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A Wisconsin family is struggling to come to terms with the death of their 5-year-old and the fact that authorities declined to issue an Amber Alert when he disappeared.
Prince McCree was found dead in a Milwaukee dumpster on Oct. 26, just one day after he disappeared from a multifamily home.
Now, as two people face charges in his death, Prince’s family and local advocates are questioning the Wisconsin Justice Department’s decision not to issue an Amber Alert. Some say the state’s guidelines for putting out the alerts, which are meant to help find missing endangered children, are too strict. State Sen. LaTonya Johnson and other critics have expressed concern that the rigid criteria for Amber Alerts may keep authorities from recovering missing children, especially in a country where Black children go missing often with little media attention and apparent police apathy.
Police sent out a “critically missing” alert to media outlets but not an Amber Alert, a Milwaukee police spokesperson said.
“We did consult with the Department of Justice; however, we did not meet the criteria for an amber alert,” the spokesperson said in an email. The state Justice Department denied the police request, the spokesperson said.
Some say the bar for issuing an Amber Alert is too high
Under the state’s Amber Alert program, missing children must be 17 or younger and in danger of serious bodily harm or death, and there must be enough “descriptive information about the child, the suspect, and/or the suspect vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help locate the child,” according to the Justice Department’s website.
Johnson said she believes the Justice Department may have denied the request because there was no suspect description or vehicle involved when Prince disappeared.
“This tragedy is just horrific and sad in all proportions,” said Johnson, who lives near the family. “His family, they are taking it extremely hard. They’re struggling.”…
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