorite hang out? Mall? Etc.
Have the parents tried to contact the child?
Is the child a runaway? (not discounting a runaway child at all, knowing this could offer direction for LE)
There are so many different factors and variations that need to be taken into consideration. Each case would be unique in and of itself. Just when LE comes up with one set of guidelines, it would change because the situation for some other child caused them to re-evaluate it.
IMO that is exactly why LE acts and reacts specifically based on the information given to them. Information obtained from the parents.
In this case, MR did not display any sense of urgency. He himself (in the MB interview) mentioned that he reported Dylan missing and said that he could have gone fishing or fell in the lake. He wanted them to find him and knock him aside the head and let him know that his dad and friends were trying to get a hold of him. (Paraphrasing).
Why on earth would he think that LE should have some alert system in place? What would they have alerted people of? Who would they alert? The information that they had at the time was the information provided to them by the last person KNOWN to have seen him – MR.
THAT encounter with MR set the wheels in motion and IMO set those wheels in the wrong direction. Based on information obtained by MR, LE conducted a cursory search of his home to verify that Dylan was not there, LE started a search of the immediate area. They had two conflicting reports about Dylan, one from EH who wasn’t there and one from MR who was there.
