Incomplete Ohio Amber Alert for missing 5-year-old raises additional questions
For more recent developments in the Amber Alert for Darnell Taylor, follow this link.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Officials are investigating after some central Ohio phones did not receive a statewide Amber Alert for a missing 5-year-old boy, while others were sent an incomplete alert.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol told NBC4 it quickly realized there were issues with the Amber Alert sent at 5:10 a.m. on Wednesday for 5-year-old Darnell Taylor. The child was abducted from his south Columbus home by his legal guardian, 48-year-old Pammy Maye.
Columbus man used dating app to kidnap and rape woman, police say
The alert that managed to go through to some Columbus phones did not contain Taylor’s or Maye’s name or any car information. Still, OSHP said it was able to pivot to a backup plan after the vehicle used in the abduction was found near Cleveland.
“After issuing the initial central region alert, OSHP learned that that the car was in the Cleveland area and worked with its partner at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to issue an alert for the Cleveland region and successfully pushed it out via the wireless emergency alert system,” said Ohio Department of Safety Communications Director Bret Crow. “That alert properly went to all intended recipients.”
Crow said DPS is in the process of looking into why the system did not fully operate as intended for phones in Columbus.
Wednesday’s alert comes nearly one month after the Ohio Amber Alert Advisory Committee announced that emergency alerts are now capable of transmitting 360-character messages in Ohio. The messages could previously only contain 90 characters.
The alert was issued on Wednesday after Maye allegedly fled with Taylor from the family’s Columbus home in the 900 block of Reeb Avenue. The statewide notice said the abduction took place about 3:50 a.m., though Columbus police later said it happened shortly after 3 a.m.
Chief Elaine Bryant said Columbus police alerted the Ohio State Highway Patrol of Taylor’s disappearance at 3:18 a.m., then made the official Amber Alert request at 4:20 a.m. Fifty minutes later, the alert was issued.
Ohio officials also faced issues in getting an Amber Alert sent for Kason and Ky’air Thomas, five-month-old twins who were abducted in December of 2022 by 24-year-old Nalah Jackson. The twins’ mother had left them in a running car outside a Columbus pizza shop while she went to pick up an order.
Police said that Jackson was a homeless woman inside the store. She got into the car and drove off when the mother walked in and before officers got to the scene at 9:52 p.m. on Dec. 19.
Columbus police first notified OSHP about the twins’ abduction around 10:30 p.m. It then requested an Amber Alert at 11:45 p.m., then again at 12:05 a.m. The Amber Alert finally went out at 1:37 a.m. The delay stemmed from the stolen black 2010 Honda Accord’s lack of a license plate or vehicle identification number because it was newly purchased.
Family businesses combine to take over former Rag-O-Rama in Clintonville
While one baby was found the next day near Dayton International Airport, the other baby was found in the abandoned car in a restaurant parking lot in Indianapolis. Jackson pleaded guilty to two federal kidnapping charges during a Feb. 7 hearing, which calls for her to spend the next 20 years in prison and 5 years probation following her release.
The alert for Taylor remained active as of noon Thursday. People who have tips on an Amber Alert may do so by calling 877-AMBER-OH.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
