CCSO release – On September 24, 2018 at about 7:15 am the Coos County Sheriff’s Office received a report of two minor children who had run away from their home in Bunker Hill. Two girls, one age 12 and one age 15, had left their home some time during the night. The girls left approximately 8 notes saying they were running away and did not want to be found. The children were entered into the National Crime Information Computer, which is a national database so that if contacted by police they were indicated as being runaways. Their families were put into contact with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The NCMEC was going to provide posters for distribution for the runaway children and have the information on their website. Parents, family friends, and multiple law enforcement agencies searched for the girls, following leads from the North Bend Bridge all the way to Linn and Lane counties. There was a report of the girls being seen in Winston and on camera but investigation proved these were not the same children. On the morning of September 26th, 2018 at 3:55 am a concerned citizen reported they may have seen the two girls walking southbound on Highway 101. A Deputy from the Coos County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area they were seen, and found both of the juveniles. The girls were released back into the custody of their parents. Both seemed clean and healthy. Neither would state where they had been, or where they planned on going. This investigation generated a lot of press interest, mostly due to social media. There were questions regarding the issuance of an Amber Alert. This incident did not meet the State of Oregon criteria for the issuance of an Amber Alert. The Oregon State Police (OSP) is the designated law enforcement agency which local law enforcement agencies contact to initiate and activate an AMBER Alert in our state based upon the following criteria: •Law enforcement officials have confirmed a child has been abducted; and •The child is 17 years or younger; and •Law enforcement officials believe that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death; and •There is adequate descriptive information available to believe that its dissemination to the public could help locate the child, suspect, and/or suspect’s vehicle; and •The child’s name and other critical data elements – including the child abduction (CA) and AMBER Alert (AA) flags must be entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system. As stated above, this incident did not meet these criteria.
