FEB 23, 2023
USA TODAY examined Amber Alert data to determine how often they help bring kids home. We found they're least likely to help Black children.
www.usatoday.com
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How often do children sought in Amber Alerts die?
Nalani Johnson was one of 29 children who were found dead after an Amber Alert was issued for them between 2017 and 2021, according to records USA TODAY reviewed. That’s out of more than 1,100 children for whom an outcome could be determined.
When a woman drove off with Nalani in 2019, two weeks before the toddler’s second birthday, her father called 911 and gave the Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, police department the information needed for an Amber Alert, according to Nalani’s grandmother, TW. The alert went out more than two hours later.
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After her granddaughter’s death, TW pushed to change Pennsylvania law to require police to immediately issue Amber Alerts in abductions involving young children if a family member reports the child was abducted by a person outside the family. A petition for the bill, dubbed the Nalani Johnson Rule, garnered more than 22,000 signatures, but TW said the legislation stalled after the October death of its initial sponsor, state Rep. Anthony DeLuca, a Democrat.
Among the children found dead after an alert, Nalani was one of a dozen who had been abducted, according to media reports about their cases. In 13 other cases, the child’s killer – usually a parent – lied to authorities about an abduction or disappearance, and the child was already dead when the alert was issued. In three cases, the child wandered off and was ruled to have accidentally drowned, and in one a 10-year-old Wisconsin girl walked away from her home. Her death was ruled a suicide.
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They should have held her to at least second degree.