AMBER ALERT NC - Arianna Deslatte, 11, originally listed as a runaway from the Old Fort / Black Mountain area but now has an Amber Alert, 12 May 2025

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BlkMtnGirl

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Eleven year old Arianna Deslatte was last seen on May 12, 2025 at around 8pm on Dalton Lane in Old Fort, NC. She is 5 feet tall and about 122 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair with teal highlights. She was last seen wearing gray leggings and a silver ring on her index finger.

1747177233517.webp


Originally listed as a runaway, there is now an Amber Alert for Arianna.

www.facebook.com

The Valley Echo

An Amber Alert has been issued for 11-year-old Arianna Deslatte, who was last seen near Dalton Lane in High Rock Acres. The McDowell County Sheriff’s Office is attempting to locate the child,...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

wlos.com

Missing 11-year-old girl last seen in Old Fort, deputies say

McDowell County authorities are searching for an 11-year-old runaway last seen on Monday night.
wlos.com wlos.com
 
This is local to me. The area Arianna is missing from is waaaayyyy far out up in the mountains. I saw on FB yesterday that she was a runaway. But this afternoon I received an Amber Alert. I imagine (I'm only guessing) that there's almost no way she walked out of the area without being noticed contributed to the Amber Alert. It seems someone would have had to pick her up, which is scary. There is no public chatter from friends or family on Facebook, so I assume they have good reason to believe she ran away. But she's only eleven. I hope she is safe and was not lured!
 
swanniee11 said:
"The valley Echo" is the only AA I've seen, the rest are saying run away. I checked the AA website and can't find it there either. Not sure but either way, she needs to come home safely.
Click to expand...
Yes, I meant to add that we got the Amber Alert on our phones around 5pm today. I did see it isn't on the AA site yet. It is weird that they wouldn't update the AA site immediately.
 
Does an Amber Alert require certain pieces of information like a vehicle and some identification of such, rather than just a runaway?

ETA: Apparently not in North Carolina. Not clear why the Amber Alert exists in NC. Its just any random missing person.

Its unclear how they determined she is not a runaway. I would like to know how they did so and what are the consequences if that is found to be false.

There alerts are getting abused and overused, IMO.

NC Amber Alert criteria
The AMBER Alert System shall make every effort to disseminate information on missing children as quickly as possible when the following criteria are met:
  • The child is 17 years of age or younger;
  • The abduction is not known or suspected to be by a parent of the child, unless the child’s life is suspected to be in danger of injury or death;
  • The child is believed:
    • To have been abducted, or
    • To be in danger of injury or death;
  • The child is not a runaway or voluntarily missing; and
  • The abduction has been reported to and investigated by a law enforcement agency.
source:

Amber Alerts - NC Center for Missing Persons

nccmp.ncdps.gov nccmp.ncdps.gov
 
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It is still not showing up as an Amber Alert. NC Center for Missing Persons is showing it as a "Missing Endangered" Alert. The alert says that she is believed to be suffering from a cognitive impairment.


NORTH CAROLINA MISSING ENDANGERED ALERT ANNOUNCEMENT​



RALEIGH 5/13/2025 9:01 PM -- The N.C. Center for Missing Persons has issued a Missing Endangered Alert.

Citizens are asked to be on the lookout for Arianna Deslatte, who is believed to be suffering from a cognitive impairment.

Anyone with information about Arianna Deslatte should call Jason Grindstaff at the McDowell County Sheriff's Office at (828) 652-4000.

Name:
Deslatte
Arianna



(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
(Nickname)
Gender: Female
Age: 11
Race: White
Height: 5' 0''
Weight: 122 pounds
Hair Color: Brown/Teal Hair
Hair Length: Medium
Eye Color: Blue
Other Distinguishing Physical Characteristics: teal highlights in her hair
Clothing Description: Dark Clothing
Reporting Law Enforcement Agency: McDowell County Sheriff's Office
Contact Information: Jason Grindstaff at (828) 652-4000
Location of Incident: Dalton Ln Black Mountain NC , Unknown mode of travel
Location Last Seen:
Dalton Ln Black Mountain NC
Direction of Travel:
Unknown direction of travel
Possible Destination:
Unknown Destination

Missing Endangered Alert Notification System​

To help protect an increasing population of individuals that suffer from a cognitive impairment North Carolina developed the Missing Endangered Alert to quickly locate missing persons who may be endangered.

The Missing Endangered Alert was designed to quickly disseminate descriptive information about the missing person, so that citizens in the affected area can be on the lookout for the endangered person and notify local law enforcement with any relevant information.

The program is a cooperative effort among local and state law enforcement and the N.C. Center for Missing Persons, with voluntary participation by radio and television broadcasters and the N.C. Department of Transportation.

The North Carolina General Assembly formally established the program in 2007 by General Statute § 143B-1022; it is operated through the N.C. Center for Missing Persons.
 
https://www.facebook.com/mcdowellsheriff/posts/pfbid02zQipfxuX2wgXBKdiAeUciMwsU8fnPCesSRSPDQjoc3jrhtiR2EJUmthQFFKriDiil

***UPDATE: CREWS ARE CONTINUING THEIR SEARCH TO LOCATE 11-YEAR-OLD ARIANNA DESLATTE. WE ASK THE PUBLIC TO CONTINUE TO SHARE ANY INFORMATION YOU MAY HAVE BY CALLING DETECTIVE MICHAEL VAUGHN AT (828) 652-2235, EXT. 1249, MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY FROM 8:30 A.M. TO 5 P.M. YOU CAN ALSO CALL NON-EMERGENCY DISPATCH AT (828) 652-4000 AFTER OFFICE HOURS AND ON WEEKENDS, OR SUBMIT AN ANONYMOUS TIP THROUGH THE MCSO APP, AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD ON BOTH THE APPLE APP STORE AND GOOGLE PLAY.
 
jillolantern said:
Does an Amber Alert require certain pieces of information like a vehicle and some identification of such, rather than just a runaway?

ETA: Apparently not in North Carolina. Not clear why the Amber Alert exists in NC. Its just any random missing person.

Its unclear how they determined she is not a runaway. I would like to know how they did so and what are the consequences if that is found to be false.

There alerts are getting abused and overused, IMO.

NC Amber Alert criteria
The AMBER Alert System shall make every effort to disseminate information on missing children as quickly as possible when the following criteria are met:
  • The child is 17 years of age or younger;
  • The abduction is not known or suspected to be by a parent of the child, unless the child’s life is suspected to be in danger of injury or death;
  • The child is believed:
    • To have been abducted, or
    • To be in danger of injury or death;
  • The child is not a runaway or voluntarily missing; and
  • The abduction has been reported to and investigated by a law enforcement agency.
source:

Amber Alerts - NC Center for Missing Persons

nccmp.ncdps.gov nccmp.ncdps.gov
Click to expand...
[Edited to remove info on search parties. I can't find a source for that and may have mis-read something.]

I mean no disrespect to you, but I strongly disagree with you on the purpose of Amber Alerts. Young children are not "just runaways." They are vulnerable and there are lots of things that can go wrong. In my opinion, Arianna is very much in danger in this situation. I didn't start a thread until I got the Amber Alert because in principle, I agree with you to a point, @jillolantern.

I checked my alerts, and an Amber Alert was issued in my area at 5:11pm on 5/13, over 20 hours after she went missing. The Amber Alert is not overused in NC in my opinion. We're not a large metropolitan area with large numbers of runaways, especially here in the mountains. There's not much to run to here so we don't get many. This is an eleven year old child. Maybe I'm overly sensitive because my grandson is around that age. They think they are adults. My gs lost allowance money to an online scammer recently because of his naivety. The probability of Arianna walking to civilization by herself without being seen is very low. It's not like you can creep through the underbrush at the side of the road from there.... the roads are carved into the mountainside. They may have found electronic evidence to support her being picked up. And if she was picked up, that person would be at least five years older than Arianna. If she's in the woods, she's probably lost by now. :-( I believe that's why they are forming search parties.

I personally believe the line in the Amber Alert "the child is not a runaway or voluntarily missing" should be removed. A toddler can voluntarily leave with someone who isn't authorized.
 
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Being local, I did a deep dive into social media and such. I just wanted to explain the jewelry Arianna is wearing. The photo appears to have been taken at a local festival over the weekend, so is probably the most recent photo. (All my educated guess.) The festival includes a lot of camping and showcases global art, music and culture. It is possible she met someone over the weekend. :-(
 
So they have requested a call out for more searchers ,is there information about that request?
This is 134. miles approx from where Robert Wood was was found after 8 days in VA woods.
1200 People helped search the area.
 
BlkMtnGirl said:
I personally believe the line in the Amber Alert "the child is not a runaway or voluntarily missing" should be removed. A toddler can voluntarily leave with someone who isn't authorized.
Click to expand...
Legally ,that is abduction. Toddlers dont get to decided this. Even if they do it.

Also ,I just checked and LOA is in the area.
I think maybe there helpful information of the landscape and the photographs and drone videos ,could help these investigators. Probably in a few cases. But definitly LE should look into seeing what LOA can help with.
Land of America LLC North Carolina – (304) 984-6343
 
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Soulmagent said:
Legally ,that is abduction. Toddlers dont get to decided this. Even if they do it.
Click to expand...
You're right. Neither do older children if they run away with someone older than them. I'm just glad local law enforcement is taking this seriously. Having been on this forum for many years, I'm not one to overreact, but this one gets to me.
 
Soulmagent said:
So they have requested a call out for more searchers ,is there information about that request?
This is 134. miles approx from where Robert Wood was was found after 8 days in VA woods.
1200 People helped search the area.
Click to expand...
I said they were forming search parties, but now I can't find that info. Sorry if that is not true! Here's where she went missing from. The destination on the map is Black Mountain, the closest town. You can see what I mean by nowhere to go on foot, or at least no way to get there without being seen. I do hope she will show up shortly. It's now been almost 36 hours.

1747222481668.webp
 
swanniee11 said:

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
Snipped:
***UPDATE: Runaway juvenile Arianna Deslatte has been safely located.
Click to expand...
Thank you for that news; I'm so very happy. I know we all get jaded with runaways, but it's so important in my opinion to treat it seriously.
 
sallye818 said:
@BlkMtnGirl -- so glad to see you back on the forum. How did you fare during Helene? I was thinking of you often.
Click to expand...
Awww, thanks! My daughter lost her home and everything in it. She escaped the flood with her cats and the clothes on her back. My hubby and I owned the house. Since we were considered "landlords," we are still paying a mortgage on a house that no longer exists. No flood insurance, and no $$ help because it wasn't our primary residence. But my daughter, her boyfriend, and the cats are alive and well. People have come together to help each other and that's what matters. I wish our story was unique. It's unfathomable how many people are much worse off. Thanks for asking.
 
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