Two Young Children Found Safe Within Hours of a Missouri AMBER Alert

Some of the stories I cover on this site do not have happy endings. This one does, and I want to share it, because it shows what can happen when police, families and an entire region move quickly for children who need help.

Early on Tuesday, October 13, two young children who had been taken from their foster home in north St. Louis County were found safe within a few hours. The facts below come from the North County Police Cooperative and from reporting by First Alert 4 (KMOV) and Spectrum News in St. Louis.

What Police Say Happened

According to the North County Police Cooperative, officers were called around 11 p.m. on Monday, October 12, to the 6900 block of Greenway Avenue in Beverly Hills, Missouri. The report was that two children had been taken from their foster home.

The children are ages 2 and 6. Police said they were taken by their noncustodial mother and a male companion. The Missouri State Highway Patrol issued an AMBER Alert for the suspected vehicle in the early hours of Tuesday.

Court records cited by First Alert 4 say the children were moved for several hours between a home in the city of St. Louis and a hotel in Berkeley, and that they were left with other people during that time.

Found Safe Before Dawn

Around 2 a.m., police found both children near the hotel in Berkeley. Officers placed them in protective custody, and medical personnel evaluated them. Spectrum News reported that EMS treated the children at the scene.

St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers located the suspect vehicle and chased three people on foot. All three were arrested near the 5900 block of Lucille Avenue in the Walnut Park West neighborhood, and the AMBER Alert was cancelled.

The North County Police Cooperative thanked the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Overland Police Department and the Woodson Terrace Police Department for their help.

Where the Case Stands

St. Louis County prosecutors have charged the children's 24 year old mother with two counts of first degree endangering the welfare of a child, according to First Alert 4. She is being held on a $150,000 cash only bond. Court records say she lost custody of the children on October 2.

Prosecutors are still reviewing possible charges against the two other adults. A charge is an accusation, not a finding of guilt, and everyone involved is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

I am choosing not to share more about the family than police have released. These are very young children who have already been through a frightening night, and their privacy matters more than any headline.

Why I Cover These Stories

People sometimes ask me why I write about missing and endangered children alongside everything else on this site. The answer is simple. Every one of these cases is somebody's whole world, and attention is one of the few things ordinary people can give that truly helps.

AMBER Alerts exist for nights like this one. The program began in Texas in 1996 after the abduction and murder of 9 year old Amber Hagerman in Arlington, and the name also stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. Today those alerts reach highway signs, radio, television and the phones in our pockets.

When an alert sounds on your phone at an inconvenient hour, I hope you will read it instead of swiping it away. Look at the vehicle description. Glance at the cars around you. A few seconds of attention from enough people can change how a night ends.

How You Can Help

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the North County Police Cooperative at 314-499-6093 or email detective@northcountypolice.com.

If you ever have information about any missing child, call 911 first if a child is in immediate danger. You can also reach the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 24 hours a day at 1 800 THE LOST (1-800-843-5678) or online at missingkids.org.

Today, two little ones are safe. Let us keep paying attention, keep sharing official alerts, and keep standing up for every child who has not come home yet.