At 3:08 p.m. Friday, Mara Jean Cain, a 13-year-old resident of Logan Avenue left her residence en route to a friend’s home.
Police said she never arrived at her destination, which was just a block away.
Acting quickly, the Tyrone Borough Police Department initiated the Pennsylvania Amber Alert Plan, which is used to supply information about the missing person to a variety of law enforcement organizations and media outlets so the public can be informed in a clear, quick and accurate manner.
Mara Cain was later found to be safe and in good condition at another friend’s home, but the quick response by local officials showed the effectiveness of the program.
According to Tpr. David White of the Hollidaysburg-based state police, Pennsylvania’s Amber Alert system was adopted following an incident that occurred in Texas in 1996.
There, a little girl by the name of Amber Hagerman of Arlington was abducted while playing near her home.
It was then that Texas authorities decided to implement a plan that would share missing children information with both the public and law enforcement agencies in hopes that a kidnapping would be deterred early.
“Statistics show the first three hours of a kidnapping are vital,” said Tpr. White. “After that amount of time, there’s a good chance the abductee will be harmed. This system was implemented to curve that activity by informing the proper channels of the incident and providing vital information that may help locate the child.”
According to state police statistics, 44 percent of abducted children were murdered within the first hour of abduction; 74 percent died within the first three hours of abduction; and only one percent survived more than a day.
According to White, police have developed a criteria for issuing Amber Alerts. The child must be a non-family member, meaning if police receive a report that a child was taken during a domestic dispute between a father and mother, the system would not be activated.
Also, the child must be under the age of 16, or if the child is mentally or physically disabled the qualifying age is extended to 18.
Finally, police must believe the child is in jeopardy of serious bodily injury or death.
“Once we receive the information, we send everything we have to our main offices in Harrisburg,” said White. “If they determine the incident is of Amber Alert quality, they begin dispersing the information.”
Once media organizations, including radio and television, receive the information, it is broadcasted every 30 minutes for the first two hours then once each hour for the next three.
According to White, the incident in Tyrone over the weekend was the first time the Pennsylvania Amber Alert Plan was used in Blair County.
