Tacoma police release details on how toddler subject to AMBER Alert was found
Tacoma police released additional details Monday about the search that unfolded after a 2-year-old girl went missing Saturday, leading to her safe return hours later.
Authorities activated an AMBER Alert across the state a little over two hours after a woman called to report her daughter, Delilah Everett, couldn't be found in or around a residence in the 4200 block of South Prospect Street, according to a police news release Monday. The alert was canceled that afternoon. Police announced that Delilah had been returned to her family unharmed and they were questioning a man in custody, The News Tribune reported.
The Tacoma Police Department initially posted on Facebook that a man was suspected of taking the girl in his car after entering a fast-food restaurant at 4112 S. Steele St. at 9:10 a.m. Saturday.
A man who wrote that he is Everett's father posted a reply to the Police Department's post Saturday afternoon, saying that he is grateful for the man who took the girl and that the man saved his daughter. The father declined to comment when The News Tribune reached him via direct message Monday, saying he had already talked to several other news teams, but said he would inform The News Tribune if he has a statement in the future.
Here's how police found the toddler, according to the news release:
▪ 9:30 a.m: A call came in from a mother who said her child was missing from a residence in the 4200 block of South Prospect Street. An employee at a nearby business called to report that a man recently entered the business, saying he found the child alone outside and was looking for her parents. When the employee told him that police would be called to help, the man left with the child in his silver sedan.
Police began searching for the child and the man based on surveillance footage from the business. Officers checked nearby police stations and the Tacoma Mall, contacted local hospitals and Tacoma Fire stations and ran searches through Flock Safety systems and Automated License Plate Reader technology for the man's vehicle. The search was unsuccessful.
▪ 9:52 a.m.: Suspecting a child abduction, the police patrol shift commander activated the department's Child Abduction Response Team (CART), which includes criminal investigators and personnel from various agencies trained to 'quickly and effectively recover a child who has been abducted, or who is missing under suspicious circumstances by utilizing a team of trained personnel.'
▪ 10:30 a.m.: CART members began arriving on scene and were briefed on the situation as patrol officers continued the search.
▪ 11:42 a.m.: In the absence of new information about the child's location or why she was taken, the Washington State Patrol issued an AMBER Alert across the state notifying the public of the missing child. The alert said the girl was last seen walking on South Steele Street before a man drove away with her toward 38th Street, The News Tribune reported. 'Within minutes, dozens of calls came in from community members,' the news release said.
▪ 11:50 a.m.: A caller provided authorities with 'key identifying information' about the man seen with the missing child.
▪ 12:06 p.m.: Based on the caller's information, police located the man's address, where they found the missing child. Police took the man into custody and interviewed him at police headquarters. Police also interviewed the man's friends and family.
Police booked the man into the Pierce County Jail on an outstanding warrant and forwarded their investigation to prosecutors for a charging decision. The investigation is still active, and police might share further updates after a charging decision.
'The Tacoma Police Department would like to thank the community and our agency partners for their swift assistance during this incident,' the release says.
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