A South Dakota Amber Alert led to one man’s arrest and the recovery of two children. Officials say the automated system made the find possible.
Paul Brown is accused of taking his one and three year old sons from their home in Washington state last Friday. The three year old has severe medical complications and officials say Brown was ill equipped to care for them.
The Amber Alert went out Monday night in South Dakota. Within 10 minutes, officials received three public tips identifying Brown’s car. Law enforcement in Kimball took Brown into custody and recovered the young boys. The children were taken to a local hospital and were found to be in good health. Sara Raybern is the Public Information Officer for the South Dakota Attorney General. She says the Amber Alert was crucial in locating the lost boys.
“I think the key here is that it really important because it gives the public the opportunity to provide to law enforcement and I think the big thing is now you have hundreds of sets of eyes looking for this particular vehicle and now allowing law enforcement to kind of fine tune their search of where the search efforts might be,” says Raybern.
Raybern says when responding to an alert it’s important to communicate with law enforcement, not to engage suspects. Brown is charged with cruelty to a minor which could result in a 15 year prison sentence.