Missing Milwaukee boy found dead; why wasn't there an Amber Alert?
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee police found the body of missing 5-year-old boy Prince McCree in a dumpster Thursday, Oct. 26, nearly 24 hours after he was last seen by his mother.
Since there's such that nearly 24-hour gap, some in the community asked: Why wasn't an Amber Alert issued?
Wisconsin has issued more than 50 Amber Alerts since the state started the program in 2003. The alerts pop up on phones, televisions, radios, highway electric signs and even at lottery kiosks. But there wasn't one for McCree as his family searched for him Wednesday night.
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"Even the entire night, when they were looking for Prince, his family never left that corner. They stayed out there through the rain," said State Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee), who lives five doors down from where the boy lived. "The family is struggling. It’s difficult for them."
Johnson said Milwaukee police police requested an Amber Alert, and MPD confirmed that to FOX6 News Friday. However, the state, which makes the determination based on local agency requests, decided against issuing this specific Amber Alert for McCree.
Scene where Prince McCrees body was found in a dumpster
"The thing that irritates me the most is our Amber Alert system. He was 5-years-old, and he didn’t meet the criteria to have an Amber Alert listed," Johnson said.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice would not talk about specifics of McCree's case. The state does require three criteria for using an Amber Alert:
- Child must be 17 years of age or younger
- Child must be in danger of serious bodily harm or death
- Police must have "descriptive information about the child, the suspect and/or the suspect vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help locate the child"
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"Because it’s an ongoing investigation, I can’t comment on the specific case regarding the Amber Alert," said DOJ's Joe Libowsky. "What I can say is in that case, we sent out a statewide endangered missing person report, and that was sent out through the Wisconsin Crime Alert Network.
Since the state isn't talking about the specific Amber Alert request and denial, it's unclear which of the Amber Alert criteria they decided McCree's case did not meet.
To change the criteria would require changing state law.
"It has to be fixed. We are not saying it needs a total overhaul, but it does need an overhaul when it comes to missing children, especially under a certain age," said Johnson. "Amber Alerts is for any child under 17, but obviously that criteria is too high if we couldn’t put out an Amber Alert for a 5-year-old missing child."
Johnson told FOX6 News that McCree attended Hawley Environmental School, which is in the Milwaukee Public Schools district. FOX6 News asked MPS what steps they were taking, if any, to alert students of the kindergartner's death. FOX6 also wanted to know what resources the district might be offering Prince's classmates and school community. The school district would not share that information.
MPD told FOX6 News they have not made any additional arrests, besides the two arrests Thursday.