Archive for the ‘amber alert system’ tag
AL AMBER Alert: Geontae Glass
10.18.09: Kevin Towles Found Guilty. Read about it at The End of the Story
Original Post: September 26, 2008Last Updated: September 27, 2008View Sources
Yesterday the mother of 5-year-old Geontae Glass went into a convenience store and then reported that her car had been stolen with her son inside. Witnesses in the area had said they had seen a pickup truck drive up and a black male exit the pickup truck. He got into the mother’s vehicle and drive off. The driver of the pick up truck also drove off. The mother indicated to authorities that she had left her vehicle’s engine running when she went into the convenience store. 1
September 27, 2008
An Alabama Amber Alert that was issued yesterday has been canceled. The reported kidnapping was a hoax and police have arrested the mother and another male and have charged them with the death of the 5-year-old boy.
“…The body of Geontae Glass and the car that was reported stolen Monday morning were found Tuesday at a residence in Etowah County, Sheriff James Hayes said.
Shalinda Glass, 25, of Rainbow City, and Kevin Andre Towles, who is believed to own the house where the body was found, were being held, Hayes said…”2
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of death and it is not clear if the boy was already dead at the time of the reported abduction.
It is so hard to keep believing parents when they report a missing child when stories turn out this way. It is such an abuse of the Amber Alert system and law enforcement resources when parents use those resources to cover up a crime.
Atlanta Journal Constitution.com
- Car Left Running Stolen with Child Inside, WSMV.com, Last Accessed: September 26, 2008. [↩]
- AJC.com [↩]
PA Amber Alert – Nyia Page
09.21.09: William Page's trial is set to begin on 10.13.09. Read about it at The End of the Story
An Amber Alert was issued today by the Pennsylvania State Police for Nyia Page.
Nyia Page was last seen according to her parents at approximately 12:30 a.m. this morning when they put her to bed. They went to her room at 7:30 a.m. and discovered her bed empty and Nyia no where to be found. Nya’s bedroom is located on the second floor of the home and there were several adults in the home that evening including the parents. Police say they are being questioned.
I don’t understand why the Amber Alert was issued in this case. There is no suspect information and there is no vehicle description. I certainly do feel for the parents of this missing child, but in my opinion this is an abuse of the Amber Alert system.
The update to the Amber Alert states that she may be wrapped in a large blue electric blanket. Call me crazy but if this child simply walked away from the house I doubt she is walking around wrapped in a large electric blanket. The police are searching the immediate area with the assumption that is exactly what she did – wandered away sometime during the night.
It is cold and the ground is snow-covered in the area where Nyia disappeared. I hope she is safe and the truth is that she did somehow get out of the house and wander away sometime during the night.
Anyone seeing Nyia or knowing information about her disappearance is asked to immediately call 9-1-1.
- Victim: Nyia Miangel Page
- Nyia is 23-month-old Black female with black hair brown eyes. She is 2 feet tall and weighs 30lbs. Nyia has large scars on each earlobe. When last seen Nyia was wearing a maroon sweater with blue and yellow stripes, a disposable diapers, and might be wrapped in a lite blue electric blanket.
- Suspect: None at this time
- Suspect Description: None
- Suspect Vehicle: None at this time
- Suspect Vehicle Description: None
- February 3, 2007 – 6:30 p.m. PST
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From timesleader.com:
“…Another child found that Nyia Miangel Page was not in her bed at about 7:30 a.m. and alerted other family members, who called police after a search, authorities said…”
I wrote previously that the parents discovered Nyia missing when they went to wake her up in the morning. Additionally, Nyia was put back into bed when according to her mother she tried to climb into bed with the parents at about 12:30 a.m.
Some searchers were sent to a landfill in Monroeville this afternoon after police learned refuse collectors serviced the area this morning. There is no indication that the searchers found anything at the landfill.
Police have searched the family home. At this point they are still questioning the residents of the home and they are not naming anyone as a suspect in Nyia’s disappearance. Some news stories report the missing girl’s first name as Nya, however the NCMEC is reporting her first name as Nyia.
- February 4, 2007 7:30 p.m. PST
- Various news sources are reporting that searchers have found the body of Nyia Page in a wooded area in Rankin. Apparently the area of the discovery is just blocks away from the family home on 1st Street.
Earlier in the investigation police brought 3 adult males in for questioning. The males were at home at the time of Nya’s disappearance. The males included Nya’s father, a boyfriend of the grandmother and a 19-year-old cousin. All three were givin lie detector tests but the results were not released.
Since the discovery of the body Nya’s father has been taken back to police headquarters for further questioning and another polygraph exam. Police are also questioning Registered Sex Offenders living in the area of Braddock and North Braddock.
I will keep posting updates on this tragic outcome as they come available. - February 5, 2007 1:30 p.m. PST
- The Allegheny County Medical Examiner has completed his autopsy of Nyia Page and has ruled her death as a homicide. The cause of death is hypothermia and exposure. I am a bit confused how this death can be ruled a homicide if she died from hypothermia and exposure given the chance that she may have wandered out of the house as was initially thought. Of course I don’t believe it for a moment that she did wander out of the house.
The only other thing I can think at this point is that the baby had been beaten or assaulted in someway and whomever did it thought the child was dead and placed her in the wooded area. She was still alive and could have survived the injuries if she had been attended to by medical personnel. Instead, she was left to basically freeze to death. These are just my thoughts regarding what may have transpired in the house on 1st Street in Braddock.
Police are still conducting their investigation and no arrests have been made.
- February 6, 2008
Nyia’s father, twenty-three-year-old William Page, was charged today with Sexual Assault of a Minor, Indecent Assault, Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and Corruption of a Minor. None of the charges are related to Nyia.
Twenty-three-month-old Nyia was discovered in an abandoned playground a few blocks from her home late yesterday afternoon after a search for her started on Saturday morning. The coroner has ruled her death a homicide and has ruled she died from hypothermia and exposure. When found she was wearing the sweater she was reportedly last seen wearing and nothing else.
All three men living in the home have been given polygraph examinations, however the results of those tests have not been released to the public. When asked why only the men were given the exams a representative from law enforcement explained that crimes against children of this age are usually committed by males.
William Page was taken late last night to Allegheny Police Headquarters where he was booked for the murder of his 23-month-old daughter. His arraignment will be held sometime during the night.
Nyia was the focus of an extensive search over 1 1/2 days after she was reported missing from her bed early Saturday morning. An Amber Alert was activated for the child after local police searched her home.
During the course of the investigation Mr. Page was taken into custody on sexual misconduct charges related to another child.
Mr. Page is charged with criminal homicide, filing a false police report, kidnapping and simple assault.
A few days ago Nyia’s mother was quoted in the news as hoping the police would find the ‘monster’ who killed her baby.
During the course of the investigation Nyia’s mother told police she had last seen her daughter at 12:30 a.m. when she put her back to bed after she tried to crawl in bed with her parents.
It appears that Nyia’s mother need not have looked too far to find her daughter’s killer as it appears she was sleeping in the same bed with him.
Police believe that Mr. Page took his daughter into the freezing cold and left her there still alive. When Nyia was recovered she was wearing only a sweater.
Someone emailed me an update to the story of the murder of Nyia Page. Her father is currently charged with her murder. During the process of the investigation into Nyia’s disappearance it was learned that William Lorenzo Page had sexually molested another child. When investigators were apprised of that information they were still in the process of searching for Nyia. At that point they placed William Page under arrest for charges stemming from that information.
After Nyia’s body was discovered in a wooded area a few blocks from her home her father was charged with her murder.
William Lorenzo Page appeared before the judge to face the charges against him regarding Nyia’s death. When he arrived in court he found new charges had been added to the murder charge. These new charges stem from statements made to police by William Lorenzo Page during questioning about what happened to his daughter. The new charges are indecent assault and aggravated assault.
From www.thepittsburghchannel.com:
“…The only witness to take the stand during Page’s preliminary hearing was Allegheny County Detective Robert Opferman, who told the court of a detailed confession given by Page in the days after Nyia was left outside in 7-degree temperatures.According to Opferman, Page admitted he awoke at 3 a.m. on Feb. 3 and went to the basement to drink a brandy. The detective said Page confessed that Nyia came downstairs without her diaper on and he became so frustrated that he kicked her between the legs.Then, according to Opferman, to stop the bleeding, Page admitted he penetrated the toddler with his fingers then wrapped Nyia in a blanket and took her outside. Opferman said Page considered dropping Nyia into a sewer before taking her to the woods behind Hawkins Village.According to Opferman, Page confessed that Nyia cried for 10 minutes before he left her there and went back to his Braddock home and back to bed…”
Mr. Page is lucky I will not be on his jury. There is not one thing in that statement that would lead me to believe he did not sexually assault that child. I don’t buy for one minute that he kicked her between the legs. I wonder if the information about the sexual assault of the other child on that same night will be allowed into testimony. It seems that Mr. Page was on some sort of sexual rampage and the target was children.
Poor Nyia. This piece of trash decided it was better to try and hide the sexual assault by abandoning her in the freezing cold, crying, most likely begging her Daddy to protect her from the elements. Instead he left her to freeze to death while he went home, cleaned up the blood, and crawled back into his warm bed with the mother of his child.
More updates to this case will be covered in my other blog – The End of the Story. That blog is devoted to covering the trials.
According to Alleghany County court records this morning William Lorenzo Page’s non-jury trial has been continued until October 13, 2009. His case is scheduled to be heard by Judge David R. Cashman. I won’t hold my breath on this court date because Page’s non-jury trial date has been continued 4 times previously.
Frozen Toddler’s Father in Court on Homicide Charge, The Pittsburgh Channel, October 12, 2008.
Amber Alert Awareness Day
Today is Amber Alert Awareness Day. The Amber Alert System is named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996. You can read about her story here and how the Amber Alert System was borne out of her kidnapping and murder.
The Amber Alert System has been implemented nationwide and has aided to date in the recovery of 241 abducted children. Read the rest of this entry »
