WOODS CROSS — Parents who snatch children while embroiled in custody disputes obviously are different from people who grab children with the intent to harm them — even though children in both situations are considered missing.
And it's up to police to decide when to trigger the state's Amber Alert in these situations and every gray area in between.
On Sunday, during a test of the state's Amber Alert at the Woods Cross Police Department, it was announced that officers throughout Utah will get pocket-sized plastic cards that list four criteria that have to be met for an Amber Alert.
The criteria are posed as questions: Is the case a child abduction? Is the child age 17 or younger, or has a mental or physical disability? Is the child believed to face imminent danger, serious bodily injury or death? Is there information that could assist the public in the child's recovery or apprehension of a kidnapper?
The cards were developed after an Amber Alert was issued on Jan. 28, when a 5-year-old girl was taken by her father from her mother in Harrisville, Weber County.
The father was arrested hours later outside Rawlins, Wyo. But authorities released him after learning the girl's parents were not yet legally divorced. They said the father had just as much right as the mother to take his daughter wherever he wants.
Harrisville police were criticized for triggering the alert before dredging up the facts. During a review, Harrisville police said they did not know the exact requirements for the alert, and the cards were developed, said Dale Zabriskie, president of the Utah Broadcasters Association, which puts the Amber Alerts on air.
On Sunday, Jiffy Lube presented a check for $5,779, which will pay for printing and distribution of the cards statewide. The money was raised from April through July by customers who used specific coupons that earmarked one dollar of every oil change to the cause, said Scott Durett, director of operations of Lube Management, one of five Jiffy Lube franchises in Utah.
Sunday was the third test of the Amber Alert and the first to occur on a weekend when police, television and radio stations have smaller staffs. The test was successful, Amber Alert coordinators said, because the public started getting notified one minute and nine seconds after the alert was issued.
About 4,000 messages are transmitted to cell phones, pagers and e-mail when an Amber Alert is activated. People can sign up to receive Amber Alerts at www.bci.utah.gov.
In Utah, Amber Alerts are tested every May 25, National Missing Children's Day, and Sept. 19, the anniversary of the discovery of the body of Rachael Runyan, a toddler taken from her Sunset home 22 years ago. Utah's Amber Alert first was called the Rachael Alert, but was renamed to be in sync with Amber Alerts in other states.
Elaine Runyan-Simmons, Rachael's mother, helped start the alert and was at Sunday's testing. She has been involved in missing children causes for decades. It's tiring to continue fighting for missing kids, and heartbreaking to remember her daughter, she said.
"We continue to have to talk about it, live it, breathe it," Runyan-Simmons said, adding that probably no one knows more about it than she does.
E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com