Why wasn't an Amber Alert activated for Jakarah Lopez-Moore?
How does an Amber Alert decision get made? Why was one not sent in the disappearance of teen Jakarah Lopez-Moore, whose body was found last weekend in woods near 5 Vanguard Parkway in Rochester, an industrial area?
Christee Lopez, the mother of the missing child, said that when Jakarah disappeared after getting in someone's car in late August, they didn't know immediately. She lived with her grandmother, had a close relationship with her young mother and had extended aunts and cousins in the family. People thought she was staying over with a relative.
Once they found out the 16-year-old Rochester girl was missing and her phone was offline, they told police.
No alerts went out.
Lopez said they reported her daughter missing to Rochester Police two days after she left in the middle of the night Aug. 27.
Was Jakarah Lopez-Moore a runaway? Police wondered at first.
Police initially thought she was a runaway and weren't very helpful at first, the mother said. She said it took about a week before they sent out any alerts or anything to the media. No Amber Alert was triggered.
Later, police told family they were considering Jakarah to be in danger due to evidence that couldn't be shared with the media.
An Amber Alert can be activated when police have reason to believe that a child who is 17 or younger has been abducted, when officers believe the child is in imminent danger of serious harm or death and there's enough descriptive information about both the victim and the abduction, according to the U.S Department of Justice, which oversees the federal AMBER Alert program.
On Oct. 3 the Democrat and Chronicle reached out to Rochester Police Lt. Greg Bello on the case. Here is part of his emailed response:
"We are still actively investigating the disappearance of Jakarah. Due to the sensitive nature of the investigation, I’m not able to release specific details of the steps that our Investigators are or are not taking. Anyone with any information is encouraged to call 911. I’ve attached a couple of media releases that we’ve previously put out, with pictures of her."
At that point, police had the following information:
Jakarah had run away briefly from foster care when she was 12.
Family members saw her willingly, apparently, get into a car early the morning of her August 2023 disappearance.
Jakarah Lopez-Moore's phone found; crime suspected, no alert
In early October, a passerby found Jakarah's abandoned phone.
Her mother had been constantly posting on Facebook almost every day to spread the word and to give updates to family and friends.
“We were trying to wonder why an Amber Alert wasn’t listed or initiated before, but I guess it was too late probably," Lopez said.
Amber Alert an issue in Domonique Holley-Grisham case
USA TODAY’s review of standard operating procedures for law enforcement agencies across the nation was part of a 2022 examination of disparities in cases of missing children. Jakarah was Black.
Other stories have uncovered age cutoffs that allow police to avoid giving full attention to children as young as 10 and exposed AMBER Alert rules so stringent that most missing kids don’t get them.
If your missing child ran away, the police may not look for them
Because Domonique Holley-Grisham of Rochester left of his own accord Feb. 12, 2009, he was considered a runaway by the police in Rochester, New York, where he lived.
In 2021, 335,000 reports of missing children were sent to the FBI, down from 365,000 the year before. About 90% of them were found. By some estimates, 100,000 more each year are never reported to the FBI because they are found so quickly. Of those not located within six months, a disproportionate number are Black, like Domonique.
Note: The original version of this story had the wrong spelling for a name in a subheadline. It is Domonique Holley-Grisham.
Coverage of Jakarah Lopez-Moore disappearance, death
Oct. 17: Hunt for killer of Rochester teen underway: What we know now about her disappearance and death
Oct. 17: Family heartbroken after missing teen found dead in Rochester. Who was Jakarah Lopez-Moore?
Oct. 17: Counselors to be available this week at Edison Tech after missing teen found dead
Oct. 16: Missing 16-year-old Rochester girl found dead in woods; homicide investigation underway
USA TODAY contributed to this article.Madison Scott is a college journalist who is an intern with the Democrat and Chronicle. She has an interest in how the system helps or doesn't help families with missing loved ones. She can be reached at MDScott@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Why wasn't an Amber Alert activated in NY for Jakarah Lopez-Moore?
