Great question. For missing persons cases in general, I think it really depends on the circumstances of each case, and the LE agency investigating it.
With Latania's case, I
really don't understand.
There is only one post about the case on the Richmond County Sheriffs Office FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/RichmondCo...5249428654151/751400371705717/?type=3&theater
And I don't believe they've issued any kind of alert. Apparently, Georgia has its own version of Amber Alert called "Levi's Call":
"Levi's Call is an investigative tool that can be activated only by local law enforcement agencies through a request to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).
...
Activation Criteria
Before Levi's Call can be activated, the following Alert Criteria must be met:
- Law enforcement officials have a reasonable belief that an abduction has occurred.
- Law enforcement officials believe that the child is in imminent danger or serious bodily injury or death.
- Enough descriptive information exists about the victim and the abductor for law enforcement to issue a Levi's Call: Georgia's AMBER Alert.
- The victim of the abduction is a child age 17 years or younger.
- The child's name and other critical data elements - including the child abduction (CA) and AMBER Alert (AA) flags - have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.
Activation will not be granted for:
- Non-custodial abductions where no danger exists to the child
- Runaways
Overuse of Levi's Call will cause the program to be ineffective."
https://gbi.georgia.gov/levis-call
It seems to me that Latania's case meets all of the criteria. No clothing description, but they have description of the truck Latania and Leon are believed to be in, and its plate number, their height, and their appearances.
Latania might have gone willingly, but
if the mom did not hear or see them leave, how do we know Leon didn't force her to go with him? C'mon, she just turned 16 on the day she disappeared
.
With no alert, so little media coverage, and no searches that I am aware of, I feel like no one is looking for her.
I really, really hope this doesn't mean LE has nothing to go on, or that they are not taking this case seriously. My other concern is that they have found evidence that leads them in a different direction ... and I really don't want to go there
.