Twelve-Year-Old Girl Found Safe After Delayed Amber Alert Sparks Community Concern

DEL CITY (KOKH) — A 12-year-old girl was found safe this weekend, after an Amber Alert was issued on Saturday morning stating the girl had not been seen since Monday, leaving many wondering why the Amber Alert was issued several days after the young girl’s disappearance.

Del City Police say they were not made aware that the girl was missing until Saturday morning when her mother reported it to them, but they say they’re currently investigating what caused the delay in making that report to police.

Many woke up on Saturday morning to an Amber Alert issued by OHP for a missing 12-year-old girl.

The alert said she had last been seen on December 4th, at a residence off SE 44th Street in Del City.

People took to social media in response, questioning why the Amber Alert was being issued several days after she had last been seen,

“That is a question that we’re still trying to determine,” said Major Brad Cowden with Del City PD, “Our investigators interviewed the mom and the daughter that evening, and they, I know that they’re still doing some follow-up work on that, but obviously that was our first concern to was, I believe it was five days had passed since the time that she was last seen. So the first thing that we think of in that case is obviously there’s probably a little bit more to this story than just that this child was potentially abducted.”

On Saturday police said the young girl had last been seen with a neighbor, 65-year-old Leslie Alexander, while loading items into a U-haul truck on December 4th,

“The mother stated that her daughter was helping a neighbor at a resident adjacent apartment move and load things into their U-haul truck, and then at a later time noticed that her daughter was gone,” Cowden said, “She said that she knew these people but not well, and obviously would not have allowed her daughter to go with them.”

The girl was found safe on Saturday with Alexander, a couple of hours after the Amber Alert was issued,

“When the officers arrived, it was apparent that… this juvenile was not being held there against her will,” said Cowden, “She had stated to officers that she was comfortable with being there, she was unharmed.”

Del City Police say no arrests or criminal charges have been filed yet in this case, but they say the investigation is still very active.