AMBER Alert criteria

Body found believed to be of missing Everett boy

The body of missing 4-year-old Ariel Garcia is believed to have been found in Snohomish County, according to the Everett Police Department.

EVERETT, Wash. - A 4-year-old boy was reported missing out of Everett, last seen on Wednesday, March 27 at 7 a.m. However, many Washingtonians are wondering why a statewide alert wasn't issued until 35 hours after he was last seen, and why an AMBER Alert was never issued to begin with.

Everett Police initially said Ariel Garcia disappeared "under suspicious circumstances" after he left an apartment complex with a family member.

Washington State Patrol (WSP) issued an endangered missing alert person for him right at midnight, as the day turned into March 28. However, this type of alert isn't broadcast across the state-- it is posted on WSP social media platforms.

It was on Thursday, March 28 at 5:57 p.m. that the public received a statewide public safety alert for his disappearance.

However, the child's body was found two minutes before the alert went out.

It's unclear if it was a technology or human error as to why it went out so late and right after his body was found.

"Some people got it as an AMBER Alert, some got it as a missing person. It was just because of the coding of the technology, but it was never an AMBER Alert," said Chris Loftis with WSP.

What is an AMBER Alert

The AMBER Alert system was created in 1996 in Texas, when TV broadcasters and local police teamed up to create an early warning system to find abducted children.

The AMBER acronym stands for: America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. It was created to honor the legacy of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, and then brutally murdered. Other states and communities soon set up their own AMBER plans as the idea was adopted across the nation.

AMBER Alert criteria

1. The child is under eighteen (18) years of age, is known to be abducted, and is not a runaway or thrown away from home.

2. The abducted child is believed to be in danger of imminent death or serious bodily injury.

3. There must be enough descriptive information available to believe that an AMBER Alert activation will assist in the recovery of the child. Must include as much of the following information as possible:

Where the abduction took place
A specific physical description of the child [can include clothing worn when last seen; height; weight; age; hair and eye color; hair length; any additional distinguishing physical characteristics]
A physical description of the abductor [can include approximate height; weight; hair color/length; eye/skin color; clothing; any distinguishing physical characteristics]
Place last seen
Description of the vehicle [color, make, model, license number, approximate year (older, newer)

4. The incident must be reported to and investigated by a law enforcement agency and the child, suspect and vehicle information entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) if there is sufficient information available.

"All elements 1 through 4 should be satisfied, after considering all the facts and circumstances of the incident, for the incident to qualify as an AMBER Alert," according to an AMBER Alert flier in Washington.

Why was an AMBER Alert issued for Everett missing child?

An alert went out onto Washingtonians' phones about 36 hours after 4-year-old Ariel Garcia was reported missing.

Loftis said Garcia's disappearance didn't meet the strict criteria for an AMBER Alert: there was no suspect vehicle information or description (which is the biggest thing they look for), there was no information of a suspect or description of the abductor, and it was unclear where the abduction took place.

However, police said a "vehicle of interest" was located in Clark County. That vehicle was described as a blue 2013 Nissan Sentra SV and was mentioned in the endangered person post that went out around 1:40 p.m. on March 28.

FOX 13 is working to learn why that information was not used as an AMBER Alert.

A woman with the same first name, middle initial and last name as Garcia's mother was booked into Clark County Jail for making a false or misleading statement to a public statement.

His grandmother was granted emergency custody just a day before he was reported missing. She said in her court filing that his mother "has a long history of alcohol and substance abuse that has gotten worse in the last few months" and that "her behavior has become very violent and unpredictable," according to documents about the filing.