SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – After an early morning amber alert on Friday, missing one-year-old Javion Bluebird was found safe later that afternoon, followed by the cancelation of the amber alert.
People may have been woken up by phones alerting them about the amber alert notification send to smart phones.
The Sioux Falls Police Department (SFPD) says this is the first fully activated amber alert originating from Sioux Falls. Historically, there’s been minimal amber alerts in the entire state.
“That’s a good thing,” said Sam Clemens, SFPD spokesman, during a police briefing Friday morning.
“It’s not something that we activate really commonly,” said Bonnie Feller Hagen, state amber alert coordinator with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI).
Feller Hagen says Javion Bluebird is the 11th amber alert issued in South Dakota, and before that, the last amber alert was in 2022. She says the South Dakota Amber Alert system first started in 2003.
Amber alerts are one of the four types of wireless emergency alerts, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). A wireless emergency alert (WEA) is an urgent message sent directly to phones from an authorized agency, accompanied by a unique ringtone or vibration. Besides an amber alert, the other three WEA warnings could be a national alert, a public safety message, or an imminent threat- which is usually weather-related, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Feller Hagen says when a WEA alert is issued, cell towers in the affected areas will take the alert to all phones in its connection. This means that if someone is near a cell tower taking the alert, then they will receive the message, even if they don’t have a South Dakota area code.
When it comes to the DCI sending out amber alerts, Feller Hagen says the plan is always statewide — as was the case of Javion Bluebird.
“We haven’t really had a lot of pushback on that, and we just want to make sure everyone gets it,” said Feller Hagen.
Cell phone users will not be charged for WEA messages, and it will not disrupt texts or calls, says the city of Sioux Falls.
The FFC says cell phone users may choose to opt out of any WEA message, except for national alerts. iPhone, and Android and Samsung users can do so in the settings menu. However, the NWS recommends users to keep the alerts as the messages spread awareness that potentially save lives.
“If they want to take their phone and not receive public alerts, they have the right to do that,” said Feller Hagen. “Of course, we would discourage that because I think we’re very judicious in not issuing those, and we want people to get that information.”
According to Feller Hagen, there’s a wide variety of ways the state spreads its WEA alerts. The message can be sent through email, transformed into a highway sign along an interstate, spread through radio and broadcasting, printed as a ticket from a lottery machine, and more.
There’s a meaty process to activating an amber alert in South Dakota. According to the South Dakota Amber Alert website, there are four factors needed to issue an alert:
- a request from a law enforcement agency.
- credible evidence of an abduction of a child under 18 years old.
- evidence that the child is in danger of bodily harm or death.
- credible and useful eyewitnesses or other sources that assist in the safe recovery of the child and arrest of the suspect.
In the case of Javion Bluebird, SFPD said two women, one with a handgun, kidnapped the child from his grandmother’s home in Sioux Falls on Thursday around 9:30 p.m. An amber alert was issued around 3 a.m. the next day. Clemens sad that time delay “is not unusual” during his briefing.
After police found Javion Bluebird safe, police arrested two people for kidnapping and abuse or cruelty to a minor.
The investigation remains ongoing.
