Latest news with #Emily'sLaw
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Miami Herald
Turquoise Alert Issued For 6-Year-Old Girl in Arizona
A Turquoise Alert has been issued for a 6-year-old girl who was last seen in Arizona with her mother, who does not have custody of her. The Arizona Department of Public Safety said that mother Sarah Coultas is alleged to have fled from Hawaii with her daughter Violet, in violation of a court order. A Turquoise Alert is a public notification system in Arizona designed to help locate missing endangered individuals under the age of 65 under suspicious or unexplained circumstances. The alert was created after the passage of Emily's Law in May 2025, named in memory of Emily Pike, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, who was found dead in February. Her case highlighted the need for an alert system for those who fall outside of the criteria for an Amber Alert. This is the first time the Arizona Department of Public Safety has issued a Turquoise Alert after the system was established in May. Police are seeking to track down Violet Coultas and return her to safety after she was sighted with her noncustodial mother. According to the Turquoise Alert, Violet Coultas was last seen with her mother on video surveillance at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on July 12 at around 10 p.m. The child was last seen wearing a white shirt, pink jacket, pink sweater, light-colored shorts, and white shoes. She is 3 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 43 pounds, and has blonde hair and hazel eyes. Any sightings or information is requested to be reported to 911. Any leads or historic tips can be directed to the Hawaii Police Department. The Hawaii Police Department said in a statement that Coltas was wanted for questioning in connection with a custodial interference investigation before she disappeared with the child. The mother most recently lived in Pa'auilo and worked in Hilo on the island, they said. She is described as being 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, and having straight brown hair and hazel eyes. The pair were spotted together on July 6 at the top of Miloli'i Road in South Kona, Hawaii, before next being seen at an Arizona airport the following week. The Arizona Department of Public Safety said in a statement: "Sarah Coultas is alleged to have fled Hawaii with Violet in violation of a court order." Authorities in both Arizona and Hawaii are working to locate Violet and ensure her safe return. 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Newsweek
6 days ago
- Newsweek
Turquoise Alert Issued For 6-Year-Old Girl in Arizona
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A Turquoise Alert has been issued for a 6-year-old girl who was last seen in Arizona with her mother, who does not have custody of her. The Arizona Department of Public Safety said that mother Sarah Coultas is alleged to have fled from Hawaii with her daughter Violet, in violation of a court order. What Is A Turquoise Alert? A Turquoise Alert is a public notification system in Arizona designed to help locate missing endangered individuals under the age of 65 under suspicious or unexplained circumstances. The alert was created after the passage of Emily's Law in May 2025, named in memory of Emily Pike, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, who was found dead in February. Her case highlighted the need for an alert system for those who fall outside of the criteria for an Amber Alert. Why It Matters This is the first time the Arizona Department of Public Safety has issued a Turquoise Alert after the system was established in May. Police are seeking to track down Violet Coultas and return her to safety after she was sighted with her noncustodial mother. What To Know According to the Turquoise Alert, Violet Coultas was last seen with her mother on video surveillance at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on July 12 at around 10 p.m. Terminal 3 of Phoenix Sky Harbor airport in Arizona pictured on April 8, 2019. The airport was the last place that Sarah and Violet Coultas were sighted. Terminal 3 of Phoenix Sky Harbor airport in Arizona pictured on April 8, 2019. The airport was the last place that Sarah and Violet Coultas were sighted. Getty Images The child was last seen wearing a white shirt, pink jacket, pink sweater, light-colored shorts, and white shoes. She is 3 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 43 pounds, and has blonde hair and hazel eyes. Any sightings or information is requested to be reported to 911. Any leads or historic tips can be directed to the Hawaii Police Department. The Hawaii Police Department said in a statement that Coltas was wanted for questioning in connection with a custodial interference investigation before she disappeared with the child. The mother most recently lived in Pa'auilo and worked in Hilo on the island, they said. She is described as being 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, and having straight brown hair and hazel eyes. The pair were spotted together on July 6 at the top of Miloli'i Road in South Kona, Hawaii, before next being seen at an Arizona airport the following week. What People Are Saying The Arizona Department of Public Safety said in a statement: "Sarah Coultas is alleged to have fled Hawaii with Violet in violation of a court order." What Happens Next Authorities in both Arizona and Hawaii are working to locate Violet and ensure her safe return.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Turquoise alert issued in Arizona to trace mother who fled with her 6-year-old girl from Hawaii
A statewide Turquoise Alert has been issued on Wednesday, July 23, in Arizona for 6-year-old Violet Coultas, a missing girl from Hawaii who was last seen at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport on July 12, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Authorities say Violet was accompanied by her mother, Sarah Coultas, who does not have legal custody of the child and is wanted for violating a court order. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Data Science CXO Product Management Technology Project Management Data Science MCA Digital Marketing Cybersecurity Others MBA healthcare Finance Leadership Healthcare Management Data Analytics Public Policy others Artificial Intelligence Operations Management Design Thinking Degree PGDM Skills you'll gain: Data Analysis & Interpretation Programming Proficiency Problem-Solving Skills Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence Duration: 24 Months Vellore Institute of Technology VIT MSc in Data Science Starts on Aug 14, 2024 Get Details Skills you'll gain: Strategic Data-Analysis, including Data Mining & Preparation Predictive Modeling & Advanced Clustering Techniques Machine Learning Concepts & Regression Analysis Cutting-edge applications of AI, like NLP & Generative AI Duration: 8 Months IIM Kozhikode Professional Certificate in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Starts on Jun 26, 2024 Get Details Surveillance footage shows Violet at Sky Harbor around 10 p.m. MST on July 12 with her mother. The Hawai'i Island Police had reported both Violet and Sarah missing on July 19, after the two were last seen together earlier on July 6 in South Kona, Hawaii. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 20 Pieces of Clothing Older Women should Avoid Learn More Undo Sarah Coultas, 48, is now the subject of an arrest warrant. She previously lived in Pa'auilo, worked in Hilo, and may frequent the Kona and Ka'ū areas. Officials believe the pair may still be in Arizona, and possibly using a silver 2005 or 2006 Toyota Corolla with a faded hood. The license plate number remains unknown. Live Events Description of missing child and suspect Violet is described as a white female, 3 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 43 pounds, with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing a white shirt, pink jacket, pink sweater, light-colored shorts, and white shoes. Sarah Coultas is described as Caucasian, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 160 pounds, with straight brown hair and hazel eyes. What is a Turquoise alert? Arizona's Turquoise Alert system was created under Emily's Law, passed in May 2025 after the death of Emily Pike, a missing San Carlos Apache teen. The law was designed to address gaps in alert systems for missing persons under 65, particularly at-risk individuals and tribal members. Turquoise Alerts are issued when a person under 65 goes missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, and authorities believe they may be in danger or accompanied by someone dangerous. This is the first statewide Turquoise Alert issued since the system was established. How is a Turquoise Alert different from an Amber Alert? A Turquoise Alert differs from an Amber Alert primarily in who it aims to help and the circumstances involved. While Amber Alerts are issued only for children under 18 who are believed to have been abducted and are in immediate danger, Turquoise Alerts apply to missing and endangered people under the age of 65, including tribal members, who have disappeared under suspicious or unexplained circumstances. Importantly, Turquoise Alerts do not require proof of abduction, only that the individual may be in danger or accompanied by someone potentially harmful.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hobbs signs Turquoise Alert bill, named in honor of slain teen Emily Pike
Allred Pike, Jr., wore a red shirt with the image of Emily Pike emblazoned on its front. He spoke about his 14-year-old niece and how her brutal murder shook Indian Country and the state. He had come to the Arizona Capitol May 21 to watch Gov. Katie Hobbs sign a measure that will establish "Turquoise Alerts" for missing Indigenous people. It's known as "Emily's Law," named in honor of slain San Carlos Apache teen Emily Pike. "I'm conflicted," Pike said. "This bill is named after my niece, my niece who's not here no more." He said the event and the name of the law reminded all that Emily is gone. He joined other members of the Pike family, tribal and state leaders and members of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Task Force for the bill signing. "It's a good thing that an alert system is here for all of Indian Country," Pike said. "But the hard part is it's named after my brother's and Steff's daughter, and she's not here no more." Steff Dosela was Emily Pike's mother, and Jensen Pike was her father. Dosela stood with Pike at the event but didn't speak. Jensen Pike is serving time in an Arizona prison for arson and criminal damage. "While this bill was being considered in the state Legislature, we learned of the senseless murder of this beautiful, 14-year-old Emily, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe," Hobbs said. "No parent, no tribal community should lose their child, their young member to violence." Emily Pike would have turned 15 last week, the governor said. "She should have celebrated with friends and family." While the law won't bring Emily back, Hobbs said she and others hope the Turquoise Alert will prevent other such losses. The alert, which Hobbs said would be implemented later this year, will issue missing person alerts for Native people up to age 65 after a law enforcement agency determines the person is missing. Hobbs also announced that the state would add $25,000 from the Department of Public Safety anti-racketeering fund to two other rewards of $75,000 each offered by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and the FBI for information on Emily's case. DPS Director Jeffrey Glover said the last time DPS offered a reward was during the Freeway Shooter case in 2015. San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler said Emily Pike had fallen through the cracks. The teenager ran away from a Mesa group home in late January. Her body was found dismembered on a trail off U.S. Highway 60 near Globe, almost 100 miles away, on Feb. 14. "We need to change the term 'runaway' to the description 'missing,'" he said. "That heightens the response of everybody." Labeling a person as a runaway, Rambler said, gives them several days or weeks in the hopes that they will return instead of immediately searching for them. An investigation by The Arizona Republic revealed a raft of miscommunications, overlapping jurisdictions and policies on how runaway youth are reported. Missing children: How the death of an 11-year-old Navajo girl helped expand Amber Alerts to tribal lands State Reps. Teresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande, and Walt Blackman, R-Snowflake, spoke at the Capitol May 20, a day before Hobbs's signing ceremony. Martinez was lead sponsor on the Turquoise Alert bill, which lawmakers passed unanimously. She said the bill was the result of a bipartisan effort. State Sen. Theresa Hatathlie, D-Tuba City, and fellow Democratic Reps. Mae Peshlakai, Myron Tsosie and Brian Garcia co-sponsored the bill establishing the Turquoise Alert. "When we ran the bill in January, we did not know that Emily was missing," Martinez said. "Think about that. A little girl goes missing, and no Amber Alert was issued." When Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis testified for the bill in January, legislators didn't know the girl was missing. "By the time the bill made it over to the Senate, we had realized that she had been missing for a month," Martinez said. "It horrifies me to think of a mother, a father out there not even knowing that their little girl is missing." Much work is needed to protect women and children of the state of Arizona, she said. "No one should be forgotten." Lewis, named for his uncle who went missing more than 60 years ago, said the bill's fast passage and unanimous support reflect the serious need for such services. "These, issues of safety, life and death of our very relatives are not partisan," he said. Lewis also thanked Martinez and other legislators for helping address the long-standing missing and murdered Indigenous person crisis. Arizona joins at least five other states that have adopted similar alerts to rapidly publicize missing Indigenous persons. Hatathlie called for further discussions on the "missing links" with an eye to amending laws to cover kids beyond those who are wards of the court or under Department of Child Safety oversight. "We want to have those agreements so we're there when our vulnerable community members need us and stepping up the resources that we have for our children," she said. She agreed with Rambler that Emily Pike fell through the cracks of many systemic barriers. "That's where we need to have that conversation, so that we are not talking, having this similar conversation years down the road regarding our children," Hatathlie said. Children in distress: Tribes seek foster care for kids in need, but strained resources lead some to group homes The legislators' call for more cooperation came on the heels of an annual surge in FBI agents and forensic resources to Indian Country. In April, the U.S. Justice Department initiated the third year of a multi-year initiative to address the MMIWP crisis. The FBI will rotate 60 people to field offices in 10 cities, including Phoenix and Albuquerque, for 90-day temporary duty assignments over six months. The operation also supports Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal law enforcement agencies with the latest forensic evidence processing technology and analytical expertise to tackle hard MMIWP cases. Several people at the ceremony asked what would happen once this year's surge is done. Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty talked about the need for significant changes to the Major Crimes Act, which gives federal courts and law enforcement jurisdiction over felony crimes like murder committed against a Native person by another Native person on tribal lands. She said such changes could help return tribes the right to pursue justice in their own courts instead of waiting to see if the federal government will step in to investigate or to prosecute the cases. Jurisdictional issues like a non-Indian committing a major crime against a Native person and how far tribal courts can go to prosecute offenders have muddied the justice waters for decades. Crotty said that, absent making long-requested revisions to the law that took tribal prosecutorial rights away, tribes want to know how many cases the FBI is taking on. "How many cases are they declining?" she asked. "How many of those cases they are communicating and are they respecting our tribal law enforcement instead of segregating (cases) and making decisions without this kind of input?" But big questions about how to better serve justice in Indian Country and breaking down law enforcement silos wouldn't be answered this day. Instead, tribal and state law enforcement officials and leaders said they would continue working on intrastate communications and collaborations to help fill in the gaps that allowed Emily Pike to end up murdered on the side of the highway. Allred Pike thanked legislators and tribal leaders for sponsoring and passing the law and help save lives for other missing and murdered Indigenous women and people. "We thank you for keeping the memory of my niece alive," he said. "She was our daughter, our niece, our granddaughter, our cousin, our friend, and we're here to tell you that she mattered; her life mattered," Allred Pike said. The family understands that despite how hard it was to be in the spotlight, they must move forward, he said. "Emily's law is a step in the right direction." Arizona Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger contributed to this story. Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @debkrol and on Bluesky at @ This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hobbs signs Turquoise Alert bill named in honor of Emily Pike
Axios
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Capitol Roundup: Hobbs close to breaking her veto record
The Legislature took the week off to work on the budget, but Gov. Katie Hobbs' signing pen and veto stamp still got a workout. The intrigue: Hobbs is closing in on Arizona's single-session veto record, which she set in 2023 with 143 bills. This year, she's vetoed 137, 48 this week. Among this week's vetos: 🌎 Add a geography requirement for students to graduate from high school, including "instruction on the Gulf of America" after President Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico this year. 🏨 Mandate that hotels post signs to inform guests if they house people experiencing homelessness. 🏥 Force hospitals to ask patients about their immigration status and citizenship. ⚧ Bar transgender students from using school bathrooms or changing rooms that don't align with their biological sex. Hobbs also vetoed bills prohibiting school employees from using students' preferred pronouns without their parents' permission and making health care professionals legally liable for the cost of reversing transition procedures. 🚫 Prohibit municipalities, counties, universities and community colleges from having diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. Hobbs also signed plenty of legislation this week, including bills to: 🚨 Create missing persons' alerts for Native Americans in response to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis. The measure is known as Emily's Law, named after Emily Pike, a 14-year-old San Carlos Apache girl found murdered in February after leaving a Mesa group home the month before. 💻 Require pornography websites to verify users are at least 18. Parents whose minor children access websites and people whose identifying information is retained or transmitted by an entity that performs age verification can seek civil penalties in court. 🔌 Allow utilities to transfer debt to lower-interest bonds, giving them more flexibility in financing power plants.
